Reframing Troubled Childrens Lives- an Interview with Dr. Lorry Leigh, CEO of Western Youth Services Orange County, Calif

Lorry Leigh PhD, of Western Youth Services (WYS) located at 23461 South Pointe Drive, Suite 220, Laguna Hills, CA 92653, began working for the organization in 1990 as a Registered Psychologist. She became CEO in 2001. Dr. Leigh is both passionate and precise about the objectives for WYS and the path that it is on to protect at risk youth and youth already seemingly cursed to a lifetime of turmoil.

Interview
Loraine Alkire: What is the primary goal of WYS within Orange County, California?
Dr. Lorry Leigh: To let each and every at risk or troubled child know that they are valued. To help them reframe their vision of themselves from one that may be shattered with low self-esteem, guilt, shame and blame to one that highlights their strengths, behaviors and attitudes with coping skills that can be repurposed to serve them well and give them hope for a bright future.
Loraine Alkire: You've shared with me a bit about the pyramid structure that is in place to help children in all stages of risk, can you elaborate upon that?
Dr. Lorry Leigh: We work within a pyramid of service delivery. At the foot of the pyramid are programs that are available to all children. These children may need only a little social recognition to keep them on track and build their confidence. This is accomplished primarily through the various public school systems we work with in Orange County. Prevention is important and a large part of our goal here at WYS. These goals are often accomplished through many programs such as an in-school lunch clubs with mental health professionals and paraprofessionals supervising healthy relationships with peers. Individual services are at the middle of the pyramid providing individual help to children having social and behavioral problems while still within a family setting and attending public school.
At the top of the pyramid are the most at risk children, these children have already been through the mill of foster homes, institutions, and juvenile crime facilities. These children are acting out in often violent or self-destructive ways. They are in need of intensive services.
Loraine Alkire: How is funding currently allocated for these children within the pyramid described?
Dr. Lorry Leigh: Funding is appropriated inverse to the pyramid. You will see that most of the funding goes toward the top of the pyramid. Helping a child with serious problems is quite costly in the range at times of $22,000 to $100,000 dollars per child per year. However, if you spend $50 - $500 per child per year at the bottom and middle of the pyramid to break the cycle then there are fewer and fewer children that need those top dollar services. That's WYS' ultimate goal; system change; better choices.
While prevention is our goal, helping these critically needy children is our primary concern. We have to acknowledge that bad things do happen to children. And that repairing that damage can be a long and costly process. But every child has value, no matter the damage, so we are dedicated to helping them become whole and healthy for future generations.
The Gap
Loraine Alkire: Where does most of your funding come from now? Why do you need more funding at this time?
Dr. Lorry Leigh: Contracts with the government funnel from federal and state agencies down through the county. Roughly ninety percent of WYS resources- focus to serve the children. Our strategic plan in using additional funding is to fill the gaps that include promotion within the community to create awareness of WYS services and marketing to seek private and/or public donations. Our resources for seeking outside funding are minimal. For example, we need funding to help provide private therapy for parents' counseling; something that isn't covered by the county contract at all.
Loraine Alkire: Why is it so important to provide individual therapy for the parents?
Dr. Lorry Leigh: It's been proven in studies that if a willing parent receives therapy for his or her individual problems the child will always benefit whether or not the child receives help from outside sources. So this is a very important gap that needs to be filled. We do provide, in a round about way, parental treatment. We have parenting classes to help the child's mental health problems through our children's services budget with the child as the patient. At the same time we can often help the parent reframe her view of the child even though classes are focused on the child. Often this is not enough in cases where parents have on going issues.
We would like to see the gap closed through more funding and building relationships with other non-profits. We know the success in seeing all the redeeming qualities that everyone has within 'the family' and building on what they have. We need to be able to provide therapy for willing parents ready to face and make time for battling their own demons to stop the cycle of abuse. For instance, if a parent can finally, learn to accept and cope with their addiction problems and the root causes underneath (fear for instance) and realize how their problems reflect upon the child, there is much hope for that family, for that child.
Loraine Alkire: What other ways would you like to utilize additional funding?
Dr. Lorry Leigh: There is a huge gap in the number of children served each year within our funding budget and the estimated amount of children that actually need these services. We serve over 6000 children per year, but there are an estimated 52,000 to 85,000 children per year in these communities that need some sort of intervention.
Examples
Loraine Alkire: Can you identify any anecdotal experiences which might make readers aware of the types of children and their issues that WYS, eases and why you are so passionate about this foundation?
Dr.Lorry Leigh: There as so many; but two experiences come to mind that keep me motivated and passionate about my work for WYS.
One experience which occurred many years ago when I worked directly with the children, involved a child that was in the foster care system. She had been in at least ten foster homes and was on a cocktail of medications. She was labeled as out of control, aggressive and blew out of every foster home as dangerous.
When she came to me at WYS she had just recently been placed with a relative, a relative that didn't care about the baggage or labels. All he thought about was, this is a family member and I'm going to take care of her. I worked with the caregiver in order to understand together and reshape the reasons behind the child's behaviors. She was overweight, hording food, and taking food. Previously, the foster homes labeled her a thief, when in reality her insecurities kept her wondering where her next meal was going to come from.
I worked with the guardian to help him understand the motivation, behind why this little girl behaved the way that she did. This was a tremendous success story, within six months you would not recognize this child. At first her facial expressions alone, were sort of 'me against the world'. She was ragged, unkempt and had no sense of self. Six months later she was well rested, had lost weight; no more dark circles under her eyes, wearing a party dress and big smile on her face. From a child that should never have known such tragedy at such a young age, she was finally blooming. Through intervention, building trust in therapy, to giving an outlet for intense, feelings of abandonment, shame, guilt and working with the guardian to understand and reframe positive coping skills, this little girl was well on her way to a healthy happy life. The medication that had been given to reduce her aggression was no longer needed.
Another experience that comes to mind is that of a mother who had a very low tolerance towards her little girl when the girl expressed herself verbally or non-verbally through facial expressions.
The mother had long nails and would rip at her child's lips, if she didn't like what she heard or saw. The mother would lash out in anger. However, the child was fortunate enough to come across good role models. Through these interactions, she learned that her mother did the best she could given her own background. One was the mother of a friend. She was someone this little girl could confide in but more importantly she was someone who believed in this little girl. That little girl was me.
Soon I sought supportive adults out for myself and gravitated towards other adult nurturing types. In college- It was in my mind to mend people, to be a nurse, but I hated science as a nursing major- The dean set up an appointment with me and mentioned that I really excelled in my psychology courses. Without this input; I could have bombed out of college. This person, the dean, ended up being a mentor, and put me on the path that led me to where I currently am today.
Prelude to a Kiss Continued
They pulled up to the driveway of the Grandmother's house and got out. The mother, Lorry Leigh looked at her compassionate child, so compassionate she wouldn't hurt a fly. Dr. Leigh offered this explanation to her daughter "Well, you know I'm in the business of helping children who have been abused. I think all those things happened to me for a reason. I'm where I am today, helping children, because of things that happened when I was a little girl." She looked down at her daughter. Her child seemed to instantly 'get it'. Dr. Leigh gave her daughter a big hug and kiss. With three generations healed; they walked into a home where the only thing broken was the cycle of abuse.
If you would like more information about WYS and it's available services or how to donate, please contact: Western Youth Services 23461 South Pointe Drive, Suite 220
Laguna Hills, CA Telephone: (949) 855-1556 Fax: (949) 951-2871 www.westernyouthservices.org