Gabrielle Allender, LCSW, - Director of Client Programs and Prevention Parenting young children is rewarding and also challenging. During times of transition, feelings of being overwhelmed and uncertainty can take over. For some, the transition back to in-person schooling is quite exciting and offers a sense of relief to families. Imagine working (or trying to work) from home kid free? What a concept! For others, this transition will induce feelings of anxiety and uncertainty. And it’s not only us experiencing these feelings, our kids are too. Their emotions may be rooted in separation or ..read more

Children are the foundation of our future; they are the building blocks to becoming a better and safer society for everyone. A willingness to learn, grow, and succeed; a child has the potential to gain the knowledge to not only protect themselves but others as well. How do we achieve this? Well, it’s simple. We talk about it, we talk to our toddlers, our teens, and all ages in between. We teach the importance of body boundaries, provide lanes of open communication, while supporting the needs of our children. As parents, caregivers, and educators we have the power to pass messages along that ca ..read more

Family [fam-uh-lee, fam-lee]: Noun, plural/families:  1b. A social unit consisting of one or more adults together with the children they care for. According to the most recent research statistic, 2.5 million grandparents are living with and serving as primary caregivers to their grandchildren. There are also primary caregivers who are family members, family friends and foster (resource) parents. For the children we see here at KIDS Center, these nontraditional families are vital because of bio-parents’ substance abuse, incarceration, death, mental illness, child neglect and/or abuse. In t ..read more

In our efforts to safeguard children, it's important to recognize the especially vulnerable kids in our community. Learn why some children are at greater risk for abuse and what you can do to help. Disability and abuse According to the World Health Organization, more than 1 billion people live with some form of disability, and 1 in every 20 children has a moderate to severe disability. For Oregon schoolchildren, the rate is slightly higher. The Oregon Secretary of State determined 13.5% of all K-12 students have a disability, according to a 2018-1019 audit. Children with disabilitie ..read more

Whether you’re traveling or just hanging out at home, Spring Break is an ideal time to build your kid up with PACES (Positive Childhood Experiences). We’ve put together five days of PACES activities that you can try this break. These activities work for kids of all ages. What are PACES? You may have heard of ACES (Adverse Childhood Experiences). These are deeply traumatic experiences (like abuse and neglect) that can impact kids into adulthood. Thankfully, there’s an “antidote” to ACES. It’s called PACES (Positive Childhood Experiences). PACES can help kids become more resilient after trauma ..read more

Call the Saving Grace helpline anytime at 541-389-7021 Nationally, there is a full month dedicated to educating and bringing awareness to communities about domestic violence issues. All communities face domestic violence challenges and are deserving of support. This type of violence makes its mark on various types of intimate relationships and reverberates throughout households. It puts power in the hands of the abuser whilst instilling fear and hopelessness into the minds and hearts of the abused. These negative thoughts and emotions can overshadow a person’s ability to self-regulate and see ..read more

September is National Suicide Prevention Month. Summer is wrapping up and fall is quickly approaching. And as we are saying goodbye to the adventures that only summer can bring, we shift our attention to the cooling down of the weather, the upcoming holiday season, and then the end of another year. But before we start sipping on apple cider or carving pumpkins, I want us to hold space for those that have been affected by suicide. September is National Suicide Prevention Month. During this month, suicide prevention efforts from various organizations unite to bring awareness and provide tools to ..read more

We acknowledge and honor the land which we stand upon, and we respect the ancestral connections Indigenous People and their descendants have with this land.  Central Oregon is home to the tribes of Warm Springs, Wasco, Paiute, Klamath, Modoc and Yahooskin. -KIDS Center Land Acknowledgement-   “’We have been here since time began,’ Don Ivy, chief of the Coquille Indian Tribe, said. ‘We have been here since the first human got here’” - “Broken Treaties.” Indigenous People have been the stewards of this land and all its living things since Before Present (BP).  They have been the n ..read more

In 2019, KIDS Center partnered with the San Diego Police Foundation to bring SafetyNet, and internet safety curriculum, to our community. While focused on providing trainings for parents and adults about how to remain safe online and how to communicate and set boundaries for online engagement with children, we soon realized that we were missing a critical voice: youth!  This summer, we created a Youth Internet Engagement survey that is geared towards middle and high school students. The goal of this survey is to increase our knowledge and understanding of how youth in our community engage ..read more

Days are getting longer, and the school year is starting to wrap up…now what? With this challenging year under our belts, our children are DESPERATE for connections and activities that take them out of the house! While not every summer program or summer camp will be operating this year, there are some that will be in full swing for months of fun in the sun.  As with any youth-serving program, it is important, as parents and caregivers to know the policies and procedures each program has in place to keep kids safe. But how do you know what to look for, or what the right questions are to as ..read more