Story last updated at
4:50 p.m.
Thursday, March 11, 2004
Contact information provided
The intent of this letter is to provide contact information to follow up on the parent opinion pieces which appeared in earlier issues of the Homer News.*Our focus group, sponsored by the Child Advocacy Coalition of Homer, consists of parents whose teenagers are or have in the past been living outside of the home without parent approval.*We would like to provide contact information for parents and other community members who would like to participate in future focus groups on specific issues. Possible focus groups or task forces might look into: examining laws and ordinances on the state and local level and proposing changes which might help teens stay out of trouble and support families; creating a teen homeless shelter such as Covenant House and/or supervised housing arrangements for teens; establishing a local youth work corps or some other way for young teens to gain job skills and community recognition; looking at issues involved in creating a teen center or other safe places for teens to meet and hang out; advocating for a local drug/alcohol treatment center; establishing a citizen watch group to protect minors from easy access to drugs and alcohol; establishing support groups for parents of troubled teens; promoting mediation between parents and children.
If you would like to participate in a focus group or task force, please email your contact information and specific interest area(s) to Sharon Whytal, Public Health Nurse, sharon_whytal@health.state.ak.us, or call her at 235-8857.*Sharon is the chair of the Homeless Youth subcommittee of the Child Advocacy Coalition. Agencies that have assisted some of us, and may be helpful for other parents include: Homer Community Mental Health: 235-7701, Office of Children: 235-8239, Parole Officers at Juvenile Intake: 235-7114, South Peninsula Women Center: 235-8857, North Star Behavioral Hospital in Anchorage: (800) 478-7575, Alaska Psychiatric Institute: (888) 825-5274, schools, and health clinics.
PeggyEllen Kleinleder, CACH Parent Focus Group on Homeless Youth
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