Hephzibah Board Game Helps Kids Move On

The first version of Movin' On is much bigger, roughly a framed 2-by-2 square, with small dolls serving as game pieces.

The home version comes in a smaller package, but it's no less effective, said Davida Williams, a foster care specialist with , a resource agency providing day care and group home services for at-risk children.

Williams and a few colleagues developed the game about nine years ago to help with special transition sessions for kids in Hephzibah's care who were about to, well, move on, to new group homes or private foster care.

"It’s to get them thinking about their next step, so when it's time to go they're not totally overwhelmed," she said.

Backed only by instinct earned from decades of experience in foster care placement, Williams said the interactive method has been profoundly effective. Here's how it works: players take a spin on the board, then count spaces to land on one of 32 squares containing scenarios like "Lying," "Hitting," or "I am Happy When."

Players read what's on the square, then talk about their feelings about the given scenario. They also have the option to choose a "Connection Card," which contains titles of people who provide "nurturing" relationships, like foster parents, teachers and social workers.

The game continues until all players reach the "Goodbye Square." All players follow the road home and reflect and share with the group what they've learned. And home, located in the middle of the board, might be a multi-cultural household with lots of kids, a traditional single-family set up or maybe a single parent.

The whole exercise is designed to help kids make smart choices about who they can connect with, and trust, once they leave the home. And those messages, Williams said, resonate beyond foster care. She's envisioning use at hospitals, therapist's office and schools.

That was the motivation earlier this year for creating the smaller, board-game version. Already, Hephzibah has paid for the production of 500 board games. But most remain tucked away inside a room at the agency's administrative offices at Lake Street and Harlem Avenue. That's likely because Hephzibah has been slow to bring them onto the market.

They'll soon be launching a special section on their official website to take orders, but Williams said the game will be available via email orders.

Interested in learning more? Just email Davida Williams at dwilliams@hephzibahhome.org or call Hephzibah at (708) 649-7100