"Cool Art" Award Given to

LSF Youth by Florida Network

Youth Progresses Well in LSF Counseling Program

28 July 2009 - TLW

Max, a 13-year-old teen in Lutheran Services Florida's counseling program in Ft. Myers, has received a third place "Cool Art" Award in a statewide contest sponsored last spring by the Florida Network of Youth and Family Services.  He was one of 10 youth at LSF's Oasis Youth Shelter who participated by preparing a drawing that incorporated themes related to the Safe Place program, which provides safe places of shelter in a community to youth who are lost or in crisis.

Max was referred to LSF's program for Children in Need of Services/Families in Need of Services (CINS/FINS) by the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice last January for truancy.  He has a history of truancy that goes back to kindergarten, according to his counselor Larry Barnhill, making Max the youngest child ever to be in truancy court in his home county.

"He is really a very intelligent young man," said Barnhill, "but he has never had the encouragement to attend school and take it seriously."

Max has progressed well during his time in the LSF CINS/FINS program, says Barnhill.

"He spent some time in the Oasis Youth Shelter in April of this year to get him adjusted to structure," said Barnhill, and after that, "I began to see a difference.  Max started attending school on a regular basis, his grades starting improving, and he became receptive to working on his personal issues with me."

Since the stay at Oasis, Max has been in the non-resident program living with his mother and seeing his counselor weekly, with what Barnill describes as a "positive attitude."  According to the court referral, Max will continue to be a part of the CINS/FINS program until he is 18.

Max was presented the award for his artwork in a small ceremony held at the Oasis Youth Shelter last month.

The "Cool Art" contest is held annually in April by the Florida Network of Youth and Family Services for youth between the ages of 10 and 17.

To read more about LSF's CINS/FINS counseling program, click here.

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