University of Delaware Office of Public Relations The Messenger Vol. 6, No. 1/1996 Recognition: A Special Report Working as an agent for change When Cynthia Keighton Knapp, Delaware '85, began as a caseworker for Children's Choice, a private, nonprofit, specialized foster-care agency, she felt a natural kinship for her case children, many of whom were teenage girls. At age 23, she shared many interests with them. Outings-like shopping for school clothes at the mall-were fun. "I felt I could relate to them," she says. What she found challenging at first was keeping professional boundaries. "We are in a strange position because, even though we often feel that we are their friend, we also are in a counseling position and we have to enforce the rules. We have to maintain objectivity. Your personal feelings may get involved, but you have to make sure you are doing what is in the best interest of the child." Knapp, a music/psychology major at UD, has learned all those lessons in her 10 years at Children's Choice. And, as the agency expanded, so did her responsibilities. Currently regional director, she supervises five offices, including three in Maryland and one each in Dover and Newark, Del. Among the professionals who work at Children's Choice are two other Delaware graduates: Deborah Daisy Street, Delaware '79, and Suzanne Ford Iverson, Delaware '84. What sets Children's Choice apart from other such agencies is that it provides community-based, Christian-oriented specialized services for children with special needs, be they emotional or behavioral. "We have children who run away, who have been sexually abused, who exhibit violent behavior and who are self- destructive," says Knapp. Although she misses the direct involvement of casework in her administrative position, Knapp says she still feels very involved with the children. Based in Dover, she spends half of each month visiting the other branches, meeting with caseworkers and reviewing each case. "I always ask if 'permanency planning' is being met," says Knapp. "That is what we are striving for-either getting the kids to return to their natural families, if that is possible, or seeing that they are adopted in a long-term, foster-care situation." As Knapp has watched children grow up with foster families, her ideas about what constitutes success have changed. "Before, I would have thought that success would be for a child to graduate from high school and go to college. Now, success is seeing that a child is happy and doing what she wants to do," Knapp says. "One of my girls graduated from high school and now has a full-time job with benefits and is going to school part-time. Most importantly, she is happy. That, to me, is a success story." The nature of this job is up and down. "We had a family of three children who came into foster care because of their mother's drug addiction. She got herself together and the children returned home," Knapp says. "I just learned she is back on drugs and the children are back in foster care." Also, she says, the children who need help are getting younger and younger. "It used to be the teenagers who were tough. Now, we have 6- to 12-year-olds who are fire-setters and who are trying to commit suicide. This job is an emotional roller coaster. "You learn that you can give people the skills they need to change their lives; you can be an agent for change, but you cannot change it for them." -Donna Kinney Speers