Steve Kim Donates $25,000 to Implement Child & Family Center’s CARE Team

 Santa Clarita, California (June 15, 2018) Steve Kim, owner of Sand Canyon Country Club, has donated $25,000 to fund the implementation of Child & Family Center’s Crisis Aftercare Response & Education (CARE) Team. Dr. Joan Aschoff, CEO and Michael Berger, Board Chair accepted the gift on behalf of the Center.
“Mr. Kim’s generosity through the Steve Y. Kim Foundation has made it possible for Child & Family Center to meet a growing and ongoing need in the Santa Clarita Valley for trained counselors to be ready and able to rapidly respond to community traumas,” said Dr. Aschoff.  “Through our CARE team, the Center will be ready and able to provide support and intervention when tragedy strikes our community.”
The CARE Team was created in response to a demonstrated community need for trained professionals to attend to the emotional needs of the community immediately after a traumatic event. All services will be provided free of charge to the community. In the last six months, Child & Family Center has responded to community partners and the public who have been impacted by such traumatic events as suicide, traffic accidents and the Las Vegas mass shooting tragedy. Studies have shown that early intervention after a crisis prevents long-term effects that stem from witnessing or being impacted by a traumatic event.
Ideally, and when fully staffed and trained, the CARE Team will respond within 2 hours of a request for assistance. An initial overview of the situation is gathered so that the response team can tailor the conversation and educational materials to the specific kind of event that has occurred (suicide, homicide, accident, natural disaster, etc.). Specially trained clinicians arrive at the designated location and begin to debrief those impacted, normalizing feelings and attending to more urgent mental health needs as they arise. If the number of people impacted is such that there is a need, short-term support groups can be created and implemented within a few days at a location convenient for participants. The CARE Team’s services are conducted free of charge to the community.
For more information on Child & Family Center, please visit www.childfamilycenter.org.