Tod Balsbaugh thanks Carol Weigel (above,

second from left), a strong advocate for

Jackson-Feild and the organizer of the

Christmas volunteers. Presents (left) are

wrapped and ready for Christmas morning.

INSIDEMerci, Danke, Gracias, Shoukran, Todah, Spasibo, Grazie, Tak. Thanks to you,

Mercedes received the new jeans she wanted, Dakota got his Spalding basketball,

Michael his Nike shoes and Laura was thrilled with her sketch book.

Thanks to your generosity, our 2015 Sponsor-A-Child Christmas project was a

huge success. Individuals, families, businesses, civic organizations and church

groups helped us make holiday wishes come true for all our boys and girls.

Additional funds were used for our Twelve Days of Christmas project by

providing special meals, activities and outings for the children during the

holidays and to purchase items for the cottages that directly benefit the

residents.

Thank you for your wonderful Christmas spirit

and for helping us make this a Christmas our

children will remember for a lifetime.

Santa’s Elves Come to Jackson-Feild

Winter 2016

Christmas “elves” (below)

from organizations in the

Lake Gaston area spent

a day wrapping all the

gifts for our children.

2 Staff Spotlight

2 Gym Update

3 Gwaltney School News

4 New Board Member

Built in 1971, the Robinson-Withers gym used an acoustical tile drop ceiling with

recessed fluorescent lighting, the best available at the time. In recent years – with

the admission of boys – high energy basketball games are common. Sometimes the

lights and light covers are struck with errant balls, causing damage to the ceiling

and lights.

This safety hazard required immediate attention. Thanks to a grant from an

anonymous foundation the old drop ceiling was replaced with a flush ceiling and

mounted LED lighting was installed with durable protective covers.

These much-needed improvements are proving to be a Win-Win-Win situation:

better lighting with a rigid ceiling are making basketball games more enjoyable for

our boys and girls; our maintenance staff are thrilled they no longer are replacing

ceiling tiles; and our finance office is very pleased with the cost savings that come

from LED lighting.

Gym Project Is a Slam Dunk

2Jackson-Feild Behavioral Health Services Winter 2016

Dr. Rakesh Shah joined Jackson-Feild

Behavioral Health Services treatment

team in 2015. Born in Nepal, he received

his undergraduate degree there, his

medical degree in Bangladesh, and

completed his psychiatric residency at

the Medical College of Virginia. Dr.

Shah also participated in post-graduate

training at the Virginia Treatment

Center for Children in Richmond.

Dr. Shah has worked in a number

of settings since the first year of his

medical internship in 2000. In addition

Dr. Rakesh Shah: a Key Member of Our Treatment Teamto treating children at Jackson-Feild,

he is also on the staff of Virginia South

Psychiatric and Family Services

in Petersburg.

Dr. Shah provides a number of services

to our children. In order to develop a

plan of care, he helps interview and

screen children prior to and upon

admission. He also provides medication

management and evaluation for

children receiving psychotropic drugs.

He provides psychiatric treatment

services for children, and consults with

our clinical team in order

to provide the best care possible.

We are pleased to have Dr. Shah’s

expertise and service. He is a valued

member of our treatment team.

Dr. Rakesh Shah

3

Many thanks to the members of two organiza-

tions that made beautiful handmade Christmas

gifts for our children. Each boy and girl was

given a quilt made by Stitchers for a Cause as

well as a pillowcase made by the Meherrin Piece

Makers Guild. Sweet dreams.

We are extremely grateful to all the members

of these organizations who dedicated their time

and talent to make such personal gifts for our

children. Their thoughtfulness teaches our boys

and girls that people who don’t even know them

care about them very much.

A Quilt Will Warm Your Body and Comfort Your Soul

News from the Gwaltney SchoolHome Health Care

Because home health care is one of the fastest growing industries of

our economy, the Gwaltney School has added Home Health Care

Training to its vocational education curriculum. This new program is

designed to provide students with a tangible job skill that offers a

decent starting salary. At the completion of the course, students will

take a certification test, and those who pass will be recognized at a

special pinning ceremony.

Food Services

Mary Griffith, our food occupations teacher, is now a Certified

ServSafe® Instructor and a Registered ServSafe® Examination Proctor.

Mary does a wonderful job

educating our students in every

facet of the food industry, and

ServeSafe® is just one of the

curriculum subjects she covers.

Cultural Arts

On the cultural arts side of

education, we were pleased

to welcome The Covenant

Players when they made their

semiannual visit to the

school. Using drama to bring

hope, encouragement and a positive message to their audiences, this

traveling repertory theatre company has been entertaining audiences

around the world since 1963. Their recent presentation to the boys

and girls at Jackson-Feild dealt with the complexities of everyday life

and how to cope with them.

At the Gwaltney School, our students receive an excellent education

that enables them to return to their home schools without any loss of

time or academic credits.

Volunteers (top) display pillow cases donated by the

Meherrin Piece Makers Guild, whose members have

supported Jackson-Feild for many years.

Jim Otto (above), a former Richmond police captain,

founded Stitchers for a Cause which has donated

over 2,700 quilts to charities since 2007.

Jackson-Feild Behavioral Health Services Winter 2016

Mary Griffith

We want to take this opportunity to

apologize to those donors and stake-

holders who received our 160th

Anniversary newsletter with errors in

their mailing address. We have spoken

with the company that handled this

mailing for us. They confirmed that

human error on their part resulted in

approximately 300 publications being

sent out with address errors. Please

don’t hesitate to call us at 804-354-6929

if you would like to confirm your

address in our database. You are very

important to us, and we feel terrible

that the names and addresses for some

of you were incorrect.

Mailing Error

Robert B. Wynne, an associate in the tax and

employee benefits department at McGuire-

Woods LLP has been elected to the Board

of Trustees of Jackson-Feild Behavioral

Health Services.

A native of Cary, North

Carolina, Wynne received his Bachelor of

Arts from Sewanee: The University of the South, his Juris Doctor with Honors

from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and his Master of Laws

in Taxation from the Georgetown University Law Center.

Wynne and his wife Tsveti reside in Richmond. He looks forward to his service

helping Jackson-Feild serve children with mental health disorders.

Robert B. Wynne Elected to Board of Jackson-Feild Behavioral Health Services

Jackson-Feild Sponsors Training for Social WorkersAs a part of our program to provide

community outreach to our stakeholders

in the State public agencies involved

in the care of children, Jackson-Feild

Behavioral Health Services periodically

offers continuing education training.

An Advanced Clinical Skills seminar

was recently conducted at John Tyler

Community College in Chester and

addressed the topic of “Psychopharma-

cology and Medication Management:

What Social Workers Need to Know.”

The speaker, Kia J. Bentley, Ph.D.,

LCSW, is a tenured professor in the

School of Social Work at Virginia

Commonwealth University. She serves

as the Director of the Ph.D. program

and is the Associate Dean for Strategic

Initiatives.

Dr. Bentley is the author of the 2014

book, now in its fourth edition, The

Social Worker and Psychotropic Medication:

Toward Effective Collaboration with Clients,

Families, and Providers. Dr. Bentley has

published more than 50 professional

journal articles and book chapters on

topics related to mental health and

psychiatric medication including works

on the meaning of medication, family

psychoeducation, peer leadership

training and the social worker’s role in

medication management. This training

was very well-received by participants

who travelled from all areas of the state

to attend.

Robert B. Wynne

Kia J. Bentley, Ph.D., LCSW

4Jackson-Feild Behavioral Health Services Winter 2016