As Child Abuse Prevention Month comes to a close, a local group aimed at supporting victims of domestic violence reminds us that kids need services year-round. Total Action for Progress – TAP for short – has provided services for children and families in the region for more than six decades. Among their many services is the Superhero Kids Program, a peer-to-peer support group for kids who have been the victims of violence. Stacey Sheppard, Director of Housing and Human Services at TAP, says the need for youth mental health services in the area is currently outpacing their capacity to provide it – with the program only having 1-2 licensed professionals to take care of up to 15-middle-and-highschool-aged kids on any given week.
“We would really love to build our capacity and add more kiddos, and also at some point get our elementary kiddos back. That’s an age group that definitely needs to be served, and right now the capacity for us to be able to do that is very small,” says Sheppard.
To help boost their capacity, TAP has launched a $20,000 crowdfunding campaign in the hopes of contracting two additional licensed therapists, and covering the programs costs for one year. But Sheppard says donating funds isn’t the only way you can help, “There’s other ways they can donate. We like to feed the kids. If they pass a background investigation with us, they can even volunteer to help and be part of these groups. There’s so much that can be done, where no one in this community should say, ‘Well, I don’t know what to do’.”
To donate to the Superhero Kids campaign or learn more about how to get involved, click the link below:
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The post Calling all heroes: TAP asks for donations for its Superhero Kids Counseling Program first appeared on News/Talk 960-AM & FM-107.3 WFIR.
