Dayspring Community Services Awarded $4 Million Grant To Help Foster Children

A $4-million grant will go to Dayspring Community Services to help foster children in Tulsa.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Project LAUNCH grant will help Dayspring Community Services start a 10-week counseling program.

"There's a lot of services in the Tulsa area, but this is one that will be strictly dedicated to treating not only the children in the homes of foster and adoptive families but also helping the parents," said Keylee Tesar, Vice President of Integrated Health Services.

The grant will help Dayspring Community Services start the HALO Project.

It's a 10-week counseling program that focuses on mental health for both foster parents and children.

"It will also be teaching the children how to become properly attached, how to gain secure attachments, how to engage in a family setting, how to feel safe, and how to build relationships," she said.

HALO Project's Tulsa director Casey Holt says this program is a desperately needed resource in the area.

She says many foster families may not be able to handle the emotional needs children may have.

"Right now, those families who are opening their homes aren't always equipped with the tools and skills they need to support these children who have gone through as much relational trauma that they have," Holt said.

The HALO Project has been up and running in Oklahoma City for the past five years, and Holt says it's been a success.

"They've shown tremendous growth in placements being secure and lasting, and children being able to develop attachment with their caregiver and other important adults in their lives," she said.

Tesar says a program like the HALO Project requires a lot of supplies and support to get it started, and she knows this grant will make a difference.

"We know from brain research that when people, in general, doesn't matter if it's kids or adults, when they are exposed to trauma, it rewires their brain, it changes the way they experience the world. As a result of that, we have to be specific with the treatment we are providing to them," Tesar said.