One Hope United is dedicated to providing children and families with the resources and services that they need to thrive. One such program is Pathfinders, which helps children who are having struggles in school and exhibiting behaviors such as aggressive outbursts, difficulty moving from one activity to another, or general fearfulness.

Recent research suggests that children who experience trauma in their early lives are more likely to exhibit negative social emotional behaviors in school settings. This was the case at our Elgin Child and Family Resource Center, where teachers were having difficulty handling the challenging behaviors displayed by several of the students in their classrooms. Since One Hope United already offers comprehensive services for individuals and families in need of intensive treatment and counseling through our Community-Based Family Services, we could address this problem using expertise that already existed within the organization.

Pathfinders, which is currently available at three of our early learning centers, is led by a licensed clinical social worker. This social worker spends time in the classrooms doing observations, providing coaching support to teachers, and most importantly working one on one with the students. Services are even offered in the home or other community locations to make them more accessible for the family. Having a social worker in the classroom has made a tremendous difference. Our teachers feel better knowing there is an expert in this area to help them provide exactly what their students need to succeed.

“There was a family at our center dealing with the stress of preparing for a move and eventually enrolling their son, who struggled with self-regulation, difficulties with transitions, and outbursts into a new school. With the help of our teachers, social worker and the Pathfinders program, this difficult transition went as smoothly as possible. On their last day, the mother shared with me that she couldn’t be more thankful for everything our center had done to help them”, shared Sara Gray, Director at Elgin Child and Family Resource Center.

Your support is what makes it possible for One Hope United to offer important programs just like Pathfinders.