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SUSIE WAKI

JEFF SLEDGE

KATE DAVIS, MSW

ADAM BERGIN

MARTHA BLOMQUIST talks with POOCH youth.

Photos by JOAN DALTON
and LYNN COX

POOCH 101: International Group Attends Training Workshop

ATSUKO OTSUKA traveled from Japan to attend the workshop.

POOCH 101, a workshop for social service professionals and others interested in setting up programs similar to Project POOCH, was held in Portland and Woodburn, June 4-8. The Mark Spencer Hotel was the site for the first four days of the workshop; the fifth and final day featured a trip to the Vollum Kennels where the eight attendees shadowed and worked alongside the youths.

It was an international gathering including U.S. attendees from both coasts, Connecticut and Florida and California, as well as attendees from the United Kingdom and Japan.

The workshop curriculum focused on working within the parameters of correctional facilities; identifying vocational and personal skills youth in corrections need; selecting shelter dogs and adoption strategies; building a non-profit to grow and reach into the community; recruiting volunteers. and collecting relevant research data.

MARI HIRAYAMA worked with a youth and his dog at POOCH. She is a university law lecturer in Japan.

JOAN DALTON, Project POOCH executive director, planned and led the workshop which she patterned on a similar training workshop she presented in 2005. However, according to Joan, much of the credit for the success of this year's workshop went to SUSIE WAKI, Project POOCH volunteer coordinator, who managed the logistics and arrangements for attendees to experience the beauty of Portland.

LYNN COX from California and JO McHALE from the United Kingdom found time to explore the Portland riverfront.

Thanks also to: KATE DAVIS, MSW, who presented preliminary data on youth behavioral changes reported in interviews with POOCH youths and corrections staff; ANGELA SABIN-VEEK, who attended the POOCH 101 Workshop in 2005 and told about her work in the Oregon Youth Authority People and Animals Worth Saving (PAWS) Program in Josephine County; and JEFF SLEDGE, Oregon Youth Authority administrator, who discussed the importance of coordination with corrections in program design; and ADAM BERGIN, Youth/ Kennel Supervisor, who shared strategies for working with POOCH youths.

As a final activity, attendees were asked to fill out evalu-ations. They unanimously rated their time at Vollum Kennels highly and agreed that meeting the youth and hearing them talk about their positive experiences working with dogs was the single most memorable event of their workshop week.

POOCH 101 attendee LYNN COX sent this LINK TO A SLIDESHOW OF PHOTOS from her visit to Portland, OR.