Letitia Dowie-Lewis (Teesh) is a foster caregiver based in Hamilton. On Friday March 7 2024, she won a prestigious ‘Excellence in Foster Care’ award from Caring Families Aotearoa (CFA). She was nominated by FASD-CAN CEO Stephanie James-Sadler and our Auckland Navigator Anna Gundesen.
“The nomination was a shock, but most appreciated," Teesh said after the awards ceremony. "I'm a person who prefers to work in the background and do what I do, expecting nothing in return. My reward is seeing tamariki/rangatahi and whaanau thrive. This award and going away for the night to Wellington was life-changing for me and my partner and came at a time when it was needed most. I am so grateful.”
A senior social worker at Oranga Tamariki shared this: “I am so proud of Letitia and everything she has achieved for herself, but particularly as a strong leading advocate for everyone impacted by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.”
Teesh has had a long relationship with both Anna and FASD-CAN. A substantial nomination document was put together, and we’d like to share this, with Teesh’s permission, to give an idea of why we thought she should receive this award.
Teesh (left, with husband Dyson Nicholson) grew up as a foster sibling to many as her parents were foster parents all her life. In her mind, she has always done it. To support her parents she helped care for her own foster brothers and sisters until they were young adults.
She has changed the lives of so many tamariki and rangatahi over her 33 years of caregiving. In her own words: "When you get phone calls from community people who know what I do, or from the young people, you can’t just turn them away." Teesh has worked with Barnardos, Open Home Foundation, CYFs and now Oranga Tamariki.
Teesh is not sure how many tamariki and rangatahi she has had in her home living with them over the years but thinks it’s around 60. Her Hamilton home has become a ‘teens’ house now and for the last two years has had nine rangatahi living with them off and on, offering them a stable home, building positive attachments, advocating and supporting them through their teenage years.
Most of those who come into her home have neurodiverse challenges and Teesh is always there for them, even when they may need legal support or life advice with their own children.
Some call her years later for help and support, even when living as far away as Australia, Europe and Africa.
Teesh provides emergency care as well as short and long-term placements with herself an her family. Over the years, Teesh has helped run foster-carer support groups through the Foster Care Association in Tauranga, Ruapehu region and now in the Waikato. She runs coffee groups to support other carers and professionals working with neurodiverse children and supports Oranga Tamariki staff – all voluntarily.
Teesh’s adopted daughter (her niece) came to her as a baby at two days old. This young woman is now working in Youth Justice facilities, supporting rangatahi who feel they have no hope or future.
Teesh says they live quite minimally at home, and that the teenagers quite easily adapt to their new space. She says she is a ‘grassroots type of person’. Each child or rangatahi has their own-coloured towel, their own box of food in fridge, their own basket in the pantry for their particular dietary requirements. For those with food insecurities, she shows them they don’t need to stash food in their bedrooms. There’s always an extra meal in the fridge and healthy snacks for them in their basket in the pantry, and they have open access at all times.
So long as she has thirty minutes notice, and a good ‘All About Me’ plan emailed through, she will set up bedrooms for new kids, give them their own quilt, any favourite toys or music, anything to help them be as comfortable as they can be with this scary transition. They always have pizza night for newcomers on their first night, as over the years Teesh has seen this helps settle them in.
Teesh is very aware of the effects of developmental trauma, so she works hard in the early days of each placement to get to know their triggers and how they respond to uncomfortable situations: flight, fight or freeze?
She is very aware of the benefits of having an enriched home environment – from when the tamariki or rangatahi wake up, there is calming music, making sure low energy is required. She models meditation, breathing exercises, has sensory plans in place, is aware of smell triggers and has blue lights in the evening. Touch – there may only be a gentle high-five for those who can only handle that level of physical touch but those who want a hug will get it. ‘Knowledge is key’, is a mantra Teesh lives by.
Each child or young person has their own whiteboard in their bedrooms showing what their individual structured routine is going to be – appointments, activities, school notices etc. They have a common whiteboard with everyone’s daily and weekly appointments on it in the kitchen. There are set times for doing things to help lessen anxiety. They have family meetings and decide things together as much as possible.
Other teenagers in the home show the new ones what to do. Teesh is inspired by rangatahi with FASD as they tend to support each other, have a higher understanding and empathy and adapt quickly to the needs of the new tamariki or rangatahi that come into their home. Her Oranga Tamariki Social Worker says, “Teesh has an ability to make a child/young person feel seen for who they are and their potential, not for their trauma, situation or being an ‘OT kid’”.
Teesh sees herself as a taxi driver, she knows she needs to be on the sidelines for their sports and activities because neurodiverse tamariki can react differently, and social interchanges can be challenging.
She is often mediating potentially triggering situations with compassion, ensuring she is enhancing everyone’s mana.
Once a month Teesh organises family gatherings. This is always outside with kai, at a local park or beach, with games included. All whānau of her current tamariki and rangatahi are invited. She works hard to maintain the whānau connections of all those that live with her and believes that sibling visitation is very powerful. She sets up a messenger group with the whānau of the those living with her, posting photos, updates and events. She has found this helps with whānau members ringing her with mixed points of view and requests – messaging each other seems to work best as it keeps the relationships and connections working positively.
Teesh supports all tamariki and rangatahi that come into her home to explore their whakapapa, where and who they are connected to. If access visits are set out in court plans, Teesh provides the supervision to build the relationship with that whānau, and she can calmly direct how visit plays out for that rangatahi. Anna (Navigator from FASD-CAN) says, “Teesh has raised so many kids with neurodisabilities and learning difficulties that she can meet whānau where they’re at and offer informed support.”
Teesh maintains those whānau relationships long after the rangatahi may have left their home. They have called her years later when things might need her advice or support in dealing with a situation. Kirsty (an Oranga Tamariki Social Worker) says, “the impact of her work continues even for those that leave her home, as they and their whanau are always welcome.”
The biggest achievement Teesh would say of herself is that people in the community would call her to help them out. They know they can trust her and know of her genuine care for them and their tamariki. She is often out with her rangatahi, dropping off a sleeping bag and some kai to someone on the streets she’s been alerted to.
The driving force in Teesh's work is to give young people hope.
She has great relationships with local police, and she works part-time in youth justice facilities as a reliever. She has often mediated school meetings with whānau, helping schools understand what FASD is, how to support a neurodiverse tamariki in the classroom and helping them shift their planning to a brain-based approach.
Teesh is highly FASD-informed. She has changed her whole home and parenting practice towards strategies and approaches that work for trauma and neurodiverse tamariki and rangatahi.
She is also a strong advocate at many levels. She’ll work with social workers, lawyers, schools and mental health to make things happen for those young people who live with her. She shares a lot about FASD and behaviour, encouraging everyone to work together in a strengths-based plan.
She has and will advocate in the court/education system, especially when neurodisability and/or trauma is part of the behaviour. She is not afraid to challenge the belief of a professional, but first does her homework, builds a rationale and researches all she can to support her perspective of a situation.
Teesh is very involved in her community, but always in the background making things happen, never up the front. She is often called upon to support other caregivers in her area. Toni, a fellow caregiver shared this: “She demonstrates patience and understanding with children she has had in her care, as well as looked after children for me as a respite carer over many years of fostering myself.”
She will support caregivers with meetings in schools, with health appointments or hui with social workers, if she can. Teesh has a great way of working with teachers and often helps school leadership and kaiako to understand how a change in their practice not only helps the neurodiverse tamariki – but all tamariki.
She steps in to offer respite to avoid the breakdown of a placement and will support the caregivers through to a better place. She helps them to view the young person more positively, with different understanding, going at their pace, sharing with them approaches and different ways of parenting challenging tamariki and rangatahi.
A senior social worker from Oranga Tamariki confirms this, saying, “Teesh is so helpful with our clients in stabilising their placements. She has a real understanding of the added trauma involved for both the tamariki and caregivers if placements break down.”
“Treat every day as a new day,” is one of her mottos. “Each day has new possibilities and a fresh view on things – there’s always the option of trying something different.”
Congratulations from FASD-CAN to an exceptional caregiver and amazing human being!
