{"id":15479,"date":"2021-10-21T12:47:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-21T16:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/positiveexperience.org\/?p=15479"},"modified":"2025-09-21T23:20:00","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T03:20:00","slug":"interview-with-melody-centeno-msw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/positiveexperience.org\/blog\/interview-with-melody-centeno-msw\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview: Similarities between the HOPE framework and Foster Care Unplugged"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\">[vc_row remove_bottom_col_margin=&#8221;true&#8221; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1752587802347{border-top-width: 20px !important;border-right-width: 20px !important;border-bottom-width: 20px !important;border-left-width: 20px !important;padding-top: 20px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #EDEDEE !important;border-radius: 20px !important;}&#8221;][vc_column][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]\r\n<p><strong>Key takeaways<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-checked=\"false\" aria-level=\"4\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This interview features Melody Centeno, MSW, the founder of Foster Care Unplugged and a licensed social worker in New York.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-checked=\"false\" aria-level=\"4\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Foster Care Unplugged (FCUP) supports to foster youth and agencies, helping young people build resilience while navigating the child welfare system.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-checked=\"false\" aria-level=\"4\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FCUP integrates therapeutic components into all its programs, combining clinical approaches with cultural arts to engage youth in healing. Through projects like films and plays, youth build communication, conflict resolution, and social skills while reducing stigma around therapy.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-checked=\"false\" aria-level=\"4\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The organization uses psychodrama to address human trafficking risks, engaging youth in role-play to connect education with lived experiences. These exercises highlight resiliency and empower youth to recognize and act on their strengths in real-life situations.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-checked=\"false\" aria-level=\"4\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Language plays a crucial role in reducing stigma against foster youth. Stereotypes are harmful, and building trust through respectful communication helps youth lower their guard and form safe, meaningful connections.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n[\/vc_column_text]<div class=\"vcex-spacing wpex-w-100 wpex-clear\" style=\"height:10x;\"><\/div><div class=\"vcex-toggle vcex-module\" data-animate=\"true\" data-duration=\"300\"><div class=\"vcex-toggle__heading\"><a href=\"#whats-this\" class=\"vcex-toggle__trigger wpex-transition-colors wpex-flex wpex-items-center wpex-gap-10\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"whats-this\"><div class=\"vcex-toggle__icon wpex-flex wpex-items-center wpex-justify-center\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><div class=\"vcex-toggle__icon-open wpex-flex wpex-flex-col wpex-items-center\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" height=\"1.5em\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" width=\"1.5em\" fill=\"currentColor\" class=\"vcex-toggle__icon-open\"><path d=\"M0 0h24v24H0V0z\" fill=\"none\"\/><path d=\"M19 13h-6v6h-2v-6H5v-2h6V5h2v6h6v2z\"\/><\/svg><\/div><div class=\"vcex-toggle__icon-close wpex-flex wpex-flex-col wpex-items-center\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" height=\"1.5em\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" width=\"1.5em\" fill=\"currentColor\" class=\"vcex-toggle__icon-close\"><path d=\"M0 0h24v24H0V0z\" fill=\"none\"\/><path d=\"M19 13H5v-2h14v2z\"\/><\/svg><\/div><\/div><div class=\"vcex-toggle__title\">What's this?<\/div><\/a><\/div><div id=\"whats-this\" class=\"vcex-toggle__content wpex-clr wpex-last-mb-0 wpex-my-10\"><p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This interview summary was created with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) and reviewed by the HOPE National Resource Center staff before publication. No other parts of the blog post were generated by AI. Found an error? <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/positiveexperience.org\/contact-hope-healthy-outcomes-from-positive-experiences\/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Let us know<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]\r\n<h2>Supporting children through the child welfare system<\/h2>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The HOPE National Resource Center team met Melody Centeno, MSW when she spoke at the National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect this spring. Her work embodies so much of what the HOPE framework stands for: promoting child development through the promotion of safe, supportive relationships and stable, supportive environments. The HOPE framework centers the <a href=\"https:\/\/positiveexperience.org\/resource\/the-four-building-block-of-hope\/\">Four Building Blocks of HOPE<\/a>, key types of <a href=\"https:\/\/positiveexperience.org\/blog\/why-pces-are-important-for-all-children-and-families\/\">positive childhood experiences<\/a> (PCEs) that children need, including relationships and environments.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Centeno is now a licensed social worker in New York, and has used her own experiences to improve the lives of others. She inspires so many when she talks about the issues facing children and youth in foster care.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<!-- \/wp:post-content -->\r\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><strong>Please introduce yourself and your work to our readers.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\r\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph -->I am the founder of <a href=\"http:\/\/fostercareunplugged.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Foster Care Unplugged<\/a>, and I am what you call a lived experience expert as a former foster child who navigated through the child welfare system.<\/p>\r\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\r\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><strong>Can you talk about Foster Care Unplugged and the work that you do?<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\r\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph -->Foster Care Unplugged was founded in 2016, originally just as a social awareness campaign. Then, it grew arms and legs. So we turned it into a not-for-profit, aiming to really support foster care youth on their journey to resiliency as they navigate through the child welfare system. We are secondary supports to most of the contracted agencies in the city who have responsibility over them and secondary supports to the administration for children services.<\/p>\r\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\r\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><strong>How can promoting positive childhood experiences help children in foster care?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\r\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph -->When I did the conference recently at the Children\u2019s Bureau, I shared the story of how my sister and I met my foster mother, who really took her time to show us the importance of love and hope. Aunty Pat, we call her; she took us home and said \u201cit is time for you to take a shower.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\r\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph -->In the previous home, we had a foster mother who really traumatized us. I remember her saying \u201cMy water bill is going up, so for now on you guys will not take a shower individually. Girls will shower together and boys will take a shower together. And there is too much laundry and that is also making my water bill go up. So instead\u2026 you all are going to dry yourself with this one washcloth after you get out of the shower.\u201d And I remember lining up, my siblings and I, and all five of us having to share this one wash cloth.<\/p>\r\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\r\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph -->So when we got to this new foster home, my sister and I went into the bathroom together thinking it would be the same routine. Aunty Pat stopped us and said \u201cWhat are you guys doing?\u201d and we said \u201cOh we are about to take a shower, but we don\u2019t want to waste your water and get kicked out.\u201d She said \u201cWhat? No, that is not how that works.\u201d She taught us the importance of privacy and self-esteem. She said \u201cYou guys are going to take a shower separately.\u201d I was shocked that she even said that, and then she asked \u201cDo you even know how to bathe properly?\u201d I immediately put my head down; no one really taught me the importance of hygiene. \u2026 [So] she said, \u201cI am going to teach you how to bathe properly.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\r\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph -->And when she started to scrub my arm I saw that she started to cry, and said, \u201cYou are three shades lighter.\u201d And it was in that moment that she realized that we had really been through a lot. It was like a symbolism behind that, and it made her sob. She looked at me and said \u201cI am going to love you until you become an adult, this is the last foster home that you go too.\u201d And that was the start of the installation of hope. Just that one simple conversation made me feel like, wow I am now in a safe haven.<\/p>\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FCUP has all four [building] blocks built into our programming and our model; so, I am glad there are people all over the country doing the same work. -Melody Centeno, MSW<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\r\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><strong>How does Foster Care Unplugged (FCUP) help promote the Four Building Blocks of HOPE for youth and foster families?<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\r\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph -->FCUP has all four [building] blocks built into our programming and our model; so, I am glad there are people all over the country doing the same work. All of our programing essentially has a therapeutic component attached to it. As a licensed social worker, I think it is imperative that we get our youth constantly engaged in the clinical work. But as a lived experienced expert, I also understand the challenges of not wanting to go to therapy and how difficult it is to have one-on-one therapy with a therapist. So, I merged cultural arts with therapeutic approaches.<\/p>\r\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\r\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph -->For example, we have a short film project and a play that we do annually with our healing homes, often called group homes, to help the youth engage with one another and learn adaptive and effective communication skills as well as conflict resolution. They have to go through a series of therapeutic group practice with me. Then, we transition it over into writing a film together, carving out characters, using our storylines to build the characters. Next, we shoot and film them, and they have an amazing time on set. It is a really empowering approach to getting them to engage in therapy and to have adaptive and healthy social skills amongst one another. We dismantle a lot of apprehensions that they have with engaging in [therapeutic] services; a lot of our youth end up going into treatment after because they realize therapy is not so bad, and want to continue! And when we see that happen we ultimately know we have completed our goal.<\/p>\r\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\r\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><strong>How do FCUP\u2019s programs focus on individual strength through adversity?<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\r\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph -->In our other program we do psycho-drama using the lens of human trafficking prevention. We have a contract with the city as well as New York City Trust who funds us. We specifically work with youth who have been human trafficked or are at risk. And foster care youth are, unfortunately, a very vulnerable population; so, they are at risk of being human trafficked or have experienced things such as grooming [building a relationship of trust to then sexually exploit youth] while they are in the child welfare system. We infuse education with drama so once they know how the educational component matches up with their lived experience, and they have to hit the stage every week to carry out a role play or any of our psycho-drama approaches.<\/p>\r\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\r\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph -->In that moment, they are given skills they can actually implement based on the experiences they have already been through and to avoid being placed in those situations again. In the role play, they have that pivotal moment where they are like \u201cWow, this is a strength that I actually have. I do possess resiliency skills, and I do understand the power of no because it happened when this happened.\u201d And so now you are convicted on a deeper level, which means if ever placed in that situation again you will know what to do based on the strengths that we have highlighted through role play.<\/p>\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You need to meet people where they are, and you have to let them be empowered to then learn the experiences that you have and not just presume that they should know these things. -Melody Centeno, MSW<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\r\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><strong>How does cultural competency factor into your work at FCUP?<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\r\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph -->We have a \u201cbros for bros\u201d suit project where we pair a successful male figure in the community with one of our young male adults or youth. And the first time we did this, I remember there were these eight successful men and eight youth that we paired them with, and we had to meet them at the office where we were giving the youth custom-made suits. I remember the men were talking to the youth and saying \u201cSo do you know what a 401k is?\u201d or \u201cDo you know what benefits are?\u201d<\/p>\r\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\r\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph -->And I had to pull the gentlemen to the side and say that I noticed two youth starting to put their heads down as if they were tired. But they weren\u2019t; they just could not keep up with the dialogue level of the successful men. This is what we are talking about when we talk about culture. We are transient youth who are moving from place-to-place, our reading and writing levels are sometimes not up to par, and our goals and aspirations may not be comparable to a lot of successful people. So you need to meet people where they are, and you have to let them be empowered to then learn the experiences that you have and not just presume that they should know these things.<\/p>\r\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\r\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><strong>Is there anything we haven\u2019t asked about that you would like the readers to know?<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\r\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph -->There is a lot of stigma that comes with foster care youth. Our language is very important when you are connecting with us. I will give myself for example, a lot of times when I go and speak or I interact with people there are just things that are said that I am just like \u201chuh?\u201d For example\u201d You don\u2019t look like a foster child.\u201d Well what are we supposed to look like? \u201cBut you don\u2019t sound like one, you are actually very educated.\u201d Ok, are we not educated?<\/p>\r\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\r\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph -->So, just know that language is very important when you connect to us, and that you have to question the stigmas that maybe we have bought into as it is related to foster care youth. We do not always have behavioral issues like you see on television. Sometimes, we are just guarded because we are in survival mode, and if you take an extra opportunity to really establish a rapport with us, a lot of those guards go down very quickly because we want to have those relationships. And we want to connect, but we want to be safe while doing so.<\/p>\r\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The interview was edited for brevity and clarity.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\r\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row remove_bottom_col_margin=&#8221;true&#8221; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1752587802347{border-top-width: 20px !important;border-right-width: 20px !important;border-bottom-width: 20px !important;border-left-width: 20px !important;padding-top: 20px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #EDEDEE !important;border-radius: 20px !important;}&#8221;][vc_column][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;] Key takeaways This interview features Melody Centeno, MSW, the founder of Foster Care Unplugged and a licensed social worker in New York. Foster Care Unplugged (FCUP) supports to foster youth and&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":29963,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[318,274,179,265],"post_series":[],"class_list":["post-15479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-child-welfare","tag-four-building-blocks","tag-interview","tag-positive-childhood-experiences","entry","has-media"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Interview: Similarities between the HOPE framework and Foster Care Unplugged | Tufts Hope<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We met Melody Centeno when she spoke at the National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect this spring. 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