Pain and Promise

"Some say life is simple, but we insist on making it complicated. Child welfare is just the opposite. It's really complicated, but we keep trying to make it simple." A subset of older youth in the American foster care system have been bounced between foster homes, psychiatric hospitals, kinship care, homelessness, and juvenile detention. Deeply wounded by their circumstances and disengaged from society, some are placed in a Residential Treatment Center--the least understood, most maligned, and most expensive level of foster care. Pain and Promise is about these kids, the system "outliers." It showcases their voices, reveals the inside story about the residential treatment programs devoted to their care, and reflects on Nan Dale's 30 years of experience, including her 22 years as CEO of The Children's Village (CV). This book reimagines how to address a myriad of challenges and provide these kids with the opportunities they need and deserve. Aron Myers, a former resident of CV and now an accomplished clinical social worker, helps bring the book's many pieces together. Pain and Promise addresses the question of whether group care programs for foster youth should exist at all. New regulations and family support programs have improved the lives of many kids, but some have been damaged by one-size-fits-all policies. Residential treatment has been their placement of last resort, yet recent legislation is pushing these programs into extinction and offering few good options. This book offers an honest look at residential care because Dale and Myers are serious about providing all children, including those dangerously disconnected from us all, a genuine shot at a safe and fulfilling future

Nan Dale was the first women President/CEO at two legendary child welfare agencies, The Wiltwyck School for Boys and The Children's Village, spending nearly 30 years working to improve foster care for thousands of vulnerable children and families. At CV, she promoted intensive family support programs, founded the Institute for Child Welfare Research and pioneered the WAY Program, one of the nation's first comprehensive initiatives for youth transitioning from foster care to adulthood. Recognized as a leader in her field, her peers chose her to represent them for nearly a decade on the board of The Child Welfare League of America. Later in her career, she led Action Against Hunger, an international public health agency dedicated to reducing world hunger, reaching millions annually. Her work at The Children's Village has been featured in The New York Times, NPR America and The World, The International Herald Tribune, The Atlantic Monthly, PBS Bill Moyers Journal, Citizen's Committee for Children and a Child Welfare League of America's publication on "What Works" in child welfare. Aron Myers spent his adolescence at The Children's Village in New York. Years later, he returned to the agency that had raised him, this time as a clinical social worker. Earlier in his career, he lived and worked with adults with developmental disabilities in an ecumenical community while completing his master's degree at Case Western University. After returning to work at The Children's Village, he soon became a Division Director, managing all the agency's community-based, family-support programs, the Runaway and Homeless Youth program, and Supervised Independent Living apartments for youth transitioning to adulthood from foster care. This journey—from youth in care to senior administrator— gave him a unique perspective on meeting the needs of highly vulnerable children and families. Currently, Myers is Chief Leadership Strategist and Principal at A-Game Leadership Group, where he coaches leaders and organizations across the country, drawing on both his lived experience in foster care and 25 years as a senior nonprofit executive.