SUPPORTIVE SERVICES

Street Outreach is provided by both staff and Peer Educators who go out on the streets of Los Angeles County looking for and educating youth. Youth, ages 12-24, are informed of the dangers of the streets and services available to them. The goal of this program is to transition youth ages 12-17 off of the streets into our day and shelter programs and to refer youth ages 18-24 to the services in the community available to them.

Case Management is the intervention utilized to assist a young person to transition into a safe environment. The case management team consists of four members who provide a full psychosocial interview with each youth. Through negotiation with a youth, a case plan is designed to assist the youth with a step-by-step process that will lead them to achieve their goal of stabilization.

Counseling is the intervention utilized to assist our young people to address issues that are preventing them from achieving their goals. These services are provided by para-professional and professional clinical staff. Both short term and long-term interventions are utilized. As in all of our program components the staff start where the youth is able to begin. This service is continued after a youth leaves our program when appropriate. These services are provided to individuals, group and families.

Arts & Recreation program is the intervention utilized to assist our young people with a creative outlet to express themselves in many avenues. One such avenue is made possible through our collaboration with Cirque du Soleil. Known as Cirque du Monde, Circus Artists work side by side with Social Work staff and provide workshops with our youth twice a week and teach them the circus arts, such as juggling, stilt walking, etc. It is a powerful tool that assists with building self esteem, learning to express yourself in a healthy way and helps our young people with reaching their goals.