Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 24, 1993 TAG: 9306240418
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: E-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: FRANCES STEBBINS CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Lutheran Family Services and Virginia Baptist Children's Home and Family Services are alike in many respects, yet during the past 20 years, the homes have moved to provide distinctive services for children and adults.
"There's a place for us both," said Betty Burris, a Baptist home staff member who also is on the Lutheran board.
Donald Bradley has been executive director of the Baptist facility in North Salem since 1985, and Ronald Herring has been his Lutheran counterpart on the East Salem hill since 1978.
"When I began my career, school problems involved gum chewing and throwing paper. Today we're dealing with guns and drugs," said Herring.
Bradley agreed, saying despite a trend to keep children out of institutions and in their own homes, "I believe there will always be a need for temporary, crisis care for children."
The Baptist home has cared for several young victims of parental abandonment or violence and will continue to do so, he said.
The facilities, affiliated with churches, offer services where the staff takes an approach of caring for individuals out of a sense of justice and service, not just making money, said Herring.
Both homes, however, made some changes during the last two decades. Children no longer live at the Lutheran Home off Lynchburg Turnpike. Instead, elementary and high school pupils "who need attention to social and behavior skills" live at the home's Minnick Education Center and attend special classes in Roanoke and Salem.
Herring says the center needs more room. He and Bradley are expecting to serve more children as a result of a new Virginia law that becomes effective in July. Parentless youngsters who used to live on the Lutheran hill now are served by Herring's institution in Harrisonburg, Tazewell, Wytheville, Bedford, Richmond, Portsmouth, Newport News and, soon, Marion. These children are with foster parents, who are supervised by professional workers accountable to the Salem headquarters.
Some of these foster homes are staffed by professionals to offer therapy for serious problems, while others simply try to provide as stable and normal a family atmosphere as possible, said Herring.
Of the cluster of the Lutherans' old brick buildings on the East Salem hill, only one is now used by family services. Several years ago, Salem's other major Lutheran-related facility, Roanoke College, bought most of the original 88 acres. The family service agency still owns 10 acres in the northwest corner.
In contrast to the Lutherans, who have moved most services to outlying communities and reduced their land in Salem, the Baptists still have about 70 residents on their hill. They also supervise workers in Annandale, Richmond and Newport News.
The Salem facility cares for youngsters for only about two years, compared to the old days when it was not unusual for a person to spend his childhood there, said Bradley.
The Baptists' three on-campus programs are for 9- to 16-year-olds. One cottage is for girls who have been sexually abused, Bradley says. Boys who need a more structured life than they could get at home are in another cottage.
Still another Salem-based program allows older youths to learn independent living as they finish high school and go to work.
The Baptists also have an outdoor skills program for teen boys. WOODS - Wilderness Outdoor Opportunity Discovery School - is held at the old Camp-On-Craig for eight youths.
Recently, the Baptists opened a cottage for adult men who are mentally unable to care for themselves fully. Burris, who supervises this project, said a similar home for women is being opened in Fredericksburg and will be part of the Salem facility's network of family services.
Mentally retarded people are living longer, as are their elderly parents who cannot continue to care for them, said Burris.
For both the Lutheran and Baptist homes, financial support comes from government funds as well as church and individual donations. Many children are sent to the homes by tax-funded social services. Herring said the staffs of both homes work with secular human service agencies such as Mental Health Services.
The Salem staffs include marketing and public relations people who present their institutions' needs to receive grants for ongoing projects.
The Lutherans have the Rev. Jean Bozeman, an educator and administrator, as a liaison with parishes throughout Virginia. A staff chaplain serves the children at the Baptist home.
by CNB