Positive Attitude Outlook, Inc. (PAO) is a nonprofit foster family agency founded in 1988 in Sacramento, California with a mission to provide at-risk youth with nurturing homes and support services to help them become productive adults. PAO serves over 120 children through offices in multiple Central Valley cities. Services include 24/7 crisis support for foster families, training, and activities for foster youth. PAO's goal is to meet children's physical, emotional, and cultural needs through carefully matched placements and ongoing social work support.
2. MISSION STATEMENT
PAO’s mission is to provide reinforcement and provide
nourishment to each at-risk child with the hopes that one
day they will become positive, productive adults and role
models of encouragement in the lives of other
children/youth. Their aim is to provide services to enhance
the effectiveness of the foster care system by monthly
training, developmental workshops and seminars. These all
contribute to bettering the efficiency of foster care agencies
as well as the central valley.
3. POSITIVE ATTITUDE HISTORY (PAOI)
A Positive Attitude Outlook, Inc. (APAOI) was founded by Regana McGee
in Sacramento, California on June 6, 1988. The organization was born
out of a vision to start group homes for children with a history of
psychological, social, and academic problems. In 1990, APAOI expanded
to include a program to provide home finding and placement services
for children from birth to eighteen years of age. Its first foster family
agency was opened in Sacramento county where it served over 120
children from 1990 to 1992. The company’s reputation of providing
quality services became well known among social services agencies and
in 1992, APAOI opened its first office in Fresno. A Positive Attitude
Outlook, Inc. now has offices in Fresno, Bakersfield, Ontario and its
corporate office in Fresno. “It was he who gave a vision to establish PAOI
to be a ministry for helping children!”-PAOI Founder
4. PAOI SERVICES INCLUDE:
• The opportunity to gain personal satisfaction for giving a child a chance to develop
and grow up in a safe and positive environment
• Financial Compensation
• Social Workers on call 24 hours for crises services
• Special monthly training
• Children from 0-18
• Medi-cal & dental health coverage for the children
• Quarterly awards for our Foster Children
• Special activities for the children
• Our goal is family reunification or to provide a safe and nurturing long term home
for our foster children
5. PAOI SOCIAL JUSTICE
• PAO focuses on the social justice of children ages 0-18. They conduct a great
amount of research and analysis to care for any child in any state. The types
of foster care include:
• *emergency foster care/ A child left with no family/ immediate removal
from his/her current home are placed in Emergency Foster homes. The
children are often traumatized by the incident in which they need intensive
help.
• *Respite Care is a short-term care of a very dependent or difficult child
which enables parents- birth, foster or adoptive- to take a break.
• * Therapeutic or Treatment Care Children that come into foster care who are
medically fragile or have been severely emotionally damaged by their
previous families. Foster parents may need to provide extensive medical
support, or mount an intensive salvage operation to try to turn these
children around.
6. PAOI CULTURAL COMPETENCE
At PAO they aim to create a safe, cultural competent agency. Foster parents
and social workers join in monthly training and seminars on how to
become culturally competent with their children/clients. PAO attempts to
give every child a Foster parent that meets their cultural needs, religious
background, and language preference. After the foster child is given their
rights and responsibility of the foster parent to apply those rights while in
their home. (including religious practices and birth control usage)
7. PAOI VALUES:
PAO values the life and future of a child. They state feeling successful when
a former foster child gains a career , job, and family of their own. They live
by the following statement: “If you believe in helping others and wish to
open your homes and hearts to the less fortunate, then you’ve come to the
right place. If you’ve got the motivation and determination, then you are at
the place to be”.
8. PAOI HUMAN RIGHTS
PAO duty is to enforce and conduct the human rights of the child. The
aim is to provide the child with the right tools to succeed in life. They
often fall upon the ideas of Human Rights Watch. To provide foster youth
with a variety of options as they transition into adulthood. These include
more time at home before moving out on their own, or somewhere to
stay for certain periods, such as during college/vacations.
9. PAOI FUNDING
The agency is funded through The Federal and
State Government
The Agency gets reimbursement for every child
placed in the agency’s Foster home
10. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
Board of Directors
CEO/Owner
Director/Administrator
Assistant Executive Director
Supervising Social Worker
Secretary
Recruiter
Social Workers
11. PAOI AT RISK POPULATION:
The population at risk are Children from ages 0 to 18 years of age
who have been victims of abuse, neglect, and abandonment
cannot live with their birth parents until the issues have been
addressed.
PAOI focuses on finding a providing them with a foster care home
in hopes that it might give a positive experience in a foster child's
life. Children and youth look for
acceptance, guidance, support, but most of all Love. PAOI
attempts to supply these needs to every child with the help of
fostering homes and reunification.
12. AGENCY PRACTICES
• The Agencies goals are to meet the physical and emotional
needs for a child. At PAOI the social workers work hard to
determine which foster homes are available to best suit the
needs of a child and are attentive to the placement and keep
a close watch to make sure both the child and the foster
home are doing well. PAOI social workers meet with the
children and foster family once a week. The children are
assessed to look at which areas they need more help in as
well as their attributes and create goals overcome the areas
in which they need help in.
13. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE AGENCY
• The agency provides a substantial amount of support to not
only the children but, the foster children as well making sure
they don’t feel too overwhelmed and feel able to seek help
when they need it. The social workers genuinely want the
best for each child and go above and beyond to make their
foster homes the best to best suit the needs of each child that
are placed there. The agency does a great job of trying to
better the foster care system by encouraging foster children
to become active in different groups that are available for
them to advocate for themselves and other foster children.