For my community project, I have chosen to coordinate a clothing drive. This community project was designed to help replenish the clothing supply at Children's Services Division (CSD). The clothing drive is not something that is currently an annual event. My hope for this project is that we receive an overwhelming amount of clothing and that this can become, at least, an annual event. It is vital that CSD continue to receive clothing so that all children can feel comfortable and confident when entering a new environment, foster care.

Statement of Need

Working at Children's Services Division, I have had a lot of exposure to California's foster care system. In the short amount of time that I have been at Children's Services, I have witnessed many detentions. More recently, I have had the opportunity to help with the initial detention and follow up with the case. The supervisor at Children's Services, informed me that there has been an unusually high number of detentions this month. She estimates that throughout the county there will be over three hundred children detained and put into foster care this year.
Children are detained from school, a friends house, or even when children are brought into the office. In these cases, children are put into foster care with only the clothes on their backs. Many detentions are done in emergency situations where the child is removed from their home in their pajamas, diapers, shirtless, or shoeless. In these situations, there is rarely time for the child to get any personal belongings. Occasionally the social worker may be able to tell the child to grab something that is important to the child to take with them. There have been many children who have been detained and brought into the office until a foster home was set up. On every occasion, the child needed to be put in new clothes for a number of reasons. A lot of children have lice and need to be de-loused and given clean clothes to prevent re-infestation. Many children come in clothes that are filthy or inappropriate for the weather and need to be changed. Since I started at Children's Services, the clothing supply has greatly depleted. We are now in need of clothes more than ever; but are fortunate to be well stocked with beautiful hand made quilts donated from local churches. Every child that comes into the office is offered a quilt. It has been my experience that all children are thrilled to have a blanket of their own, and many of the children are amazed that they get to keep it. Seeing a child that comes into the office in filthy clothing leave fully dressed in clean clothes clutching their new blanket makes me feel so wonderful knowing that child is able to feel more confident when going to a new home to meet their foster family.

Description of the Intervention

    My original plan for the clothing drive was to have it as a one day event. I planned to get advertisement through local TV and radio stations prior to the event. I found that working as one person I had envisioned more than I could accomplish on my own. 
    I decided that a more realistic goal was to set up boxes at various drop off sites for donations. I planned to have boxes at Butte Hall, Whitney Hall, the bookstore, and at least one elementary school. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, I was unable to organize with these drop off sites before the end of the school year.
    Since I was unable to organize a clothing drive I decided to reorganize the clothing CSD currently has. Before organizing the clothes, workers had to dig through boxes and bags to find a matching outfit. I organized the clothes by size and gender, making them more accessible to the workers.

Evaluation of the Intervention

Unfortunately, my project did not aspire to be all that I had hoped it would be. I had originally thought that I had chosen a project that was simple enough for one person to implement. Perhaps if I had planned things more thoroughly it could have been completed on my own.
My recommendations to anyone wanting to organize a clothing drive is to work with at least one other person, make a solid plan, and follow that plan. Contact your resources early and use your time wisely. I would also recommend that you look into receiving donations from more than the private citizens. I was informed that after Christmas many corporations, such as, Wal-Mart, Target, and Mervyn's, are more than willing to donate items that they have received for Christmas sales and have since put on clearance. 

Reflections on the Project

The clothing drive is something that is greatly needed. It is vital that CSD continue to have clothing available to children as they enter foster care. Making the clothing drive an annual event would ensure that all children have the opportunity to feel comfortable and confident when entering foster care. 

References

Beckham, T. (1999). [Interview with Supervisor at Children’s Services] November 22, 1999.

Cantos, A. L., & Gries, L. T. (1997). Behavioral correlates of parental visiting during family foster care. Child Welfare, 76, 309-323.

Gardner, H. (1996). The concept of family: Perceptions of children in family foster care. Child Welfare, 75, 161-173.

Johnson, P. R., & Yoken, C. (1995). Family foster care placement: The child’s perspective. Child Welfare, 14, 959-968.

Noble, L.S. (1997). The face of foster care. Educational Leadership, 54, 26-31.

Pelzer, D. (1997). The Lost Boy. Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communications.

Sieg, K. (1998). Growing Up A Foster Kid. Newsweek, 132, 20-23. 

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