The Fifth Commandment is about honor and our relationship with our parents. As we reflect on Mother’s Day and look forward to Father’s Day, we think about the importance of helping our students develop healthy family relationships. Our Family Teachers model and teach how a family should function, breaking the cycle of generational abuse.
Carter needs to see examples like that because his early life was chaotic. His parents were unable to provide a safe environment, and the presence of drugs and abuse overshadowed his childhood. For Carter, witnessing such chaos led him to drug use and theft.
Through God’s grace, a social worker recognized his potential for change, advocated for him, and a judge placed Carter at the Children’s Home.
Here, Carter found a pathway to hope, embracing his goals through the Teaching-Family Model (TFM). It is the most effective evidence-based program for helping teens like Carter. The Children’s Home integrates the TFM into daily living, including school and home life, here on our residential campus to help teens achieve the goals that they set for themselves.
Carter credits his Family Teacher Joe Rauseo for teaching and modeling what it takes to be a good dad: “I’ve seen Joe with his own kids, and I can tell he loves them and protects them. I wish every kid had that kind of dad. Joe has helped me realize that making good choices matters and that every kid here can have a brighter future depending on their choices and the people they hang out with.”
After an abundance of hard work, Carter recently received his Indiana ACE Diploma (previously known as the GED). He studied hard under the guidance of Mrs. Janet McConnell, one of his teachers at our James E. Davis School.
“When he passed his first test, he fell down on his knees and cried,” Mrs. McConnell said.
“I am so proud of Carter. We worked hard on his self-confidence and concentration, and he eventually passed each ACE test. Carter is a great example of what our youth can achieve with a personalized academic program.”
When Joe Rauseo learned that Carter passed his ACE test, he was as proud as any father would be. “Carter is a different person after achieving this great accomplishment,” Joe said. “He has more motivation at this point and encourages the other boys to keep focusing on achieving their goals.”
Carter admits that his journey was challenging. “Some days, I had a hard time going to school, but Mrs. McConnell never gave up on me. I’ve never had a teacher like her. She came up with all kinds of lesson plans to help me pass the tests. All my teachers helped me graduate and I am so happy to have my diploma.”
That’s our mission, and that’s why you are so important to us. Your support helps transform the lives of Indiana’s most vulnerable teens, like Carter, and helps them thrive. Will you give today to help even more teens?
Please also join us in a prayer of thanks to our staff, who answer the call to serve as the mothers and fathers to Indiana’s children who most need to feel safe, to be loved, and to find the keys to a brighter future. When our teens succeed, Indiana wins.
PS: Please make a meaningful gift in honor of your mother or father or someone who has had a positive influence on your life. We also accept gifts of stock, donor advised funds, IRA distributions, and gifts of life insurance.
“Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” — Proverbs 22:6