Changing and Saving the Lives of Children at Risks since 1995
Help Save the Life of a Child at Risk Today.
Community Members Protect & Support Your Local School Children
Community Members Protect & Support Your Local School Children
Providing educators with the tools to reach at-risk children in Arizona since 1995.
A Prayer for Children
We pray for children…
…who put chocolate fingers everywhere,
…who like to be tickled,
…who stomp in puddles and ruin their new pants,
…who sneak Popsicles before supper,
…who erase holes in math workbooks,
…who can never find their shoes.
And we pray for those…
…who stare at photographers from behind barbed wire,
…who can’t bound down the street in new sneakers,
…who never “counted potatoes,”
…who are born in places we wouldn’t be caught dead in,
…who never go to the circus,
…who live in an X-rated world.
We pray for children…
…who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions,
…who sleep with the cat and bury goldfish,
…who hug us in a hurry and forget their lunch money,
…who squeeze toothpaste all over the sink,
…who slurp their soup.
And we pray for those…
…who never get dessert,
…who have no safe blanket to drag behind them,
…who can’t find any bread to steal,
…who don’t have any rooms to clean up,
…whose pictures aren’t on anybody’s dresser,
…whose monsters are real.
We pray for children…
…who spend all their allowance before Tuesday,
…who throw tantrums in the grocery store and pick at their food,
…who like ghost stories,
…who shove dirty clothes under the bed,
…who get visits from the tooth fairy,
…who don’t like to be kissed in front of the car pool,
…who squirm in church and scream on the phone,
…whose tears we sometimes laugh at and whose smiles can make us cry.
And we pray for those…
…whose nightmares come in the daytime,
…who will eat anything,
…who have never seen a dentist,
…who are never spoiled by anyone,
…who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep,
…who live and move, but have no being.
We pray for children…
…who want to be carried
…and for those who must,
…for those we never give up on
…and for those who never get a second chance,
…for those we smother.
…and for those who will grab the hand of anybody kind
enough to offer it.
We pray for children. Amen.
– “Prayer of Responsibility,” Ina Hughes (Prayer of Responsibility for Children ©1995 William Morrow publishers)
Road Map to Help Children at Risk
Masonic Student Assistance Program
What we CAN do, is to support programs like the Masonic Student Assistance Program (MSAP). MSAP is a three-day workshop that gives educators the tools to accomplish the following:
* identify children at risk by evaluating the developmental assets available to the child;
* create the child’s school-based individualized plan of action;
* implement the plan;
* follow up on the impact’s effectiveness;
* post-care, to help ensure the child’s progress is sustainable.
Participants leave the training with several, significant tools. Based on a selected case study child, their team designs a specific plan for behavioral interventions. They also create a system for implementing MSAP in their current school program. They learn to incorporate worthwhile MSAP concepts and practices, such as how to gather data, complete necessary paperwork, and develop a school-based action plan for the study child.
U.S. STATISTICS
Each Day in America...
Child Poverty
- 773 babies are born into extreme poverty.
1,683 babies are born into poverty.
Child Welfare
- 1,844 children are confirmed as abused or neglected.
Youth Justice
- 126 children are arrested for violent crimes.
- 248 children are arrested for drug crimes.
- 1,995 children are arrested.
- 2,956 high school students drop out.*
- 14,640 public school students are suspended.*
Gun Violence & Fatalities
- 5 children are killed by abuse or neglect.
- 8 children or teens die by suicide.
- 22 children or teens die from accidents.
- 59 children or teens are injured or killed with a gun.
* Based on 180 school days per year
https://www.childrensdefense.org/policy/resources/soac-2020-each-day/
ARIZONA STATISTICS
Child Poverty
- 19%, or 308,459, of Arizona’s children were poor, 2019
- 9% of children were extremely poor
- 24,399 unhoused children were in enrolled in public schools, 2017-2018
Child Welfare
- 12,847 children were abused or neglected, 2019.
- 13,330 children were in foster care on the last day of FY2019.
Youth Justice
- 531 children were in residential placement in 2017
- 55 children were in adult jails or prisons, 2019
Gun Violence
- 79 Arizona children and teens were killed with guns in 2019
https://www.childrensdefense.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/SOAC-2021-Fact-Sheet_Arizona.pdf
Supporting Masonic Student Assistance Program
The impact of supporting MSAP in your community school is significant, with trained core teams being able to help prevent and promote the following:
Abilities to identify, address, and mitigate the following issues, before they become reality:
* suicide;
*alcohol and drug abuse;
*depression;
*bullying;
*poor attendance and school drop outs;
*continuation of endemic poverty;
*non-violent crime; and
*violent crime, including mass murder that has become nationally prevalent.
As well as the attendant benefits of: increased life skills and developmental assets for k-12; and increase effectiveness and efficiency of the core team in the areas of enabling and codependence; comprehensive planning, team work; and group dynamics.
- make classes available to any, and all schools within Arizona, who want to better address saving the lives of our at-risk children;
- develop a core team of 4-6 individuals from each participating school. This team can consist of regular and/or special education teachers, administrators, school nurses, coaches, etc. – any adult that the children look up to and respect;
- create follow up opportunities for a booster class where educators can reconvene to share ideas of what works, continually refining the program and its long-lasting positive impacts on our communities;
- provide training at no cost to the attendees. All materials, food, and lodging (if applicable) are provided by the Arizona Masonic Foundation for Children.
The Multiplier Effect
National Statistics Tell Us That Every Trained Educator Will Positively Impact 5 -9 At-Risk Children in Their Very First Year After The Class.
MULTIPLIER CONTINUES YEAR OVER YEAR!
The Arizona Masonic Foundation for Children Does All of This For Historically Less than $30 A Child
(With Income Donations/Revenue Going To the Following: Administration Costs 6%; Advertising 6%; And the Program Receives 88% of the proceeds directly!)
We are Grateful Everyone's Support - Some of Our Supporters Include:
The Children's Call to Action for You...
See Below for How You Can Help Today!
A Child at Risk will Remain at Risk Until Someone Intervenes.
You + MSAP = Recognition + Intervention & HOPE
Do you know a child at risk?
In the US, one in five children, or 656,000, were maltreated in 2018, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS).
https://www.acf.hhs.gov/media/press/2021/child-abuse-neglect-data-released
If you are an educator, we encourage you to:
- organize, or join, a team to attend an MSAP session
- inform your administrator about MSAP
For educators and non-educators (the rest of us) alike, we would love for you to:
- Get involved by signing up for our Newsletter below
- Let your local schools and educators know about the program so they too, can get involved.
- Participate in many different ways on our Donate and Volunteer pages!
- Make a commitment to contribute to help our at-risk children.
For Truly, a Child at Risk Will Remain At-Risk Until Someone Intervenes – Join US, and Intervene Today!
AZ Masonic Foundation for Children is a 501(c)(3) charity registered with the Secretary of State of AZ to solicit donations in support of our charitable children’s programs.
