| Employee Spotlight | https://www.boystown.org/locations/iowa/news-and-events/Pages/employee-spotlight-shana.aspx | Employee Spotlight | <p><span style="background-color:transparent;">Meet Shana, one of our Family Centered Services Specialists. Shana has been a part of our Boys Town team since November of 2015 and is our longest standing direct care provider. Shana is our Boys Town representative for Family Treatment Court in Woodbury County and is a fantastic mentor when we have new employees join our team. Shana is great at teaching skills to families.</span></p><p><strong>Some fun facts about Shana:</strong><br>1) She is a diehard Nebraska Cornhuskers Fan, along with her husband and two boys. <br>2) She is an avid advocate and voice for Autism Awareness, which stems from her passion to support her son, Trey, who is on the spectrum.<br>3) She is a big fan of anything Disney or “Schitts Creek" related</p><p>Shana says what she enjoys most about her work is, “being in the homes with families and watching most of them learn and grow. Knowing that what I do matters even though it is not often celebrated, and my role is not always welcomed at the start. Seeing a family be successful and finding the good in horrible situations."<br></p> | 2023-05-19T05:00:00Z | News | <img alt="Shana" src="/locations/iowa/PublishingImages/Shana.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | text/html; charset=utf-8
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| Employee Spotlight | https://www.boystown.org/locations/iowa/news-and-events/Pages/employee-spotlight-doug.aspx | Employee Spotlight | <p><span style="background-color:transparent;">Meet Doug, our newest “On The Way Home" Supervisor, working with Juvenile Court Youth in District 5 (Des Moines Area) and District 1 (Waterloo Area). Doug helps Consultants teach parents and youth skills that aid in the youth returning home from court ordered placement. Doug was recently promoted from being an OTWH Consultant and has been with Boys Town since May of 2021. Doug is great at supporting his team, talking through situations and completing assignments in a timely manner.</span></p><p><strong>Some fun facts about Doug:</strong><br>1) He plays the bass guitar.<br>2) He loves spaghetti.<br>3) He has a 1-year-old, long-haired cat named Nahla.<br>4) He has been married for a long, long time and is expecting his first grandchild, June 21st!</p><p>Doug says what he most enjoys about his new position is the opportunity to coach and influence others to help families in need.<br></p> | 2023-05-19T05:00:00Z | News | <img alt="Doug" src="/locations/iowa/PublishingImages/Doug.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | | text/html; charset=utf-8
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| Central Iowa Staff Escapes for a Team-Building Adventure | https://www.boystown.org/locations/iowa/news-and-events/Pages/Central-Iowa-Staff-Escapes-for-a-Team-Building-Adventure.aspx | Central Iowa Staff Escapes for a Team-Building Adventure | <p></p><p>The Boys Town Central Iowa team recently put themselves on the clock for a team-building adventure at Breakout Games in Urbandale, Iowa. With only one hour to crack codes, find hidden clues, solve puzzles and more, the Central Iowa Staff had to work together, value everyone's input and be team players (almost a regular day at the office) to “escape" the themed room.</p><p>The team broke into two rooms, “Mystery Mansion" and “Operation Casino," for the hour-long escapade. The crew in the “Operation Casino" room solved the mystery and escaped with 28 seconds to spare. After all that teamwork, the group went to El Rodeo Mexican Restaurant for lunch and time to catch up with each other.<br></p><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="/locations/iowa/news-and-events/PublishingImages/Team-Building-Adventure-2.jpg" alt="" style="margin:5px;width:500px;height:375px;" /><br></p><p></p> | 2023-05-04T05:00:00Z | News | <img alt="" src="/locations/iowa/news-and-events/PublishingImages/Team-Building-Adventure-roll.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" />
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| Axe to Grind Northern Iowa Team Meet Up | https://www.boystown.org/locations/iowa/news-and-events/Pages/Axe-to-Grind-Northern-Iowa-Team-Meet-Up.aspx | Axe to Grind Northern Iowa Team Meet Up | <p>The Boys Town Northern Iowa team met up at Axe to Grind in Sioux City, IA last week to enjoy food, fellowship, and fun! It was a great turn out and many tried out axe throwing for the first time!</p><div class="ms-rtestate-read ms-rte-wpbox" unselectable="on"><div class="ms-rtestate-notify ms-rtestate-read 84aa364d-b130-4ac5-befc-36a945ecc647" id="div_84aa364d-b130-4ac5-befc-36a945ecc647" unselectable="on"></div><div id="vid_84aa364d-b130-4ac5-befc-36a945ecc647" unselectable="on" style="display:none;"></div></div><p><br></p><br> | 2023-05-03T05:00:00Z | News | | | text/html; charset=utf-8
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| Employee Spotlight | https://www.boystown.org/locations/iowa/news-and-events/Pages/Employee-Spotlight-Kayla.aspx | Employee Spotlight | <p></p><p>Meet Kayla, one of our Family Centered Services Supervisors who was recently promoted from a Family Centered Services Specialist. She has been with Boys Town since June 2021. Kayla is great at drinking coffee! She is also great at boosting morale and keeping folks focused on the mission. Her positive attitude leads to wonderful results. </p><p>Some fun facts about Kayla:</p><ol><li>Has an old soul. </li><li>Started playing in a sand volleyball league.</li><li>Has a midsized dog she treats as her very own child.<br></li></ol><p>Kayla says what she is most looking forward to in her new position is, “Being able to give back to the folks doing the hard work in the field and giving back to the organization that has helped me!"<br></p><p><img src="/locations/iowa/news-and-events/PublishingImages/Kayla-Moore.jpg" alt="" style="margin:5px;" /><br></p> | 2023-04-28T05:00:00Z | News | | | text/html; charset=utf-8
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| Employee Spotlight | https://www.boystown.org/locations/iowa/news-and-events/Pages/Employee-Spotlight-Emi.aspx | Employee Spotlight | <p></p><p>Meet Emi, one of our On the Way Home Consultants who has been with Boys Town since 2020. On the Way Home Consultants teach skills to parents to help their children successfully transition from placement back into their home, school and community. Emi is great at building relationships with youth and families—the trust level between families and Emi is strong. Emi conveys care and compassion for those she works with and serves.</p><p>Some fun facts about Emi:</p><ol><li>“I have a dog who is my one and only child."</li><li>“I have been to over 30 concerts."</li><li>“I am the youngest of four siblings."</li></ol><p>Emi says, “I love working with the youth in the community, being a trusted support for the families and working for the best supervisor at Boys Town (he didn't pay me to add that)."</p><p><img src="/locations/iowa/news-and-events/PublishingImages/emi.jpg" alt="" style="margin:5px;" /><br><br></p> | 2023-04-28T05:00:00Z | News | | | text/html; charset=utf-8
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| Making a Difference | https://www.boystown.org/locations/iowa/news-and-events/Pages/Making-a-Difference.aspx | Making a Difference | <p><span style="background-color:transparent;">Est</span><span style="background-color:transparent;">ablishing a comfortable work relationship is one of the most important factors for consultants working with families dealing with issues. For Boys Town's Livie Gordon, it made the difference in helping a family come together and find solutions for its problems.</span></p><p>Livie is a Family-Centered Services Specialist for Boys Town in Sioux City, Iowa. She began providing services for a family this past February with a 15-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter. Services began after their daughter unfortunately ended up between mom and dad during a physical altercation. Tensions were already high after their son was removed from the home and placed with relatives due to alleged sexual abuse concerns he had with another child in the community.</p><p>The parents were not getting along, argued often and the home atmosphere was very tense.</p><p>Livie was able to develop a positive working relationship with the family very early on. Originally, she was not their primary service provider, but covered one day of services with them and made a positive impression.</p><p>The family stated they felt comfortable working with Livie. She was able to get mom, dad, and the daughter into counseling services right away and she introduced a safety plan with them. She also taught the family various communication skills, helped them work through difficult situations and taught parenting skills from Common Sense Parenting®.</p><p>Livie made a difference.</p><p>The family never needed to use their safety plan and they never had another incident of domestic violence. They reported being able to the use the skills Livie had taught them, such as giving space to one another when having a disagreement and using healthy communication skills when they were both calm and ready to talk.</p><p>Additionally, there were issues between the family and the relatives caring for their 15-year-old son. The boy was unhappy while he was there and asked to return home before going to placement. They asked Livie if their case could remain open so she could support them in having their son home with them. Livie and the family advocated to the DHS worker to keep the case open until the son's placement was available and DHS agreed.</p><p>The worker returned the child to the parent's home and Livie continued to provide services to the family. The son struggled with listening, following through, and staying on task and they often reached out to Livie for assistance in how to deal with these behaviors. When Livie would arrive at the family home, all of the family members were seated at the table and ready to work on whatever skill Livie was teaching that appointment. There were no incidents with the son while he was home and the parents did not have major arguments or disagreements between one another. Their case has now closed successfully.<br></p> | 2022-01-05T06:00:00Z | News | | | text/html; charset=utf-8
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