AUGUST 3, 2018, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A7
FOSTER,
continued from Page A1
DRIVE A LITTLE – SAVE A BUNCH!
3893 COMMERCIAL ST SE • SALEM
MORE INFO AT NORTHERNLIGHTSTHEATREPUB.COM
Summer
Award
Program
See 5 movies and get a
Small Popcorn and Reg
Soda. Get a punch card at
the box offi ce. Punches
Stop 8/13. See a movie,
get a punch. Collect 5
and Redeem.
SUMMER FAMILY
MOVIE SERIES
$1 KID MOVIES (M-F)
Labyrinth (PG) August 6 - 10
Jumanji (PG) August 13 - 17
UFC227 - Sat, Aug 4
Dillashaw v. Garbrandt
Johnson v. Cejudo
9 FIGHTS IN ALL ON THE HUGE SCREEN
Live Fights at 5:00 (21 & Over) - Tickets $13
Reserved Seating Available Now Online.
Today in History
If pop songs, like hurricanes, were rated on an objective
scale according to their ability to devastate the pop-cultural
landscape, then the song that reached the top of the American
pop charts on this day in 1996 was a Category 5 monster.
It fi rst made landfall in Florida as a seemingly harmless
Spanish-language rumba, but in the hands of a pair of Miami
record producers, it soon morphed and strengthened into
something called “Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix),” a song that
laid waste to all competition during a record-setting run at #1.
— August 3, 1966
Food 4 Thought
“Without an open-minded mind, you can never be a great
success.”
— Martha Stewart, life-style guru, born Aug. 3, 1941
The Week Ahead
Friday, August 3
Hawaiian Luau featuring Paradise of Samoa as part of the
Free 2018 Summer Concert Series located at Keizer Rotary
Amphitheater at Keizer Rapids Park. Gates open at 5 p.m.,
show starts at 6:30 p.m. Beer, Wine, & Spirits available
from Santiam Brewing Company. Please no outside food
or beverages. No pets allowed inside the amphitheater. For
complete concert schedule go to Facebook.com/KRAORG.
For more information, call (503) 910-3232.
Saturday, August 4
ServeFest by Lakepoint Community Church. New location
at Claggett Creek Middle School, 1810 Alder Drive NE. 10
a.m. to 1 p.m. A free, family-friendly event. Kids carnival,
hot dog lunch, haircuts for kids, manicures, bike repairs, pet
grooming, family photos and more.
6th annual Greater Gubser Neighborhood Garage Sale, 9
a.m-3 p.m. Dozens of sales throughout the neighborhood
featuring furniture, sports equipment,household items, toys,
clothing and tools.
Artists reception, Keizer Art Association’s Enid Joy Mount
Gallery, Keizer Cultural Center, 2-4 p.m. August show
is members-only art work. Exhibit continues to Aug. 31.
keizerarts.com.
Sunday, August 5
Shrek the Musical Jr. Your last chance to see the kids from
Enlightened Theatrics’ summer camp perform Shrek the
Musical. Show starts at 2:30 p.m. at Salem’s Historic Grand
Theatre, 191 High St. NE in Salem. Visit
Monday, August 6
Keizer City Council meeting, 7 p.m. Keizer Civic Center.
Wednesday, August 8
Keizer Planning Commission meeting, 6 p.m. Keizer Civic
Center.
Thursday, August 9
Keizer Traffi c Safety/Bikeways/Pedestrian
meeting, 6 p.m. Keizer Civic Center.
Committee
Friday, August 10
Valvidia Entertainment Concert. 8 to 11:30 p.m. at the Oregon
State Fair Expo Center, 2330 17th St NE in Salem. Entrance
is $40 .
Saturday, August 11
Englewood Forest Festival, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m, at Englewood
Park, 1260 19th Street NE in Salem. Free family-friendly art
& environmental workshops.
Keizertimes presents The Severin Sisters as part of the
Free 2018 Summer Concert Series located at Keizer Rotary
Amphitheater at Keizer Rapids Park. Gates open at 5 p.m.,
show starts at 6:30 p.m. Beer, Wine, & Spirits available
from Santiam Brewing Company. Please no outside food
or beverages. No pets allowed inside the amphitheater. For
complete concert schedule go to Facebook.com/KRAORG.
For more information, call (503) 910-3232.
Correction
In a story titled Sign code changes fi nally adopted in the
July 27 edition of the paper, the sign code was revised to
permit electronic message board changes every 15 seconds
and window signage will be permitted without limitation.
The misinformation in the original article was due to a
reporter error.
sudoku
Enter digits
from 1-9 into
the blank
spaces. Every
row must
contain one
of each digit.
So must every
column, as
must every
3x3 square.
involved with OFYC for
four years. She’s been in the
system since she was 8 years
old, and now, at 21 years
old, she just aged out of the
Independent Living Program
(ILP). In the past she’s attended
Policy Conferences as a
participant, but this year she
was facilitating workshops and
teaching other foster youth
about policymaking.
For Sherrett, the policy
recommendations this year
resonated with her own
experience
growing
up
in the system. One policy
recommendation in particular
hit close to home: a concerted
effort to limit the number of
“houseless” foster youth. At
the conference, the youth
who presented on this issue
said foster youth need better
information
about
their
housing rights and should be
more involved in deciding
where they end up after they
turn 14 years old.
Foster youth are at risk of
becoming houseless when they
feel that their options are too
narrow to accommodate their
needs, whether that’s feeling
pressure to exit the system
because they feel they’re
being forced into residential
mental health treatment or
can’t fi nd an environment
that accepts their identity,
which is especially diffi cult for
LGBT+ youth. Older youth
who feel cornered often lobby
to exit the system and end up
homeless.
“If you consider couch-
surfi ng homelessness, and I
sure do, I was homeless for
about a year and a half. …
Even though I’ve had places
to stay, it was always temporary,
it was only a month-long
thing,” Sherrett said. This type
of homelessness—where the
individual isn’t physically on
the street, but doesn’t have a
place to stay long-term—often
goes unnoticed.
In addition to giving foster
youth more information on
and access to their housing
rights, foster youth need
more support to integrate
into the community as they
near adulthood. Another
2018 OFYC Policy
Recommendations
The foster care system in
Marion county is struggling to
meet demand.
This is the sixth part of a
continuing series in the
Keizertimes investigating the
state of local foster care and
shedding light on ways to
get involved.
Check back next week for
another installment.
policy recommendation that
addresses that need is increased
funding for the Independent
Living
Program,
which
provides classes for current
and former youth to better
navigate adult life and funding
for tuition, vocational training,
and housing. State funding is
currently set at $2 million, and
the recommendation posits
that $6 million is needed to
allow the program to fulfi ll the
current need.
“We need to make the effort
to make sure foster kids have
these services. How can we do
that? By pushing legislators to
make a choice,” Sherrett said.
“Instead of putting money
toward a prison, put it toward
ILP services, so we don’t have
these at-risk youth going
to prison. They can stay at-
risk, get the help they need,
and eventually not be at-risk
anymore.”
Sherrett’s
passion
for
advocacy is evident, but the
confi dence with which she
carries herself is something
she’s had to work toward, she
said. This year, as a workshop
facilitator, she was coaching
her peers on policymaking for
the fi rst time in her life. At fi rst,
she was anxious about fi lling
that role. But after talking
through her anxiety with some
of her older peers, she realized
the purpose of what they were
doing.
“We’re going to make an
impact on people, this why
we’re doing this, to make a
change within the foster care
system, to make a difference
and let our voice be heard,”
Sherrett said. “That’s what I
love about being involved with
OFYC.”
OFYC members spent
the weekend of July 21
hashing out policy recom-
mendations for lawmakers,
DHS higher-ups and ser-
vice providers to improve
the system in a way that will
have the greatest impact on
youth in foster care. Here’s
the full list of recommenda-
tions:
• Increase funding for
Independent Living Pro-
gram (ILP) services, includ-
ing services for foster youth
exiting treatment centers.
• Increase funding for
Court Appointed Special
Advocates (CASAs) and
increase the diversity of
CASA volunteers.
• Create sexual awareness
classes provided by DHS
caseworkers with curricu-
lum designed by doctors,
psychologists, and those
with lived experiences,
with a focus on the men-
tal and emotional aspects of
sexual health.
• Expand Oregon Health
Plan (OHP) coverage to
include more options for
alternative mental health
services and treatment, and
improve access to dental
specialists such as ortho-
dontics.
• Provide youth in care
with a complete list of
mental health resources and
all available mental health
services.
McMahon, the program
director, said that’s what the
best thing about a youth-
led program like OFYC is:
empowering youth to be the
change. “I’m not the decision
maker for this program, and it’s
amazing for the youth to feel
that,” she said. “I think they
really feel that they’re directing
and owning it.”
Policymakers, both within
DHS and at the Capitol have
been surprisingly open to
youth involvement, McMahon
said. They’ve welcomed youth
voices in policy meetings
and in presentations to train
DHS
employees, among
other areas. Every bill OFYC
New foundation will provide
outside aid to Keizer Fire
Present and past members of be mailed to: Keizer Fire Foun-
the Keizer Fire District Board dation, P.O. Box 20183, Keizer,
of Directors and other civic- OR 97307.
Keizer Fire Foundation
minded leaders have joined to-
gether to form the Keizer Fire
Foundation.
The mission of the founda-
tion is support the training of
Keizer Fire District fi refi ghters
and medical personnel, provide
equipment and to provide sup-
plemental support for the emer-
gency services activities of the
district for the residents of the
Keizer area.
The foundation will promote
5 YEARS AGO
the fi refi ghting, lifesaving and
McNary
student earns
education efforts of the Keizer
her way to Europe
Fire District.
Eventually the foundation Cassandra Jones, 16, spent the
will solicit project ideas from last fi ve months doing bake
sales and yard work to raise the
the public.
Currently fi nancial dona- $5,000 needed to fund a trip in
tions may be mailed to PO Box Europe as part of a music tour
20183, Keizer, OR 97307. The by Voyageurs International.
board is asking Keizer residents
10 YEARS AGO
to honor the foundation with
Planned statue will
bequests. Life-long supporters
of the Keizer Fire District can honor city’s namesake
be confi dent that their dona- A selection committee has been
tions will have positive effects formed to choose the artist who
on the district and the citizens will sculpt the statue of Thomas
Dove Keizur for the new civic
of Keizer.
Dave Bauer, a volunteer with center.
the district for 30 years, a for-
15 YEARS AGO
mer Salem-Keizer School Board
Stun
gun robbery
member and co-owner of R.
report
unravels
Bauer Insurance, serves as presi-
dent of the Foundation. Other Police believe an apparent
offi cers include vice president robbery outside the Wells
Shawn Lapof, a Keizer resident, Fargo Bank branch in Keizer
member of the board of direc- was actually staged to cover
tors of the Keizer Chamber of up the attempted theft of a
Commerce and secretary-trea- local restaurant’s deposit. Two
surer Chet Patterson, a member employees of Taco Bell were
of the Keizer Fire District board arrested.
of directors; he also served as
20 YEARS AGO
one of Keizer’s fi rst city coun-
Council
resorts to
cilors in the early 1980s.
drawing
to
fi ll vacant
Other board members in-
clude: Victoria Shinn, Karen Van
position
Meter, Garry Whalen and Lyn- The city councilors deadlocked
don Zaitz. Keizer Fire District on several ballots to fi ll a va-
Chief Jeff Cowan serves as an ex cant seat. Split 3-3 between ap-
offi cio member of the founda- plicants Lore Christopher and
tion’s board.
Jacque Moir, Police Chief Marc
The foundation’s fi rst project Adams come up and picked a
will be announced in the sum- name out of a 5-gallon bucket.
mer of 2018 and begin solicit- That’s how Christopher won
ing donations. Donations may appointment.
looking
back in
the KT
has been designated a 501(c)3
charitable organization by
the Internal Revenue Service
which allows it to accept tax-
free donations.
• Establish crisis plans in
order to facilitate perma-
nency by preventing un-
necessarily moving foster
youth from their homes.
• Youth transitioning into
care must receive mental
health counseling and foster
parents and the caseworker
must interact with youth
for one month before con-
ducting the Child and Ado-
lescent Needs and Strengths
(CANS) assessment.
• Hire former foster
youth to bridge commu-
nication barriers between
DHS and current foster
youth so youth know their
rights and opportunities for
obtaining housing.
• Foster youth must re-
ceive an in-person meeting
at age 14 informing them of
housing opportunities, fol-
lowed by a mandatory fol-
low-up meeting every 6-12
months to document prog-
ress. Prioritize the hous-
ing needs of youth with a
higher risk of houselessness,
including
LGBTQIA2S
youth and youth of color.
• Support relationships
and bonding between fos-
ter parents and foster youth
by requiring caseworkers
to provide classes, trainings,
and resources regarding re-
ligion, lifestyle, and bond-
ing in easy to access formats
such as posters, packets, and
websites.
has championed at the State
Capitol has been signed into
Oregon law. But McMahon
wants to see youth involvement
go beyond a seat at the table.
Of DHS Child Welfare,
McMahon said, “The agency
was really ready to have youth
at the table and now I’m trying
to shift that to having a table
of youth.”
For more information or to
support OFYC, visit ofyc.org.
GROWTH,
continued from Page A1
struggles likely lie ahead, said
Glen Bolen, a senior planner
with OTAK, a consulting fi rm
helping Keizer plot the path
forward.
“Costs will be higher
because everything will need
to be built from scratch.
Fees would have to increase
dramatically. Demand for
property may not be suffi cient
to
support
infrastructure
costs, and homes may not be
affordable to current (Keizer)
residents,” Bolen said.
maze
Maze by Jonathan Graf of Keizer
KEIZERTIMES.COM
Web Poll
Results
Should the Salem-Keizer
School District have its own
police department?
63% – No
37% – Yes
Vote in a new poll every Thursday!
GO TO KEIZERTIMES.COM