MAKING A DIFFERENCE: Free Arts for Abused Children : The Restorative Power of Art

Children who have suffered physical and emotional abuse can spend years trying to overcome the fear and despair caused by trauma. Finding ways to express those emotions can speed healing, which is the aim of Free Arts for Abused Children, a nonprofit group based in West Los Angeles. More than 600 volunteers across Southern California guide 3,000 children each month through drawing, dance, music, painting and sculpture projects.

The group runs a range of programs from one-day gatherings with children, known as Free Arts Days, to regular weekly contact with children at residential treatment centers. Volunteers attend an orientation session and submit two references along with their applications. Depending upon the level of contact volunteers have with children, they may also be interviewed and fingerprinted. They are encouraged to attend monthly training sessions conducted by mental health professionals and art therapists.

The approach of Free Arts, founded in 1977, is catching on in other cities. Similar efforts, locally funded, are underway in Minneapolis and Phoenix.

WHAT’S THE VALUE OF FREE ARTS?

“I’ve seen the faces of so many children light up from their experience with Free Arts’ volunteers. They give the children a vehicle to express their feelings, activities to participate in that are non-judgmental. That experience is a precious gift to children who have been abused, abandoned or neglected, and it promotes their healing.”

--Dr. Barbara Firestone, president and CEO, The H.E.L.P. Group, Sherman Oaks-based non-profit group which provides mental health services to children including those from families in which abuse has occurred.

Three Free Arts Programs / Weekly Volunteers

Setting: Volunteers go to residential care facilities where children victimized by physical or emotional abuse are placed.

Approach: Art projects are tailored to children’s particular interests and needs at each site. Volunteers make a 20-week time committment so that the children can rely on routine contact with them. More than 350 children each month meet with volunteers at 80 facilities.

Goal: To provide a creative outlet for children and regular contact with caring and talented role models.

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Children’s Courthouse Program

Setting: Children’s Court, Monterey Park, where county child abuse cases are heard.

Approach: Volunteers dressed in bright blue aprons help children to make items such as puppets, seasonal projects and paper crowns in court waiting areas. The county donates office space. More than 2,000 children each month create art there, many of whom bring or wear their art creations into court while their cases are being heard.

Goal: To reduce stress and anxiety of children and families in the courthouse waiting room.

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Parents and Children Together With Art

Setting: Residential care facilities

Approach: Families may be referred to the 10-week program as part of court-mandated therapy. Teams of Free Arts volunteers and supervisors and a staff person from the sponsoring agency lead the families through arts-oriented projects and exercises at six sites throughout the Los Angeles area. The teams work with 21 parents and 28 children.

Goal: To help families develop peaceful ways of communicating and spending time together.

TO GET INVOLVED: Call (310) 479-1212.