JEFFREY FOUNDATION
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Mission Statement
The Jeffrey Foundation is committed to serving children with special needs and their families through its therapeutic education and recreational programs and through its family support services. The challenges of a special needs child can be insurmountable. The Jeffrey Foundation, through high-quality programming and support services, helps both the child and the family to successfully meet the challenges posed by developmental disabilities, autism, multiple handicaps, poverty, abuse, abandonment and neglect. The Foundation also strives to extend its services to typical children through its programs of inclusion and outreach so that the community may benefit from theses additional resources. The mission of The Jeffrey Foundation is to make life more productive and happier for all these children and their families. Our philosophy is that disabled and handicapped persons, properly and sensitively nurtured, can learn to enjoy recreation and education programs and can achieve dignity and self-esteem despite physical and mental limitations. Our philosophy further embraces the concept that typical children who are included in many of these programs will benefit from socialization, recreational and educational opportunities to which they might not otherwise have access.
About This Cause
The mission of the Jeffrey Foundation is to improve the quality of life for special needs children and their families through community-based therapeutic, educational, recreational, and counseling programs. We envision a society where children with special needs and their families are able to reach their full potential, achieve a sense of empowerment and be engaged members of their community. The Jeffrey Foundation was founded in 1972 to meet the urgent need for therapeutic day care for children with disabilities in Los Angeles County. The Jeffrey Foundation’s CEO and Founder, Alyce Morris Winston, a single mother of a child with muscular dystrophy, named the Foundation in honor of her son Jeffrey, who passed away in 1980. Our philosophy is that disabled and handicapped persons, properly and sensitively nurtured, can improve learning skills no matter how limited they may be; can modify their behaviors and learn socialization skills; can develop self-reliance; can learn to enjoy recreation and education programs; and can achieve dignity and self-esteem despite physical and mental limitations. Since opening our doors 47 years ago, we have served more than 12000 children and their families. These children cope with disabilities such as muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, Down’s syndrome, and autism. Others are victims of abuse, crippling accidents, sight, speech and hearing impediments, or in-utero drug exposure. Short-Range Plans: The Jeffrey Foundation’s current growth is challenging us to enhance our programs with more opportunities that continue our tradition of service to continue providing services to children and families. We link families to our social service network to ensure the families also receive comprehensive services. Our camps are comprised of after school enrichment components such as art, drama, clay work, field trips, magician visits, special needs physical education coach, and social work (for families) these short term plans are ensuring that we are responsive to the needs of the children and families we serve. Our referred family is contacted and provided an intake appointment to obtain information regarding services needed for the child and the family. We are piloting a Buddy & ME summer volunteer program where we would match each of our volunteers with one child so that they can bond and engage in activities that are stimulating and have shared learning experiences. This year, we continue our Infant and Toddler Programs (0-3 years old) and have increased our outreach to the maximum capacity of 24 children from 0-3 years old and our Pre-School programs with 54 children who are 3-5 years old. This overall growth has called for the hiring of additional teachers to stay within the child/teacher ratios mandated by law. Long-Range Plans: The Jeffrey Foundation’s long-range plans are threefold at this time. Upon all the growth experience, we wish to bring programs that will enhance every component of programs we serve. We seek sustainability of our services and quality programs for our clients and their families. This includes strengthening our Board of Directors and guiding them through a strategic plan for the years to come. We plan to expand to offer our quality program to more clients given the need we see. Lastly, we want to have an opportunity to offer work-based learning and community integration to youth 22 and over—these youth, oftentimes, do not have opportunities to master work-related and life skills that would support their self-reliance. The goal is to provide these opportunities by connecting them to employers and one-on-one support that can help them master certain skills that make them employable. The Jeffrey Foundation provides the following programs at this time: Infant Program: offered to infants 0-24 months in a supportive physical environment and positive relationships. The JF Toddler Program: offered to toddlers 24-38 months. The Program is a critical part of our family services mission to improve the lives of families through childcare services, research, advocacy, and by providing comprehensive child development services for low-income children and their families. The ratio in this class is 1:4 and there are 16 toddlers enrolled in this program staffed by two teachers and an aide in each of two classrooms. The program accomplishes the following goals for the development of each child in the classroom: 1. Improve the child’s physical, social, and mental health abilities, including improvement of nutritional standards; 2. Help the intellectual and social development of the child by encouraging self-confidence, spontaneity, curiosity, and self-discipline through active participation in the classroom setting; 3. Improve the child’s mental process and skills with particular attention to thinking and verbal communication skills; 4. Create a climate of confidence to increase the child’s sense of dignity and self-worth to relate positively with family and others; and, 5. Maintain the child’s cultural heritage, primary language, and if possible, learn a second language. California State Preschool Program: offered to children 3-5 years old. The California State Preschool Program Part-Day (CSPP Part-Day) is a three-hour educational program for children ages three through five (3-5). It provides personalized learning experiences before children enter kindergarten. We provide AM and PM sessions and serve a total of 48 children. The ratio is 8:1 and we have three (3) teachers who oversee this program in both sessions supported by volunteers and interns. After School Education and Enrichment Program: offered to children 5-14 years old who attend public school during the day and are dropped off by school transportation or parents to our site from 1:30—5:30pm Monday through Friday. This program offers educational and recreational components (i.e., sports, music, arts & crafts, play, tutoring, technology.) All of these components promote reinforcement of life skills, self-esteem development, community integration, development of desirable behaviors, increased independence, socio-emotional growth, socialization, communication, and self-expression. The ratio in this program is 8:1 with some of the children, given their special needs, supported by a 1:1 teacher. We have 27 enrolled in this program and 40 during extended day camps (summer, spring, winter) High School Program: offered to students 14 to 22 years of age who transition from our after school program. In addition to the educational and recreational components (i.e., sports, music, arts & crafts, play, tutoring, technology) our after school participants receive, this group also receives life skills training and work-based learning (currency count, greeting, social integration, etc.) to promote reinforcement of life skills, self-esteem development, community integration, and development of desirable behaviors. Family Empowerment Program: Offered to community residents. A cohort of residents undergo Parenting training classes for thirteen (13) weeks. This program utilizes a comprehensive and holistic approach to strengthen and empower families who are parenting children with special needs and disabilities. It provides families with resources and tools such as assessments, case management services, specialized parenting workshops, and assistance with establishing community linkages and resource providers. Program Outcomes: Based on historical data, children in our program achieve 60% improvement in behavior, cognitive development, function level, socio-emotional skills, self-help skills, language/communication skills, self-esteem, independence, physical development, and their ability to reach the developmental goals and milestones set by the Regional Center Individualized Education Plan. Service coordinators who are charged with placing children in programs such as The Jeffrey Foundation have expressed the need for such programs and place the children in our program four out of five times—and what they say makes them do so—the fact that other families shared how happy and satisfied they are to see their children do in our program. 152 participants out of 152 participants will achieve at least one of their Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) objectives. 50% of participants will achieve 2 out of 3 objectives and 40% will achieve all 3 objectives as stipulated in IEP. Program attendance will increase to 92% as a result of all program supports offered.