In 2017, advocacy and civic engagement are playing an increasingly prominent role in Americans' lives. After the election of Donald Trump as president, many Americans have increased their. Dec 8, 2018 - Explore Cara Coffey MiscellaneousMe's board 'Advocacy', followed by 1467 people on Pinterest. See more ideas about music education, teaching music, music classroom.
Skookum Kids is built around a single big idea: that if we take great care of people, the mission will take care of itself. So we work really hard to make this a delightful place to volunteer and be a foster parent. We believe in health for all, meaning that no person should ever have to sacrifice their own health to serve kids. That's not to say we don't work hard (because believe me, we do), but that healthy, happy, well-supported people get more done.
In 2013 Ray Deck visited a neighborhood association meeting and just happened to sit at the same table with a career social worker. They talked about the state of child welfare in the region and about how some simple, common sense solutions would go a long way to improving the lives of children, foster parents, and social workers alike. They each invited a few friends to meet at a coffee shop and discuss those ideas the following week. And at that coffeeshop, Skookum Kids was born. Our first program—Skookum House, in which we care for children new to foster care—opened in mid-2014. Since then, the organization has grown in both depth and breadth, doubling in size by every major metric each year of its early history.
We would love nothing more than to talk with you about foster care, the reforms we aspire to, or how you can get involved.
info@skookumkids.org
360-975-3380
Founding Director
Ray Deck III
A serial intrapreneur, Ray Deck III has a decade of experience inciting change from within complex organizations. He leads Skookum Kids, a not-for-profit that aspires to nothing less than total reform of the foster care system.
In addition to his work at Skookum, he serves as Treasurer at the Washington Association for Children Youth & Families and as a member of the Child Welfare Advocacy Coalition.
When he’s not wrestling with bureaucracy, you can find him running behind a double stroller. But you should go look for him. He has a terrible sense of direction, and is probably lost.
Director of Programs
Abby Smith
After graduating from Seattle Pacific University, Abby returned to Bellingham to pursue her passion for trouble makers. She leads a team of 6 staff and 100+ volunteers to care for children in their most vulnerable days at Skookum House, and to give foster parents some well-deserved time off in the Skookum Mentors and Foster Family Night Out programs.
When she's not wrangling children and volunteers, you can find her searching for cheap international flights, hidden waterfalls, and her car keys.
Operations Manager
Gina Russell
Growing up in a family of entrepreneurs, Gina has business operations in her blood.
After college in Oregon and finishing right here at WWU, Gina had a very successful career in the food and service industry. As the previous owner two successful businesses and love of children, she comes to Skookum Kids as the operations manager.
A mom of two active girls, she is often on the field, on the mountain, or on her bike pedaling amongst the trees. If you would like to reach out, send an email because she has most likely lost her phone.
The number of people in the U.S. now required to register as sex offenders is edging close to the one million mark.
Women Against Registry, a St. Louis area group that advocates for sex offenders’ rights, has challenged rules that limit where an offender may live, work and be present in the community. On Tuesday, three members of WAR traveled to Bloomington to support Charles Henderson in his registry dispute with Bloomington Police.
Henderson is one of more than 150 people on the public registry of sex offenders living in Bloomington. Convicted in 2002 of attempted predatory criminal assault of a minor, indecent solicitation of a minor and possession of child pornography, Henderson has registered annually with local police for 18 years.
But Bloomington Police registration records show Henderson convicted of a predatory criminal sexual assault, with the word “attempt” missing from the charge. Henderson and his lawyer provided BPD with court documents showing the conviction was for attempted predatory criminal sexual assault. A transcript from a court hearing in which a judge found no victim existed in the case also was given to police.
The limited detail listed on the public registry, combined with errors on law enforcement documents, adds to the difficulties faced by sex offenders, said Henderson. People who review Henderson’s record would not know his most serious sex offense involved an attempt to hire a prostitute through a website that hired underage girls or the reasons he offered authorities for that attempt.
In his 2017 testimony to a statewide task force considering changes to sex offender rules, Henderson disclosed he was sexually abused as a child. When he learned the prostitution website he contacted hired minors, Henderson continued his contact with the company to gather information on a potential perpetrator of underage sex crime, according to his testimony.
“I thought I could make a big difference and that I could do what I thought law enforcement had been failing to do since I was a child until now. Eventually, I was arrested because the man was actually an undercover police officer,” Henderson told the task force.
The child pornography traced to computers in Henderson’s home was downloaded by his minor sons who admitted their actions at his bench trial, according to Henderson.
In October, when Henderson went to the BPD to complete the annual paperwork for his registration, he provided police with a Google phone listing when asked for his cell phone number. He blamed the stress of the registration process for his inadvertent error. The meeting grew confrontational, said Henderson, after Officer Scott Sikora threatened to arrest him if he found Henderson had been using the virtual phone number for more than three days without registering it.
Several weeks later, the 64-year-old received a letter from Sikora changing the registration requirement from once a year to every 90 days. The reason for the change, according to the letter was, “repeated violations of the Illinois Sex Offender Registry.”
While state law gives law enforcement the authority to require quarterly check-ins without a reason, Henderson argues the new directive is part of his ongoing dispute with the BPD over inaccuracies in his records. Henderson has been charged with violating the sex offender registry rules three times since he completed eight months of a 2 1/2-year prison term on the initial charges. He has been cleared each time of the charges.
Vicki Henry, president of Women Against Registry, considers the registry rules cruel and unusual punishment that do more harm than good by putting stringent restrictions on people as they try to reenter society.
In Henderson’s case, errors on his paperwork and the decision to increase his registration visits are a form of harassment by police, said Henry.
“We would like for him to be treated as a human being – that’s what he is — and be allowed to be productive and not have to look over his should and see what police are doing,” said the leader of the advocacy group.
BPD declined to talk specifically about Henderson’s case, but department spokesman John Fermon said, “in most cases, offenders register once a year and that is the end of it,” if they provide accurate information to police. The option to increase the frequency of check-ins without cause is open to police, he confirmed.
Policy changes have been adopted by the BPD in response to concerns that some practices made it more difficult for offenders, said Fermon. In 2019 the department stopped going to door to door during sex offender compliance checks to notify people that a registrant lives in the area. The practice needlessly created fear in the neighborhood, according to offenders.
“After March 2019, neighbors are only to be contacted if an investigation warrants it, pretty much like any other investigation of a crime,” said Fermon.
Bloomington Police also are working with Jobs Partnership, a local group that helps people find jobs, housing and other assistance after they return to the community.
Jobs Partnership’s director Michelle Cook said the 2019 policy change “has helped a whole bunch. People are more assimilated into the neighborhood and they get to be regular neighbors,” said Cook.
By The Numbers
The widespread access to a public listing of sex offenders also harms children of the offenders, according to Women Against Registry. Forty-seven percent of children of registered offenders reported harassment and 77% suffered from depression, said WAR data. Anger issues were reported by 80% of the children surveyed.
Henderson recognizes the uphill battle he and others who oppose the registry face when it comes to convincing lawmakers to consider easing restrictions and registration mandates.
“The need to end the public registry is most important. Maybe that seems nearly impossible, but it would be the right thing to do,” said Henderson.
Before his check-in Tuesday, Henderson hired an attorney who also accompanied him to the police department for what was an hourlong process. Still unresolved is the discrepancy between the charges listed on BPD paperwork and court records. That discrepancy matters and should be corrected, Henderson and his lawyer Todd Roseberry told a BPD staff member who handled the registration.
The day after his registration, Sikora and a second officer came to Henderson’s home after contacting him through the Google phone service. The officers left after several minutes, satisfied he is still living at the address listed on his registration forms.
“My stress level went down tremendously. It was such a relief,” Henderson said of the brief, low-key interaction with police.
Henderson and his lawyer plan to consult further with BPD before his next scheduled check-in in late April. He said he is hopeful the records will be corrected, and he can return to an annual registration.
Advocacy Ideas The Kodá Ly Aspiring Music Classroom Nyc Doe
People like you value experienced, knowledgeable and award-winning journalism that covers meaningful stories in Bloomington-Normal. To support more stories and interviews like this one, please consider making a contribution.