Hampton native expands on mental health model
Foundations to Success program provides kids with alternative support
Stephen Foster, a Hampton native, struggled with mental health issues from a young age. At 6, he was diagnosed with depression and ADHD. He also tried to kill himself during adolescence. Now a clinical therapist and mental health professional, Foster uses his experiences to advocate for students who need extra help.
Foster’s mobile program, Foundations to Success, LLC, works with children throughout Hampton Roads ages 6 to 18 who have trouble at home or school. He and his team of licensed clinical social workers collaborate to make better communities by working with families to not just solve the issue, but find the root of it.
“I had a failed suicide attempt when I was younger and I didn’t have the resources, so I was hospitalized and talked to therapists,” Foster said. “The difference between our service and on-call psychologists is that our service is more intense and available on a daily basis. Individuals can be supervised overnight if we need to do that; we can provide whatever they need within the convenience of their home.”
Foster primarily works with students who have 504s or IEPs. A 504 plan, according to Kids Health, is designed to help parents of students with physical or mental impairments in public schools, or publicly funded private schools, work with educators to design customized educational plans. An IEP, or an individualized education program, is catered toward special-needs students with difficulty learning and functioning.
Often times, Foster said, students need assistance beyond what the district provides when dealing with children who have 504s or IEPs, whether it be extra advocacy or another support system. For example, in the Hampton City Schools district consisting of 34 schools, nine social workers are each assigned an average of four schools, said Bruce Copeland, the coordinator of social work services for the schools. The social workers are tasked with creating solutions for students with behavioral or learning concerns, as well as working with displaced children, providing clothing and transportation for those in need, and making sure students have any resources they need, Copeland said.
“If we’re not able to find the solutions we are looking for, it may result in a child being evaluated to see if they are eligible for special needs,” Copeland said.
For eligible students, Foster and his team help provide that extra advocacy. He started working with them because of his own mental health concerns as a child. He said that after being diagnosed with ADHD and depression, support is what really helped him. His mobile program helps to link people with mentors and other resources the family may need like therapy getting students IEPs.
Foster has been tackling one city at a time, educating mental health providers on how to execute the same services as his. In today’s culture, he believes an understanding of mental health is still lacking, but has gradually gotten better.
“We see civil rights as being a black and white thing, when it’s also LGBTQ, and equal rights. Now that mental health has a category it needs to be addressed. We need to deal with it with sensitivity, and we need to learn from it as well,” Foster said.
Foster also is a hip-hop artist who uses his passion for music to influence children through his profession. His stage name is U-Neek Shreef. He is the No. 2 hip-hop artist in Chesapeake, according to Reverb Nation charts. His music journey began with rap before he transitioned to Christian hip-hop. As a therapist, he wanted to experiment on tracks that speak to mental health.
“Music is so influential because it has the power and influence to get us to do things,” Foster said. “There’s a proclamation to be more responsible, to be more respectful, to check yourself. I wanted to put out music that helps people understand culture, truth, justice and what it means to be who you are.”
Music therapy helps children feel better about issues they are identifying with, Foster said. Other therapists who use that approach agree.
Danielle Cavasos and her partner Megan Buhmann are founders of Tidewater Music Therapy in Yorktown and Gloucester, which works with children ages 3 to 9. Cavasos describes music therapy as being like other therapies, but with music as the medium.
“It’s used to address communication goals, social skills, physical goals. … It’s pretty much endless,” she said.
Foster, like Cavasos, believes children feel empowered by taking something they like to do and putting it with something they are able to do.
“You’re not getting them to assimilate; you’re getting them to see how they see things in a broader, more approachable and proactive light,” Foster said.
Foster is working on plans for a crisis stabilization program in partnership with Betty Eastman LCSW and Associates, Inc. Eastman said they share a mutual interest in providing quality mental health with adjunct services to help the more troubled teens in the community.
“The difference between our service and on-call psychologists is that our service is more intense and available on a daily basis.”
— Stephen Foster