Employee donations help Massachusetts children and youth living in foster care
According to Martha Henry, PhD, director of CWM’s Office of Foster Care and Adoption (OFCA), a child who does not have a permanent home usually does not have his or her own personal items. “As an office, we would gather together items like these around the holidays for kids in foster care because we know what it would mean for them to have their own backpack or stuffed animal,” said Dr. Henry. “A natural next step was to expand the idea to a program in which other departments could participate, which Commonwealth Medicine leadership supported and encouraged wholeheartedly.”
Teaming up with Commonwealth Medicine’s REACH (Recognizing Employee Achievements and Commonwealth Medicine Happenings) committee, OFCA collected contributions of new goods to create “my stuff” bags for children and youth in foster care. Donation boxes were set up at multiple campus sites and at the PSP/MHP offices in Worcester. “We were overwhelmed by the level of people’s generosity and how engaged they were,” said Henry. “I think when people learn that there are more than 10,000 children and youth in Massachusetts living in out-of-home care, it really hits home that these are kids in their communities. It engages them to act.”
“This is a wonderful example of how UMass Medical School employees support their local communities, which embodies the mission of UMMS and Commonwealth Medicine,” said Jim Leary, vice chancellor for community and government relations at UMMS.
This is a wonderful example of how UMass Medical School
employees support their local communities, which embodies the mission of UMMS and Commonwealth Medicine
In addition to the donation campaign, Foster Care Month information sessions were held at several UMMS campuses. Henry and OFCA Director of Training and Technical Assistance Michael McManus gave an overview of foster care, discussed ways that people can support children and youth in care, and identified how a child or youth can benefit from a meaningful connection to a caring adult. “These sessions were designed to encourage people to think broadly about how they can help kids in out-of-home care,” said Henry. “As a result of the information sessions, many people contacted our office to learn more about how they could positively affect a child’s life, either by volunteering or becoming a foster parent.”
The donation campaign and 101 presentations were held during Foster Care Month, a national campaign held annually in May to raise awareness about foster care and recognize the people who make a difference for children and youth in foster care. Throughout the U.S., there are over a half a million children living in foster care.
About Commonwealth Medicine
Commonwealth Medicine (CWM) is the public, nonprofit consulting and service organization founded by the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Government agencies, nonprofits and managed care organizations benefit from CWM’s expertise in clinical service delivery, health care financing strategies, policy management and quality improvement. For more information visit: www.umassmed.edu/commed .
About Public Sector Partners, Inc., and MedMetrics Health Partners, Inc.
Public Sector Partners (PSP), an affiliate of UMMS, is a nonprofit health care management organization that offers an array of program management and consulting services to public sector clients. MedMetrics Health Partners (MHP), one of the nation’s first nonprofit pharmacy benefit managers, is a subsidiary of PSP.
Commonwealth Medicine works with PSP and MHP on many health care and policy initiatives, and PSP and MHP provide administrative and management support for Commonwealth Medicine-developed initiatives that help states and private partners around the country and around the world.
