This page is based on a presentation to Second Presbyterian Church's Forum Class in 1998 by Mr. Charles Baker. Buckhorn Children's Center
The Buckhorn Children's Center is located in Eastern Kentucky at Buckhorn, the home of the Presbyterian Child Welfare Agency. The Agency, founded in 1902, operates a variety of programs that serve children in the Appalachian area. The Children's Center is home to disadvantaged and orphaned children, many of whom are in need of discipline, encouragement and loving attention. Second Presbyterian makes an annual financial commitment to the operation of Buckhorn Children's Center, and its members often serve on the Board of Directors.
On May 10, 1998, Charles Baker, then President of the Buckhorn Children's Foundation, presented a Forum program at Second on Buckhorn emphasizing the new Video Home Training program. The following text is excerpted from material prepared by Buckhorn. A Bold New Venture In the fall of 1996, three PCWA staff began training under Ton Stroucken, of SPIN International, Amsterdam, Holland. learning an innovative and highly successful home-based model of family therapy developed and used extensively in the Netherlands--Video Home Training. Darlene Allen, a Foster Care Supervisor, was one of the three. She chose for her very first family one in which a 9 year old girl had been in her foster home for 6 months. Things were not going well. The foster family was ready to give up. Darlene asked them to try Video Home Training and they agreed. The tapes of this family are now legendary throughout the agency and, in March of this year, Brandi's adoption was final! What happened? Darlene made video recordings of Brandi and her foster parents at home. She looked for moments in the videotaped material when they were getting along well together. She showed them the video clips which illustrated the skills they were using to achieve a successful interaction. She emphasized the positive communication skills the foster parents were already using. As the sessions continued, Darlene helped them extend the successful encounters. Soon they were responding to one another's positive initiatives without having to think about each one. The change was miraculous. Other people in the agency are now being trained and we recently received two small grants to work with families in the community. This is part of our commitment to Collaborate with the Community, a way to change families and prevent children from needing long term out-of-home residential programs. The Presbyterian Child Welfare Agency Mission Statement: "We answer God's call to seek out suffering
Today the Agency operates:
In 1991 the Presbyterian Child Welfare Agency established the Buckhorn Children's Foundation, to promote and support its mission work, and the Children's Property Company, to manage its real property and capital assets.
Young people who have completed the Residential Treatment Program and for whom return to natural parents is not possible have additional choices: Treatment Foster Care and Transitional Residential Treatment. These programs, now serving nearly 90 young people, offer them long term, stable settings in which to practice positive behaviors and to confirm recently gained insights. Treatment Foster Parents are trained to look for and affirm strengths and growth in these young adults and to believe that they can change! Transitional Residential Treatment Counselors and Supervisors are trained to teach specific skills of independent living to 16-19 year olds. Four single mothers and their children live in the Transitional Living for Homeless Youth and Children units in Lexington. The home is a temporary source of housing while the mothers, with the help of Transitional Living Supervisors, seek permanent housing, work, educational opportunities, and public assistance.
In an effort to increase our ability to reach out to suffering families in the community, and to use what we have learned to help keep children in their own homes, the PCWA has joined with agencies in New York and Massachusetts to bring Video Home Training to this country. Developed in the Netherlands, VHT is an innovative, highly successful model of home-based treatment used as an alternative to placement away from home for children with severe social development problems. The home trainer makes video recordings of parents and children at home. The trainer watches the tapes with the parent and analyzes them, looking for moments when parents and children are getting along well together. There is a strong emphasis on the positive communication skills that parents already use. As the sessions continue, the home trainer helps the parents extend these successful encounters. The results in Holland and elsewhere in Europe are very exciting and we feel the potential for using this method to improve the lives of children and families in this country is enormous. The Presbyterian Child Welfare Agency is accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), and is a member of the Child Welfare League of America. The offices of the Agency, including the Buckhorn Children's Foundation and the Children's Property Company, are located in Buckhorn, Kentucky. Contracts with the Kentucky Department for Human Resources provide about three-fourths of the operating cost. The rest comes from individuals and churches throughout the country. The Presbyterian Child Welfare Agency is a mission of the Presbyterian Church (USA), is affiliated with the Synod of the Living Waters, and is a partner in mission with the Synod of the Covenant.
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The
Presbyterian Child Welfare Agency was founded in 1902 by the Rev. Harvey
S. Murdoch, a Presbyterian minister from Brooklyn, New York. The Board
and Staff are guided by a strong belief that, as Christian people, we have
an obligation to care for those among us who are most in need. Although
the program has changed as the needs of children have changed, Rev. Murdoch's
commitment to serve children and the Appalachian Area has remained constant.
The
Residential Treatment Program serves both boys and girls, ages 10
to 18, who have histories of emotional and behavioral disturbance. Forty
children live on the Buckhorn Campus and another forty on the Dessie Scott
Campus. These are children who have failed in a variety of placements prior
to their arrival at Buckhorn or at Dessie Scott. Each cottage has 8 children
and is supervised by a Master's Level Therapist and two full-time, live-in
couples who make up the Treatment Team. They manage the day-to-day routines
of family life while demonstrating care to each child. Meals are
prepared and served in each cottage in an effort to create a family type
environment. An atmosphere of trust where feelings can be shared is an
important part of the program. 
Our
three Montessori Preschool programs serve 80 children daily. Most
of these children are referred by the State as being in abusive or neglectful
situations or in "potential risk" of abuse or neglect in poverty-stricken
families. Caring and dedicated staff transport the children to the Centers
each day and provide them with nutritious meals. The Montessori Method
of education is used to teach developmental skills, social skills, and
personal hygiene - all necessary to he successful in school and life.