Kiwanis donates to Sheriff’s Youth Ranch and Arts Center
The Kiwanis Club met yesterday to hear from Matt Cleveland, the chief development officer for the Arkansas Sheriffs' Youth Ranches, a nonprofit supported by sheriffs in all 75 of the state's counties that offers a home for foster children.
Cleveland spoke to members of Kiwanis about the Ranch, which has provided a home to more than 2,500 children in its 40-plus-year history.
"The one statistic that is the most heartbreaking to me is that Arkansas ranks No. 1 in child abuse and in child- hood trauma," Cleveland said. "Those aren't statistics that we're proud of … A lot of our kids are subjected to things you can't even imagine. That's why we're grateful to have an organization like the Sheriffs' Ranch, which can be there for all those kids and meet their needs as they come in."
The Youth Ranch, located in Batesville along the White River, currently serves 28 children. There are four group homes on the Ranch's campus, each of which can sleep eight people.
Each home is staffed by a foster family, Cleveland said, who provide support and love for the children they raise.
"We've got one couple that have been
there for over 37 years, Rick and Cheyenne Ingram," Cleveland said. "They've helped raise somewhere between 500 and 1,000 boys."
The Youth Ranch provides for all the needs of the children living there, including tutoring services and health care. Cleveland said a child's first month at the Ranch is usually pretty intense, filled with doctors' visits and mental health assessments, which he said some children have never had access to before.
"A lot of them have been removed from their homes and don't know what they're coming into," Cleveland said. "They're going to a lot of first appointments that they've never been to in their lives … We make sure that they're good and healthy and do some assessments with counseling services to make sure that they're processing all the feelings they've got."
The children at the Youth Ranch attend Batesville public schools and are offered — or for those with a grade point average under a C+, mandated — after-school tutoring.
"Education's really our best opportunity to break a cycle with these children," Cleveland said. "As long as we have them at the Ranch, we pour as many good things into their lives as we can."
The Youth Ranch is able to receive both private placement foster children and children who have been separated from their parents by the Department of Human Services. Cleveland said most children who are separated from their parents by DHS are separated because of drug issues the parent is facing; Union County Sheriff Ricky Roberts noted that about 90% of those incarcerated at the local county jail are there on drug charges.
While the Youth Ranch has run strong for 44 years, they are now facing serious funding issues with the passage of the Family First Prevention Services Act, which caps federal funding for group homes at two weeks, with some exceptions allowing federal reimbursement for up to one year.
"We've served these kids for years and we've gotten the same reimbursement rate that foster families have gotten," Cleveland said. "What's happening now is that since DHS is funded by those federal dollars … we can no longer accept those funds.
They're generously allowing us to keep taking care of these kids for them, but they're not going to pay for these services anymore."
Many of the children that live at the Youth Ranch are older teenagers, who are given more power over their placement, or sibling groups, who often are split up when placed in family foster homes, Cleveland said.
President Trump signed the bill into law in February 2018 as part of the 2018 federal budget reconciliation bill. Without federal funding, the Youth Ranch's about $2 million yearly budget is facing a shortfall of $150,000 to $200,000. Cleveland said the organization is hoping to make that up through private donations.
"Our board right now is working on a plan to go out and ask individuals for more money this year," Cleveland said. "It's going to take a lot of work and a lot of support … rather than relying on that stream of revenue for the government."
The Kiwanis Club presented Cleveland with a check for $500 to go towards the Arkansas Sheriffs' Youth Ranch. Roberts encouraged local support for the Ranch to continue.
"My hat is off to the heriff who back in the '70s had a vision to help children throughout the state," Roberts said. "Thanks to the many citizens of Union County who donate to the Ranch, keeping the vision alive."
To learn more about Arkansas Sheriffs' Youth Ranch and the children who have lived there, visit youthranches.com.
"It's been said that it takes a village to raise a child," Cleveland said. "We're living proof that it does."
The Kiwanis Club also provided a check for $5,000 to the South Arkansas Arts Center's Executive Director Laura Allen and Assistant Executive Director John Lowery for their upcoming Youth Theater production of "James and the Giant Peach JR."
Each year's Youth Theater project is funded by Kiwanis, allowing children in second through eighth grades to participate free of charge, Allen said. Past Youth Theater projects have included "Annie," "The Aristocats" and "The Jungle Book." Performances of "James and the Giant Peach" are scheduled for April 24 and 25.