CAYS receives grant

(CNS): A non-profit organisation dedicated to empowering youth experiencing difficulties to achieve their full human potential has received a grant from Hedge Funds Care Cayman (HFCC), a charitable organisation focused on assisting young victims of abuse. A release from HFCC says the grant will enable the CAYS Foundation to continue its work with the Cayman Islands’ youth, raising awareness and addressing the issues of child abuse and neglect.

Among the many projects the CAYS Foundation has developed is the Family Reunification Programme (FRP), which is designed to strengthen vulnerable families during the period when a child is preparing to return home after a stay at one of CAYS Foundation’s two residential homes. The programme has been in existence since the CAYS Foundation’s inception in 2003.

The CAYS Foundation is a non-profit organisation dedicated to empowering youth experiencing difficulties to achieve their full human potential by providing a continuum of care through its residential programmes in a caring, nurturing environment, and in partnership with other agencies within the private and public sectors.

The staff of the CAYS Foundation’s two residential homes, the Bonventure Boys’ Home and the Frances Bodden Girls’ Home, have worked diligently over the years to aid their residents, all between the ages of 10 to 17. Each resident is assisted based on their own individual needs, along with a regimen of care planning, tutoring and parenting classes. Families enter into the FRP when they are preparing to reunite with their children in their homes.

The FRP consists of several key characteristics that allow families to adapt into a unified home. Families involved in the programme receive counselling with anemphasis on several techniques that change the behaviour and response between family members. The FRP also focuses on coaching and mentoring parents, creating discipline models and behavioural strategies for families and working within the home during the transition to create a safe and stable environment.

Behind this great undertaking is the programme’s Family Support Worker (FSW), an individual who aids in bridging the gap between child and parent. The FRP currently staffs one FSW, which the HFCC’s grant funds for one year of work in the community.

“The Family Support Worker is an integral part to our Family Reunification Programme,” comments CAYS Foundation Chief Executive Officer Angela Sealey. “She is presently working with eight families on the island and we are looking forward to seeing the progress that they will achieve.”

While each family is unique, the FRP is consistent with its basic values and commitments. Each family-centred programme is both strength based and solution focused, encouraging both the child and the parent to work through their situation in a logical and caring way. The FSW supervises therapeutic visitations to aid a household’s tangible needs to create a supportive home for the child and parent alike.

Added Ms. Sealey, “Our Family Support Worker is aiming to expand our programme in order to offer additional services to the families who we work with. The funding from HFCC reaches far beyond those we counsel. Happy and supportive families are the cornerstone to building a stronger community. Our objective is to provide the tools to strive toward this goal.”

Since its inception in 2005, HFCC has raised over US $950,000 that has sponsored local agencies and their initiatives to combat the issue of child abuse and neglect in the Cayman Islands. The 2009 HFCC grantees include: The Nadine Andreas Foster Home (operated by the NCVO); the Ministry of Education, Training, Employment, Youth, Sports and Culture; Children and Youth Services (CAYS) Foundation; and the Cayman Islands Crisis Centre.

About Hedge Funds Care

Hedge fund industry professionals established Hedge Funds Care (HFC), a charitable organisation focused on assisting young victims of abuse, in 1998. Since that time, chapters have opened in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Toronto, Cayman, and London. The targeted groups for the organisation include those organisations with interests in hedge funds, including investment managers, investors, prime brokers, attorneys, accountants, technology providers, administrators and information providers.

The Cayman Committee of Hearts has representatives from Admiral Administration, Butterfield Fulcrum, Citco, Deloitte, dms Management, Ernst & Young, IMS, KPMG, Maples and Calder, Ogier, PWC, Harbour Trust, UBS, and Walkers.