Archive for month: November, 2020

Allegra Thatcher, Assistant Editor.

When the DCCH Center for Children and Families became officially licensed as an adoption agency in 2001, they knew very few of the 150 children who would find forever homes thanks to their help.

Ron Bertsch, director, therapeutic foster care, adoption and independent living, said he started as the only staff person for what was then a residential program in 1999, and finalized the first adoption in 2002. What drove him was the need for permanence for the children.

“We realized a lot of our foster families had children that now were not able to safely go back home, and the families were interested in adopting … that’s what spurred us to go and get our adoption license,” he said. “We want to help see these families and children all the way to the end, not turn the case back over to the state agency.”

The first 100 adoptions were from 2002 to 2018, but the last two years have seen 50 more. Mr. Bertsch said it’s because DCCH has grown and improved.

The DCCH is unique in that the children are older and usually have histories of severe neglect and abuse. The prospect of fostering and eventually adopting through the therapeutic foster care program can be daunting. “It’s not a calling that probably everyone can do, so I think it takes somebody special to answer this ministry call and foster and adopt an older child,” said Mr. Bertsch.

However, said Mr. Bertsch, many families have shared that while it’s the hardest thing they’ve ever done, it’s also the most rewarding. “A lot of people have this fear that it’s going to be harder than they can manage and I’m not saying it’s not going to challenge you — it requires sacrifice and extra time and work on your part as a parent, but to know that you helped a child who has had a rough start in life to turn that around.”

He connects foster care and adoption work to the pro-life movement. “To me, it’s not just helping stop an unplanned pregnancy from termination — yes, we want to work to support the birth mother and father in those situations — but also, being pro-life means to help children who have not been aborted who are in our world, who are being abused and neglected and abandoned … just because they’re 10 years old or 15 years old doesn’t mean they don’t need help from our Catholic and pro-life community.”

To celebrate National Adoption Month, the DCCH reaches out and recognizes all of its past adopted children and families. This year, they created a logo with the numbers “150” surrounded by a heart, formed from the first names of all 150 children who have been adopted.

“It’s an emotional moment because to me it marks 150 lives that we’ve had a small part in helping them find permanency, in finding them forever homes,” said Mr. Bertsch. “It’s humbling and yet very inspirational to be able to see that and look back on my career to know that I was part of every one of those kids’ lives during that time. I helped train a lot of the parents, held their hand during the rough journey through that, through the triumphs and stepping stones during the healing process.”

One of the greatest moments from this year, he shared, was getting back in touch with Corey, the very first child that DCCH placed for adoption. “I had lost contact with him in his young adult life, but someone else ran into him and I was able to reach out to him and meet for lunch … To sit down and hear his life story, from 12 years old when I first met him, to now he’s 31. It pulled it all together for me. I was so proud of him and it was so fun to talk to him.”

Most of the children, if they were old enough to remember the DCCH, have kept in touch. They like to reach out and every once in a while Mr. Bertsch gets an update from the family.

Julia and Dakota Geiman, for example, are fostering a 15- and 11-year-old girl and boy. Julia and her siblings were fostered through DCCH and adopted in 2004. Julia knew DCCH was a big part of their life for more than 9 years, and her older sister kept in contact with staff from DCCH into her adult life.

“I knew DCCH, trusted them and had a history with them. It was natural for me to call DCCH to explore becoming a foster/adoptive family,” she said.

Julia and Dakota have found fostering to be very rewarding for them. Julia’s biological siblings are and have always been very close to her. They love that she and Dakota have opened up their home to other children, who like themselves once upon a time needed this kind, generous and loving home life. Even Dakota’s family have embraced the idea and all are very supportive of the new members of their family.

Retired Mike Fury and his wife Peggy Fury adopted Destine, who just turned 18 this year. “We married late in life but wanted to have a child to love. We’re a long, long ways from perfect, but we knew we could offer a child a safe environment, and that might be enough to save a life,” they said. “We would say to approach it not from the perspective of ‘What might happen to us if we adopt,’ but rather from the perspective of ‘What might happen to this child if we don’t?’ It’s not always sunny skies, but it is very rewarding, and we believe it is Kingdom work.”

Mr. Bertsch and the DCCH are always looking to find more foster or adoptive families, mentors and donors.

“Some people think they’re too old, but we love empty nesters in their 40s or 50s — before they get too accustomed to empty nesters, when they still are fresh on raising teenagers, I want those folks to call me,” he said. “They certainly can help by saying a prayer for healing of the children and for more families to step up and answer that call. This is a different type of vocation, but I know there are people who can do it.”

Anyone who is interested in fostering, adopting, mentoring, donating or spreading the word can call the DCCH at 331-2040.

Laura Keener, Editor.

With the surge of COVID-19 cases in Kentucky, Governor Andy Beshear announced at his Nov. 18 daily briefing that he had signed an executive order that all Kentucky schools — public and private — transition to virtual learning. High schools and middle schools will need to continue with virtual learning until Jan. 4; elementary schools can return to classrooms after Dec. 7 in counties that are not in the “red zone.” The red zone is the fourth and most critical level of COVID activity in the community, meaning there are more than 25 cases per 100,000 population. On the day the executive order was signed, 112 of Kentucky’s 120 counties were in the red zone.

In the order, Gov. Beshear indicated that: “Kentucky is now experiencing a potentially catastrophic surge in COVID-19 cases, which threatens to overwhelm our healthcare system and cause thousands of preventable deaths.”

The unexpected order gave diocesan educators two school days for the diocese’s nine high schools and 28 elementary schools to transition 8,500 students to at-home instruction. While many local public schools began the school year with virtual learning and in many cases continued with some form of virtual learning, diocesan schools began the school year August 17 with in-person instruction and had sustained in-person learning up through the date of the mandate.

On Monday, Nov. 23, the Messenger interviewed Kendra McGuire, superintendent of Catholic Schools, to find out how schools managed during those 14 weeks of in-person instruction and what students and parents can expect during at-home learning.

How were schools doing during those weeks of in-person instruction?
I think our schools were doing very well with managing their cases. When the mandate came through, we reviewed where our schools were and we had 24 schools who did not have any active COVID cases among students and staff. The majority of our schools were not seeing an issue with COVID positives within their school building. We did see a number of students impacted, but it was mainly from family contacts. At that time we did have four schools that had transitioned to at-home learning due to cases; a larger number of cases either among teachers or because we had a large number of students out due to self-quarantine.

In the instances where the schools did seem to have a lot more COVID activity we took the steps to mitigate the spread, whether that was by class or team quarantines or all the way up to school closure when that was necessary.

How were principals managing the COVID cases at their school?
After 14 weeks, all of the principals had become really good at monitoring their cases and knowing what their school was able to handle. When they needed to take the next step —something beyond just putting a few students in quarantine — they were ready to make that transition when necessary. Their top priority is safety and I think that comes through in all of their decision making. They were onboard for doing what is best for the overall school community and in reviewing individual cases.

What can schools continue to provide?
The schools right now are looking at what they can still provide within the “targeted services” guidance from the Kentucky Department of Education. The targeted services guidance allows students to be brought in for evaluation, necessary hands on experiences, and mental or academic counseling. These may include academic assessments to determine needs, high school lab experiences, or opportunities for students to meet with the school counselors. These services can only be provided individually or in small groups and must be less than two hours daily.

We have a few schools that partner with public schools for speech therapy and if the public school staff is still willing to come in, that service can still be provided. Schools can also bring students in to work with them academically if a student needs extra assistance, whether that’s for remediation or ongoing tutoring.

Pre-schools were not included in the executive order. Since we were not planning to close schools and we were monitoring COVID activity on a school-by-school basis, we decided to keep pre-schools open since they were not impacted by the order and we did not have any ongoing concerns. The pre-schools will continue to be monitored, just like the our K-12 schools, so if we have cases, closures or short term quarantines will still occur when necessary.

Will parents still need to report to their school when their child or someone in the family tests positive for COVID?

The more we can stay on top of cases and what COVID activity is going on in our school communities the better equipped we’ll be when we return to class in January. Anything the parents can do to keep us informed is going to be helpful. According to the CDC there is a certain period of immunity (for someone who has recovered from COVID). For students who do test positive during this time away from school, it would be important to know that because they would be exempt from quarantine when we resume in-person classes. (Documentation showing the positive diagnosis would need to be provided to the principal.)

What does non-traditional instruction or NTI look like in our schools?
NTI will look different at each of the schools in the diocese. One of the challenges that our schools experienced with being fully prepared for NTI was in obtaining Cares Act Funding, which for our schools ended up being very limited or none at all. The schools have taken the steps they could, with the resources available, to prepare for NTI. Many schools at the elementary level were unable to purchase devices for students. For those schools, NTI may look more like a packet and paper-type work which needs to be done each day and teachers check-in with the student. Our high schools are equipped to provide virtual classes all day, just as if the students were in school; students will just tune in online.

What are your recommendations to parents during NTI?
As a parent myself of children first grade through high school, my advice is to be patient both with your child and with your child’s teachers. NTI puts a lot of pressure on families, especially at the younger levels because parents have to have a more involved role in their students education. This can put added stress on the parent/student relationship which in turn can lead to more stress between the school and home. We need to approach this situation with understanding and when there are challenges, that we communicate those in the most understanding and respectful way possible. As Catholics, we should also rely on our faith in these trying times. Starting with prayer and seeking God’s grace and wisdom in our daily activities will help all of us better manage these upcoming weeks.

Messenger Staff Report

As the Thanksgiving Day holiday approaches, the coronavirus is continuing to spread in the Diocese of Covington. This week, Holy Cross District High School, Notre Dame Academy and Newport Central Catholic High School have transitioned to remote learning. NCCHS plans to reconvene in-person instruction on Nov. 20, while NDA will resume Nov. 23 and HCDHS will stay remote until after the Thanksgiving holiday.

The Curia office saw its first positive case and several quarantines this week.

Also this week, two priests have tested positive for COVID-19 and two priests are quarantined because they were determined to be close contacts to a case. Additionally, three deacons have tested positive for COVID-19. Due to these cases and quarantines, weekday Mass and all services and activities have been suspended at Blessed Sacrament Parish, Ft. Mitchell; St. Barbara Parish, Erlanger; St. John Mission, Dividing Ridge; St. Timothy Parish, Union and St. William Parish, Williamstown. Weekend Masses will be celebrated as scheduled.

Based on the details of each of the parish cases, parishioners are not determined to be close contacts, according to Laura Keener, diocesan COVID coordinator. Parishioners have been advised of the exposure at the parish and are encouraged to monitor for symptoms.

The diocese is reporting its highest number — 71 — of COVID positive cases in its schools. An additional 1,280 students are in quarantine because they are determined to be close contacts to a COVID case either at school, an activity outside of school or at home.

“With the increase of COVID-19 cases in the community the spike in cases and quarantines in the Curia, schools and parishes was expected,” said Mrs. Keener.

Despite the rise in quarantines many of the diocese’s nine high schools and 32 elementary schools are faring well. Of the cases and quarantines reported, 65 percent are from five of the hardest hit schools — Holy Cross District High School, Immaculate Heart of Mary School, St. Mary School, St. Pius X School and Villa Madonna Academy. At those schools, most of the quarantines are close contacts and not positive cases of COVID-19. For example: HCDHS has 109 students in quarantine, with nine positive cases of COVID-19. All but one of HCDHS’ positive cases could trace exposure to the virus to a family member or friend outside of school.

“It’s not uncommon for one positive case of COVID-19 in the school to affect dozens of students. Our goal is to mitigate the spread of the virus whenever a case is reported and our schools are quarantining all students who are close contacts,” Mrs. Keener said.

A high point for the week came Monday, November 16, when Holy Trinity School, Bellevue, resumed in-person instruction. All students, faculty and staff who were cleared to return that day, did make it back to the classroom.

“We want to remind parishioners — especially our school families — that in order to sustain in-person instruction in our schools and uninterrupted celebration of Mass at our parishes, everyone needs to make the necessary sacrifice of staying home to the greatest extent possible. Even during the Thanksgiving holiday families are encouraged to meet and say a prayer of thanksgiving together virtually,” Mrs. Keener said.