ChildSavers' valuable combination of preventive and early intervention services helps ensure that children have the best possible chance to grow up healthy and strong – and it is never too early or too late to make a positive difference in the life of a child. The success stories and testimonials below feature children of a variety of ages and personal situations, as well as adults who provide care for young children.
Mental Health Success Stories and Testimonials:
Early Childhood Development Success Stories and Testimonials:
Mental Health Success Stories and Testimonials
(please note that many names and other identifying facts have been changed to ensure clients' anonymity)
Eric's Story
Five-year-old Eric witnessed teenaged boys break into his house and violently assault his mother. Eric was understandably traumatized by this event and believed that he needed to "get big so I can beat up other people and save my mom!"
Eric had difficulty expressing his fears and emotions to our Trauma Response program clinician, who arrived to work with him at the scene. However, once engaged in trauma treatment therapy at ChildSavers, Eric responded well through art and play therapy. He was eventually able to talk about the experience, regain a sense of safety, and dispel his feelings of anger. "The police came and helped me," he later said to his clinician, "...and then you came and we colored and then I was safe."
Isaiah's Story
Isaiah, age 7, had not been allowed to see his father for a very long time because Dad had a substance abuse problem and needed help. Isaiah finally got to visit his father and soon after was allowed to spend the night at his Dad’s house.
When Isaiah woke up the next morning, his father had died during the night. The child tried unsuccessfully for somet time to awaken his Dad. He finally went to a neighbor’s house, and they called the police, who in turn called a ChildSavers’ Trauma Response clinician to help Isaiah through this terrible experience.
For the next 6 months, the clinician worked with Isaiah, helping him through the trauma and the grief process. They blew bubbles together to help him be less anxious. Isaiah drew pictures of him trying to wake up his father, and he made a memory box of all the things he wanted to always remember about his father.
The clinician also worked with Isaiah’s mother on how she could help Isaiah feel safe again and say goodbye to his father. Toward the end of his treatment, Isaiah came to a session very excited and drew a very special picture. He explained to the therapist that, with his mother's help, he had written a note that said “I love you Daddy” and put it inside a balloon, which had then been filled with helium. His mother had then taken him to the graveyard, where he had released the balloon so that it would go up to his father, who is in heaven. The child expressed how he felt so much better after having done this because, in his own words, “Now my Daddy knows I love him.”
Pat's Story: An Historical Testimonial
Below is a letter from the widow of a former Guidance Clinic client, illustrating the longevity of our agency's valuable services to Richmond's children:
"Memorial Child Guidance Clinic [the former name of ChildSavers] has a very special place in my heart because my husband, Pat McMahon, was one of your success stories.
 "When Pat was in high school in the late 1940s, he was "not performing up to his abilities." He tested with a high-level IQ but was failing classes (English, etc.) while making A's in Spanish. The administration at the school sent him to MCGC for counseling. Sadly, his family life was, to use today's language, dysfunctional – alcoholism, frequent loud arguments between his parents – you've heard this story before. Nothing Pat did was good enough. He was a very mixed-up young man. At MCGC, he found an adult he could talk with; one who would listen and who not only allowed him to have his own opinions but without judgment.
"I am happy to tell you that even though he left school before graduation, he got his GED. He joined the Marine Reserves, had an active duty tour during the Korean War, and attained the rank of Sergeant. After his discharge, we married and he went to school on the GI Bill. We raised our family of five children, all of whom turned out well. He joined a Rescue Squad and was trained in First Aid and Civil Defense (which he later taught for the Red Cross). He also sang and acted in local theatres and became a Lay Eucharistic Minister in the Episcopal Church – he was a multi-faceted man.
"He always spoke highly of MCGC and so I think you will agree with me that this is a true ChildSavers success story. Thank You, Thank You, Thank you!"
Jan McMahon (ChildSavers volunteer)
May 2006
Judy's Story
Judy was an adolescent girl living in foster care. She had an extensive history of being abused, neglected and abandoned. She came to ChildSavers because of her tendency toward verbal abuse and defiance, which were exacerbated by her poor social skills and difficulty in trusting others; her foster mother was also concerned that Judy tended to keep her thoughts and problems to herself too much, and appeared depressed.
During the course of her therapy at ChildSavers' Guidance Clinic, Judy was eventually able to open up about her past, and developed positive coping skills to help manage her anger and anxiety outside of therapy sessions. She also began to address the problems she had in forming positive peer relationships, allowing her the opportunity to improve her social skills. Her foster mother also participated in family therapy to help address Judy’s difficulty in trusting others and the impact this has on her relationships with others in the foster family.
Judy was subsequently placed in regular education classes for the first time in many years, and did well. At home, she became less defiant and was able to communicate more effectively with her foster family. She also began working part-time, and was able to establish a positive working relationship with her supervisors and co-workers.
Noah's Story
Noah was a two-and-a-half-year-old boy who initially came to ChildSavers after his mother escaped a violent relationship with his father. All his life, Noah had seen his father abuse his mother. Noah would sometimes feel a need to protect his mother and would intervene, biting his father during some of these assaults, in hopes that he could stop the abuse. On other occasions, he would retreat to his bedroom and hide under the covers in a desperate attempt to feel safe. Even though his mother had endured years of abuse, she finally worked up the courage to leave after Noah’s father started to abuse Noah. She received help from a domestic violence program, which helped her obtain a protective court order and made a referral to ChildSavers for Noah.
When Noah first came to us, he was very aggressive towards others. He was frequently hitting and biting adults and other children, and was becoming abusive towards the family dog. He was having nightmares and refusing to sleep in his own bed. Even though Noah had previously been fully potty trained, he had regressed to the point of wearing a diaper again. He had also developed a fear of men, especially those of approximately his father’s age and those who physically resembled him.
Through the use of non-directive play therapy, Noah was eventually able to express his anger and fear associated with the abuse he had witnessed and personally experienced. Play therapy allowed him the opportunity to regain a sense of control, and he initially took on the role of his abusive father in his play activities. As Noah progressed through his treatment, he began destroying “monsters” and “mean people” in his play, and asked his therapist to join him to “make the monsters go away” together.
During his six months of therapy, Noah made excellent progress. His aggressive behavior towards others subsided, and his nightmares became less frequent. He was able to successfully re-potty train and sleep in his own bed again. His mother started him in a preschool program; it was his first experience in a large group setting, and he was able to adjust well and make friends. His therapeutic play became increasingly nurturing instead of violent, as is more typical for a healthy child his age.
Allen's Story
Allen (age fourteen) had been placed in a foster home after having experienced years of abuse and neglect in his family life. He was so severely affected by his history of abuse and neglect that his physical, cognitive, and emotional capabilities were all diminished. He was having great difficulty in school, where he was misbehaving continuously. His interpersonal skills were very poor, and his ability to trust others was extremely limited.
During his two years of participation in therapeutic activities at ChildSavers, Allen worked through much of the anger he felt, and developed the skills that allowed him to manage his anger appropriately. Through such activities as drawing (art therapy) and sand tray therapy, he was able to build his self-confidence and his ability to trust, and also developed a more realistic understanding of appropriate interpersonal boundaries, which will help him avoid any further abuse or exploitation.
Allen was eventually reunited with his two brothers and went to live with his grandmother. He was able to find and retain a job and contribute greatly to the family's income, which was of additional help in developing his self-confidence as well as providing him with practical "real-life" skills. He was able to graduate from high school a year ahead of schedule – a remarkable achievement for anyone, but particularly for this young man who had previously been academically unsuccessful.
Early Childhood Development Success Stories and Testimonials
Barbara's Story: Building a New Career
Barbara, married and the mother of a school-aged son, moved to Richmond from a small town in the late 1990s. With the birth of her second child, she was forced to quit her job due to the family's inability to pay for child care.
Starting with little more than a few used toys and the determination to succeed, Barbara decided to become an in-home child care provider, so that she could continue to care for her own baby while contributing to her family's income. She learned of our Child Development Services Department's many programs and resources, which are offered at little or no cost to individual child care providers, through the Virginia Department of Social Services.
- Barbara enthusiastically began the process to become a registered child care provider through our Voluntary Registration program. Throughout this process, we helped Barbara comply with health and safety standards and complete a criminal background and child abuse check. We provided her with a safety kit and enrolled her in workshops to help her improve her professional skills.
- She participated in many of our training workshops and activities, including a program to help child care providers work with emotional and behavioral special needs children. Many providers are unprepared to handle such challenges, but Barbara received appropriate training and has since then worked with many special needs children who flourished in her care.
- She even launched a Family Child Care Association that held regular meetings and produced a newsletter.
Barbara was exceptionally enthusiastic and capable, and we soon began to refer parents seeking quality child care to her. Her hard work and natural talent resulted in a successful home-based business, and we are proud to have helped her achieve that success.
Ian's Story: Helping HUGS
Our Child Development Services Department was contacted by an Eastern Henrico County child care center that was prepared to expel Ian, a 4-year-old boy exhibiting challenging behavior. The center felt they didn’t have the resources to care for him, and his classroom teacher had presented an ultimatum: if Ian was not removed, she would resign.
Ian, whose parents had been incarcerated, lived with his paternal grandmother and grandfather and his two sisters. Ian and his siblings had been abused and neglected by their parents, at times being handcuffed to a bed as a method of “babysitting.” Ian’s grandparents were senior citizens who lived in a small trailer. His grandmother was a maid at a nearby hotel; his grandfather was disabled.
At the time we were contacted by the child care center, Ian's father was still in jail, but his mother had been released. However, she continued to behave in neglectful and harmful ways toward her children. For example, she would often tell the children that she would pick them up from the child care center to spend some time with them, and then she would never show up. After the center had closed for the day, the personnel would contact the grandmother to come pick up the children, who had been waiting for hours.
This was a perfect referral to our Help Us Grow Strong (HUGS) program, the purpose of which is to support child care providers in caring for children with challenging behaviors. Through HUGS, we also provide mental health services or appropriate service referrals if necessary. We were able to provide extensive training to the teachers at Ian's care center.
It was also believed that Ian would benefit from a new care provider. We made a referral to a home-based child care provider who had completed the Voluntary Registration process at ChildSavers and expressed a desire to work with special needs children. This provider agreed to work with Ian, and we assisted his grandmother in enrolling him. The young boy did remarkably well in his new care setting and remained there until he started school.
Testimonial from Shelia: "We need to look at early childcare providers as educators."
 Shelia Pleasants, Executive Director of Southside Child Development Center, not only educates her children, she also educates her employees.
Shelia was introduced to ChildSavers in 1990. As a day care provider, she participated
in many of our workshops and training classes on childhood development. Nearly twenty years later, and now as the director of a thriving child care center, she encourages her staff members to take advantage of the valuable professional development opportunities we offer.
Grant funding provided directly to ChildSavers, as well as through such program partners as Smart Beginnings and the Early Childhood Development Coalition, enables our Child Development Services staff members to offer training for childcare providers at little or no cost to individual participants. Shelia particularly encourages her staff members to earn their nationally recognized certification through our Child Development Associate Credential Training Program.
If it were not for Memorial Child Guidance Clinic [former name of ChildSavers], agencies such as mine – a non-profit, low- income, very budget-oriented childcare center – would not be able to have teachers certified and trained just because we could not afford it.” Shelia is convinced that "we need to look at early childcare providers as educators" – as indeed they are.
Testimonial from Martha: "We could not succeed if it wasn't for ChildSavers' staff and support."
Our Child Development Associate (CDA) Credential Training Program is a multi-faceted service designed to prepare child care providers to earn their nationally recognized CDA certification. Through our program, participants gain skills and knowledge that help them work more effectively with the hundreds of children for whom they will care during the course of their careers. Below is a testimonial from a past program participant who successfully completed our program and earned her CDA certification.
(e-mail from past student to Cindy Kern, our CDA Program Manager):
"Thanks Cindy for having confidence in me. The test was different than I expected it to be. However, I felt good about the questions and my answers. You and everyone at ChildSavers are more than wonderful with the services that you provide us with (child care providers). We could not succeed if it wasn't for ChildSavers' staff and support. Thanks again. Love, Martha"
Testimonials from Site Visit Clients
In addition to the valuable training for childcare providers we offer at our Church Hill facility, we also provide a number of on-site services to home- and center-based child care providers. These include the My Teaching Partner Program and other one-on-one mentoring services, which are designed to improve the quality of early childhood educators' relationships with the children in their care, and the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment Program, which is designed to help early childhood educators improve the social skills and resilience of the children in their care.
We received a letter from Dr. Grace Tolliver (Administrator) and Ms. Kim Jones (Curriculum Specialist) of Formative Years Child Development Center, an excerpt of which is given below, that illustrates the holistic value of our on-site services:
"Our preschool class has truly benefited from the new learning centers in the classroom [i.e., centers set up as a result of an on-site assessment and subsequent recommendation from our staff member] – especially the new centers designed to promote self decision-making. We are also seeing a true change in the children's behavior and attitude."
Other participants in our site visit-based activities have been equally enthusiastic and appreciative. We request that participants complete evaluation surveys, to help us determine how to make our services even more valuable. Below are some of the comments we have received:
- “[The ChildSavers child development specialist] was a plus to the daycare as far as bringing forth materials and trainings that helped me learn how to deal with challenging children. She offered me training that brought forth creativity to the classroom. Every information that I needed, she provided it. She was a delight to work with.”
- “[The ChildSavers child development specialist] has great ideas to improve our Toddler classroom. We are excited to be working with her!”
- “[The ChildSavers child development specialist] has valuable insight into the issues we as a class face. She has been instrumental in assisting me to provide the proper tools children this age need to learn and succeed on a daily basis as well as in life. She is a great asset.”
- “[W]e would like to thank you for sharing your time and expertise with us. It is critical that early childhood teachers and directors have access to high quality continuing education opportunities."
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