TRENTON, NJ – Across the
state this month, brothers and sisters who have been removed from
abusive or
neglectful homes, but were not able to be placed in the same foster
home, get a chance to reunite with their siblings
at a variety of special “sibling” summer camps. During
the summer, but primarily in August, the Department of
Human Services’ Division of Youth and Family Services’
(DYFS) three regional offices - Southern, Central and
Northern – contract with camps and reserve slots for foster
siblings to ensure these sibling connections can continue
while family situations are remedied for the children.
One of the major goals for these Sibling Camp programs
is to strengthen the bonds between siblings who are being
raised in separate foster homes, and to do so in a venue of fun
and adventure. The other major goal is to educate
foster parents in understanding the importance of the sibling
bond and to inspire them to work together in arranging
regular contact between siblings with activities like sleepover
parties, birthday parties, barbecues, meeting at the mall
or parks, or sending cards and letters.
New DYFS Director Ed Cotton plans
to have dinner with campers on Sunday, August 17th at the Pittstown
site
of Camp Tecumseh. Buddy the Foster Care Bear will probably drop
in on one of the camps, too. [please note
media coverage arrangements at the end of this advisory].
The Southern Regional DYFS Office contracts Family
Service of Burlington County to run its Camp
Kindred
program from August 10 through August 18, for 65 children. Held
at Camp Kettle Run in Medford, the foster
children live in lakeside tents and enjoy hiking, boating, and
swimming. The program also includes group counseling,
organized games targeted at strengthening bonds between siblings,
photographs and photo albums for the children to
keep for when they are apart, autograph books and tee shirts for
each child.
The foster parent(s) of each child referred to the
service not only learn about the importance of maintaining the
bond
between siblings, but also must attend the “Family Day”,
held on the last day of camp. Family Day gives foster
parents the opportunity to meet their foster child’s siblings
and their foster parents. It includes a barbecue and a
talent show presented by the campers (at no cost to the foster
parents and their families). It also has a short program
for the foster parents that guides them on how to work in partnership
with DYFS and each other to continue regular
contact between the siblings.
The Central Region’s largest program is Camp
Tecumseh, in Pittstown, Hunterdon County -- a
one week
overnight camp for youth ages 7 to 12 from August 12 to 18th,
that includes regular campers along with slots for
almost 80 foster siblings. The Central Region is funding the 80
slots with its share of the federal bonus money that
New Jersey received for improving its adoption rate last year.
Camp activities will include swimming, boating, arts &
crafts, fishing, archery, astronomy, soccer, volleyball and basketball,
a playground and small animal farm, and
miniature golf.
Wilderness Camp at Wildcat Mountain Wilderness Center
in Hewitt, Passaic County, is a five day wilderness camp
experience for eight males – four from Northern and four
from Southern Monmouth County, ages 13 to 18, from
August 11th to the 15th. Its program objectives are to increase
self-awareness and confidence, develop leadership
and problem solving skills, and offer the challenges of an outdoor
camping experience.
Project Van-Go, run by Catholic Charities of Metuchen,
is a day program run on Fridays from July 18th through
August 22nd, that links youth to art through visiting artists
using various medium such as music and jewelry making.
Six youngsters from Monmouth County meet with artists at the South
Monmouth DYFS office, while individual
sessions with artists in their homes are available for six Hunterdon
and six Somerset county foster children.
Catholic Charities also runs Sibling Day Experience,
which allow siblings to bond with each other outside the usual
“visitation” settings. Activities include day trips
to amusement parks, ball games and museum. There are two sessions
each with 15 slots – one for Hunterdon and Somerset on July
22, August 12, September 5 and 27th; and the other
session for Ocean County on July 8, August 5 and 19th, and September
13th.
Weekend Retreat is a weekend overnight camp for
ages 7 to 12 and is run by the Salvation Army the weekend of
September 27th and 28th. It has slots for 30 foster children from
across the Central Region.
Computer Lab, held at Shiloh Baptist Church in Trenton,
is a Monday through Thursday program that started June
30th and runs to August 29th. The program, run by the Capital
Corridor Community Development Corporation, has
five slots for foster children in Mercer County.
The Northern Regional Office contracts, or “buys
time,” from the Easter Seals’ Camp Merry Heart in
Hackettstown,
Warren County, from August 17th through the 23rd for its foster
siblings. This program has slots for 80 children in
foster care all across the northern metropolitan region. This
year Camp Merry Heart is also providing three other
camp sessions for children in foster care. The first was July
20th to the 26th for 20 youngsters five to eight years old.
The second was August 3rd to the 9th for another 20 youngsters,
8 to 16 years old. The sibling camp next week is
the third session.
New this year will be the fourth camp session, a
“travel camp” from August 24 to 30, for 20 more kids,
8 to 18
years old. This will include real camping outdoors around New
Jersey, plus activities like sailing in Barnegat Bay.
Camp Merry Heart runs its own camp throughout the
year for children with developmental disabilities. Alex
Humaniak, director of Camp Merry Heart, and Kathy Pross, of the
Youth Advocate Program who handles the
camp registrations, were honored by Governor Jim McGreevey at
the Annual Foster Children Awards Ceremony at
the State House last December 12th for their outstanding contributions
to these DYFS foster siblings.
NOTE: Members of the media interested in covering
these camps need to arrange your visit through the DHS Office
of Public Affairs at 609-292-3703. Due to confidentiality and
safety considerations for the children, the standard
media restrictions are in place – no DYFS children may be
specifically identified in any way; i.e., no pictures of any
DYFS children’s faces, use first names only or refer by
age and gender , i.e., “10-year-old boy” [not name
& age
together].
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