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Sonoma County. The chosen spot of all the earth as far as nature is concerned, according to the famed plant wizard Luther Burbank Diverse County, with 1,010,000 acres of land on 1574 miles of scenic roadways, Cinema County is rightfully famed for its agriculture did a culture, industry

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and recreation, as well as for the amazingly successful ethnic and economic mixture of its more than 340,000 residents on for the forward looking philosophy of its local governing bodies. Now we invite you to take a closer look at Sonoma County in the eighties with your host

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Rich McGlinchy. Get everyone. Welcome to another edition of Sonoma County in the eighties. We'll be talking about a very special place on this program. I'm gonna talk about the Valley of the Moon. Children centered. Many of you may have known that before, as the dependent unit

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now has a new name, it's a Valley of the Moon Children Center, and we're to talk to two persons involved in its management. On the left of your screen is Larry Picard, and he is the acting director of the center and on the right of your

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screen is Katherine Kennedy and cheesy acting assistant director of the center. What do you could quit acting and become permanent? Well, we'll see. Maybe one of these days. Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here. Thanks. Um, it really is, Ah, splendid unit. You do a

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splendid job out there, and it's a desperately needed situation. Let me ask you some questions about it to begin with. I think maybe the first thing we ought to ask is, What type of Children do you serve at the facility? And what type of problems do

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these Children have? Well, rich? Our facility is is primarily there to serve Children who are unfortunately abused or neglected in their home situation. They come to us with all kinds of problems, ranging from physical problems that may have been a result off being in an abusive

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situation all the way. Teoh kids who have severe emotional difficulties as well because they may have suffered themselves from various kinds of emotional abuse over the years. These Children typically are with us because someone in authority, namely the police or the Social service department, have come

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in contact with situations where these Children are in abusive or neglectful situation, and the law is there to protect them, and they bring them to our facility for protection. There is a section of the welfare and institutions called called Section 300 these Children are covered under

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that section, so either the police or the social worker and Social Service department would be bringing a child to our facility for care. So that's basically the kids that we serve, Um, as I mentioned earlier, but I didn't mention the time. It was in August of

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this year of 1988 that you had a reception at a ceremony out there and actually changed the name of the facility from Dependent Unit to the value of Children center at which was a very fine move, I think, and I would like you to explain a

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little bit about that. Why, why the jade's support? Well, the Children, as I mentioned that that we serve our Children that are served primarily by the Social Service Department in that the families where the Children are coming from receive a number of different kinds of services

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toe help them deal with what often is very stressful situations and and a za result of that. The kids that come to us receive services from the Social Service Department. And in the past, the initial investigations of these kinds of cases was handled in the probation

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department, which was all well and good. They did a very fine job that it seemed to make more sense for those functions per se to be also in the Social service departments. So the investigative functions came to the social services, and at the same time they

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decided that it would. Officials in charge decided it would make also a great deal of sense for the unit itself that housed the Children initially to also come to social service. So there we had a very nice reception and a renaming of the facility in in

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August. I believe it waas. As a matter of fact, we thought it might be helpful or our viewers might be interested in looking at a few of the slides that we showed at that reception and brought them along. Today, maybe as we go through them, we

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can comment about a bit about our facility and tell you a little bit about the home so be it. Let's see the slides and you comment on him? Is they? They come up. Okay, well, the the Valley, The Moon Children's home is located, as you see

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here in the valley of the moon, this is, ah, distant shot from it. We're out across from Oakmont, which you know is a residential retirement community. We're actually at less Gillick owes, which is where also Juvenile Hall is is located. This is the facility. It it

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itself. It is Ah, modern building. We have at any one time about 25 30 Children residing there with us. This is the main entrance, and this is where the Children come when they first come to see us. Um, all of our Children participate in school and,

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uh, various kinds of activities. And a part of that, of course, is providing transportation. Here we have a shot of one of our residents waving to people as they take off. One of the things we do for kids when they first come into the home is

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that we try toe, extend a some sort of affection, or let them know that they're welcome. And we use the stuffed animals that is the way of doing that. So here's one of our residents. Here we are on a ah, field trip and outing are setting

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is beautiful where near the mountains, and they take many hikes up into the mountains. And this is a group that has gone up hiking and they're exploring in the rocks. And here they are having a good time. Well, for the camera person, our kids are full

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of life, and they really do enjoy getting out and having fun with one another. And this is just a example of that. There's a person I did a photo, each one of those hands. Yeah, exactly. Food is an important part of what we do. It's an

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indication I think of nurturance that we can offer to the kids. And so, in almost every event, there's some sort of food, and hopefully it's a nutritious snack. Catherine, here you are, with a group out on the front loan, right? That's what it looks like. Yeah,

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we do have several teenagers residing there. Currently, here's one of our younger residents with one of our volunteers, and hopefully we'll have a few minutes to talk about the need for volunteers in our facility today. But this particular volunteer is very dedicated and has done an

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extremely good job with us. This is of course, Ah, a shot of one of our residents and our staff members indicative off the really the atmosphere we try to create their one of giving waiting for. Yeah, indeed it is. This is a couple of our teenage

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residents, I think, out near the side of the facility. I can't see it, but we do have a satellite dish out there now, which we had donated recently, and that's been a big help on occasion. It is like to watch various TV program. Yeah, right. Uh,

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I don't But I do recognize the Post. We have a preschool program for Children, and that's of course, a vital part of what we do. So the younger ones, the 34 year olds, meet daily it sometimes a couple times a day for our preschool program, and

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they get involved in various kinds of art and crafts activities through the preschool, and we also try to offer that for the older residents as well. Here we are, Um, let's say pre school again, right? This is one of our younger residents. We do have several

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preschools. Current preschoolers. Currently, I think we have five or six of the younger Children with us. Now, uh, this is a typical scene, I guess you would say of, um, Children constantly need theater action that that our staff show towards them, and they do an excellent

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job of doing that, holding them and taking care of them. This is something that many of the residents don't have or didn't have in their past. And as a result of that way, constantly find the need to to pick up and hold kids. This is one

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of our residents and looks like involved in some sort of a game or activity. Catherine, can you see that better than myself? Right. That's it's younger. Probably preschooler plan. You know, this is one of Steve's games. Yeah, we have one of our staff members that eyes

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very adept at doing various kinds of games and activities, and he has devised a number off games that he plays with the kids. They've been very helpful. We have a point system at the facility, and this allows Children to work their way up. Andi earned various

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kinds of rewards. And this is the board that we use for that. So you can see way use it for that. That's the little house. Yes, is the preschool right? Another example of how the some of the activities of kids are involved with because of confidentiality.

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That's why you don't see any Children here. We have again some educational activities that are kids participate in. And as you can see, our old name is up there. The new name Valley of the Moon, is not there. And for kids who do their very best,

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they make it toe the top of the wrong and they're on tops on. They have special privileges and so forth. So, uh, this is, uh, the program that they participate in, Well, pizza making, Yes, do some baking also with had volunteers come out and make delicious.

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You can see it's turning to desert. As I said, the kids get involved in a lot of activities around food and nurturance. And, um, meal time is a very important time. We have someone who's hiding from us. Uh, I recognize that Hand again. Yes, I know

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it's probably once that we saw earlier bike riding. We have a bike riding program, bikes donated to us from the sheriff's Department, and we fixed them up and ride the bikes around the unit. That's that's great exercise. Yeah, we have to play grounds. One for the

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smaller kids and one for the larger ones. This is it for the older kids. And we've had several volunteers and so far, help us improve our playground. And play is a vital part of the Kids day, and we try to allow for plenty of time to

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do that. And we have ah, planned recreational program that they participate in. This is, uh, As you can see, our residents are very, very appreciative of what they receive in the way of care, and they are very willing to express it all your slides, your meaningful

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east All say something about child's heart and the close of the day at the valley of the Moon. It's pretty. That's us. Oh, they went to the value of the moon. Disappeared? Yeah, and we're back. So that gives you that gives you a glimpse of Yeah.

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Ladies, gentlemen, no sides were not to try to show you the entire operation of home. But to show you the spirit, the feeling, some of the youngsters, some of the things they do. And it's a blessing we have that that leaves the Children center. I always

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keep 20 news over name, but I'm trying to fight against that's all right after all those years of calling it. Sure, Commissioner, why don't you after this question? For what? It's a purpose of the Children, he explained. To begin with that it's a case where people

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have been abused or, uh, I guess what's abandoned to some degree. Maybe sometimes, or perhaps you neglected. It's what What would you say is a purpose? Well, the purposes, um, for the Children to have a place where they can come in crisis, where the law enforcement

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can bring the kids and, no, they'll be safe. We want to meet all the needs of the Children. That's our goal is to make them feel safe when they come in, let them know they're not there for anything they've done wrong. Um, let them know that

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there, there, until their family, a family member, can have them come into their home or, possibly, uh, reunification with, um, an aunt or an uncle or possibly they would be going into a foster home. But our purpose is to meet their needs. You know, make sure

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they're safe and let them know that we care about them. And we're gonna do the best possible. You know, when everything possible that we can do to meet their needs while they're there. Um, school needs physical needs, medical needs educational. We try to meet all those,

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and it's a lot. The kids come in, and sometimes they may have not had a home for a long time. Or maybe they've been on the run. Maybe they've been abused for years, sexually or mentally, and they need different a lot of different kinds of help,

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and we try to meet those needs for them. I want someone hurt. Someone described the sorted out the Children's dependent, you know, as it once was, called Value My Children Center as a place for youngsters who, through no fault of their own own, need a home

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for sure. That's a good description. We're gonna have to pause for just a moment and that station. Bring the public a public service announcement, after which we will come back we'll talk more than every Picard, Katherine Kennedy. And I'll also tell you about the artwork on

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the wall. You've taught your Children to be polite and friendly. But have you taught them when not to be high there? Do you live around here going to school? Yes. Well, I could give you a ride. Last year, 50,000 Children disappeared. Many of them from nice,

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safe neighborhoods. Okay, talk to your Children about not talking to strangers and do it today. A message for your child safety from the American Medical Association. Theon Czar 2038 to 1. Your life will end in a plane crash. 345 to 1. You'll die of AIDS 105

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to 1. You'll be murdered. But the odds on favorite to take your life is cardiovascular disease. Chances air nearly 50 50. It will eventually kill you. You can put money on it, but if you want to improve your odds, put it into research instead. Improve your

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arms. Support the American Heart Association. Welcome back to this tradition of Sonoma County in the eighties. We're talking to Larry Picard. Katherine Kennedy was talking about the Valley of the Moon Children Center. That's a fabulous place. We're gonna ask him more questions about it in just

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a moment. But first I'd like to call your attention to the artwork on our studio walls. Today, the two paintings are by a local artist of woman named Ellie McClatchy. Yes, there is a connection. It's my talented wife, and we very much appreciate having her. Let

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us bring these two little pieces of work down here in a very lovely dear thank you back to, uh, Valium, other Children. Senator, one of the most important spots we have and functions we have. And it's only county government hierarchy. Um, what are the ages of

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the posters of Children's home? Well, essentially all ages from birth through 18 years old, from what from birth? Is that right to 18 years old? One of the major problems in many communities, I think, in California today in our community, is no exception. Is our Children

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that are born addicted to drugs, and so many of those Children are brought to our attention at the time of birth. They may not necessarily end up residing in our facility. They may go into a foster home where they are taking care of initially and never

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actually live with us. But some of them do. And so we have infants all the way up to 18 years of age. Um, how are their educational needs taking care? Okay, well, we have a school lays on that, um, is just for the Children at the

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dependent home. And she would interview a child when they come in and find out where they're at in their school with school with their past school has talked to their teacher. She would find out how they were doing in the class and decide if it would

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be best for them to attend our home school, which we have at the Children's home, or to go into public school. Kenwood's School, Montgomery and Slater are schools that are Children attend public schools and then Children who need to be on the unit because of protection

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or because maybe the emotional, um, stress of being taken away or need to be in our homeschool attend, uh, at the Children's home. And it's, ah, regular accredited school. It's really nice. We just had a recently remodeled and we have computers up there. Three computers. Um,

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yeah, we have our own teacher, and it's a great thing because we can help kids who are really falling behind and help them catch up so that when they're placed in a foster home, they'll be able to be placed in the appropriate school setting. That's really

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important. It is. What happens if the youngster turns 18 while we're in your facility while we try to prepare them for being able to go out on their own is what it amounts to or two D independent. A child that would turn 18 in our facility

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may or may not have. The normal resource is another 18 year old that is a family that is intact in place and ready to step forward and help them become independent. So, you know, we're looking for such things as living. You know, their housing situation we

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would be working at. Of course, the social worker is very involved in this activity, but the social worker would be working with the facility around issues of housing, educational needs. They may desire to go on to college savings account. You know the real practical things about

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setting up the household pots and pans and all that sort of thing. So we would be doing that and attempting to address all those issues in the facility so that when they are 18 they're prepared to go out and um to be on their own and

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have some knowledge about what they're going to do. I mean, that's a real concern. I Sure, being an adult is a lot of different. You can't just turn them out without being ready to fend for themselves. That's right. How about the medical needs to take care

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of their? Well, we have our own nurse on the unit, and we have a doctor that's available to us Any kind of medical emergency that comes up it for nurses, not there at the time we would take the Children to Community Hospital or we would call

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first and let him know, say, uh, let him know what the circumstance was. And do they feel that we should bring the child in, and then immediately we would they felt it necessary. How about volunteers? You have any need for volunteers after Larry Rich? I'm glad

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you asked that question. I had you killed May. Yeah, right. Exactly. And yes, we definitely do have need for volunteers. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people in our community already who have volunteered their services. You saw on the slides the example of a lady helping

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one of our Children. The need for volunteers is great. You condone. Think, for example, of school. All of these kids are At least most of these Children are behind in school, and they need help to get up to grade level. So right there is the need

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for tutors for Children. But we just have needs such as companionship, willing to sit down with the child, hold a smaller child on your lap. You know, um, engage in some kind of conversation with an older child. I mean, things that appear to be very simple

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or a big need at our facility. And, uh, we encourage volunteers to come out work with us. The Social service Department has a volunteer coordinator, names Barbara Cross one, and we're encouraging people that are interested in volunteering for our facility to contact her, and she does

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some initial screening of people, and then they're referred to us when they can get started. There may be people in our community that want to work with Children, and I think this is a golden opportunity for that. I should say it is what type of mental

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health services are available for. The Children know their youngsters like this. You're running too. But off a lot of kids into this traumatic circumstances, you're going to need some help. Yeah, definitely. We talked about that in the beginning today, Uh, we do have kids that have

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emotional needs. Some of them are very severe kinds of difficulties and problems. We have two psychologists that are on a consulting basis with the facility through the Sonoma County Mental Health Department, and they visit our facility and see Children and evaluate them and so forth. I

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think one of the biggest needs, though, are for Children that actually need residential kinds of services in a psychiatric setting. That's a tremendous need in our community, and it's something that we see on an ongoing basis with our Children. That need is essentially at various times

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goes unmet because the services are severely lacking in this area. But for the most part, the emotional needs of kids in the facility are met, either through our consulting psychologists, Uh, and or maybe private psychologists in the community, That air seeing kids that reside with us.

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Catherine, last year there was a, um I guess it was a task force looked into privatisation or making private the the facility. What happened to that player? Well, there was a study there. That was when we were still with probation. They wanted to see what kind

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of services other counties in the state gave. Um, and they wanted to look into possibly part privatisation. And what they found was that our facility is really excellent compared to what the other counties have and that, um, some other counties have had problems when they've gone

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private or just relied entirely on foster homes and that we're meeting the needs of the Children. Um, you know very well here in Cinema County. And that's what what are some of the needs of the either of you are both of you to join me on

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this. What are some of the needs at the home writing depression? Well, volunteers, excellent volunteers. Remember that, right? Guys need that. Um, we have Ah, uh, well, just like any family, we need to take our kids on outings. Um, what the what we asked force in

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the way of donations is for our outings fund. It's a fun that provides money so that our kids condo's things like go bowling or go skating your, um, go to the ice rink. The roller rink. Um, we also have a wish list right now, and way

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have all kinds of things, including dining room tables and recreational equipment for the Children of various sorts fishing poles. This just in any water, any water, right? Well, part of also what, Katherine stock, you know, the We use some of the funds for the outing. Beautiful,

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beautiful. We're down to just a minute or so left, and I wanted to know What's your final thoughts? Both of your what volunteers you need desperate. Always do What? Your final comment on the first day on the Valley Children's Center? Um, just that I think during

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this holiday period that we saw a tremendous outpouring of support from our community for the work that we're doing at this facility. Um, it was overwhelming to me, and, um, I know that it is sincerely appreciated beyond belief by not only myself, but by the staff

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and especially by the Children who reside there. The community was wonderful to us, and we hope that we are worthy of the job, that they've entrusted us to do it. Your final Well, I'd like to thank all of the public also for their, um, donations and

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support that they gave us this Christmas. It was overwhelming. It was brought tears to my eyes, many a time. The Children from there was Children bringing Children, gifts and parents. And it was really, really wonderful that we're still thanking. People were riding ever. What? Trying to

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write everyone letters we still are. So it was really wonderful in this. Support is needed, and really, it was great. 5395 800 Is that get you there right now? We'll get you there. 5395 800. If you want to volunteer to help, some youngsters would have your

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heart touched. You be sure to go to the Valley of Men and Children Center or call a social service department. Barbara Crossman Barbara Question. She's about to record data and offer some of your time. It's something you'll find tremendously rewarding. It's a wonderful unit they're doing

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a wonderful job and a very necessary job to help Are the youngsters who know who through no fault of their own? I need a place to stay for a short while. Kathrin. Thanks for coming in part of it. Thank you. Yes, we've enjoyed it. Know very

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well. We've been talking to Larry Picard, Easy acting director of the Rally Moon Children Center, And Katherine Kennedy, the acting assistant director of the Value Women Children Center. The program in Sonoma County. I'll be back with you next week with another member of the county government

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family about county we live in. Can we all loathe along Good luck and good health, you know?