How We Help Teens
Fostering resiliency
The Teen Center serves a community that has its share of both strengths and challenges. Teens are especially vulnerable to the challenges because it is their job developmentally to push the limits. Further, many of our teens come from “multi-problem” family environments. These problems include: substance abuse, domestic violence, poverty, having an incarcerated parent, no support for school attendance, risk of homelessness, legal problems, health issues, and more. Any combination of these puts our kids at greater risk to fail in life. It is our job to foster resiliency, helping kids succeed in spite of the challenges they face.
Not just a drop-in center…
The Teen Center program is staffed by social workers who are expert at the planned and purposeful use of activities to help youth grow. So what may look like a simple game of dodgeball has actually been planned out to benefit the kids individually and as a group.
Everyone participates
When kids join the Teen Center, the staff get to know them and make their initial assessments of them. Each day when kids come in, there is free time to play pool, video games, basketball, cards, and more. There are also two group activities daily that all kids present are expected to participate in. There is a substantial snack served every afternoon as well….some kids arrive at 3:00 and stay until 7:00, missing dinner at home.
Everyone helps solve problems
Anytime there is a group of kids playing together, opportunities for problem solving arise naturally. We use a group problem solving process that helps kids to learn to deal with problems on a progressively more mature level. We involve everyone in the Teen Center, so that we can use their relationships and sense of ownership to ensure that they treat one another fairly. We do not use a “zero-tolerance” approach, but guide the kids to solutions that “fix” the problem.
Helping one another
In addition to interacting with the kids through free time, planned activities, and snacks, most teens have the chance to join a group. These groups meet once a week for 8 weeks at a time, and are often the “safe” place to talk about real, heavy-duty issues facing teens. This is where social workers help the kids help each other, realizing that they are all “in the same boat.”
High expectations everywhere
Social workers also visit schools weekly, to check on current participants, as well as meet other kids who might want to join the Teen Center. They also monitor the attendance and behavior of our participants at school.
A safe place to grow
The greatest gift and challenge in working with our teens is their developmental stage. They think they know everything. They are beginning to make decisions on their own, for better or worse. They can understand their life’s context more fully. They begin to realize that they are responsible for their own choices.
It’s all about RELATIONSHIP
The greatest key to our success with the teens is relationship. Our job is to start wherever the kids are at and help them to see both their strengths and their challenges. We treat them with respect even when that respect seems undeserved or non-reciprocated.
The Teen Center serves a community that has its share of both strengths and challenges. Teens are especially vulnerable to the challenges because it is their job developmentally to push the limits. Further, many of our teens come from “multi-problem” family environments. These problems include: substance abuse, domestic violence, poverty, having an incarcerated parent, no support for school attendance, risk of homelessness, legal problems, health issues, and more. Any combination of these puts our kids at greater risk to fail in life. It is our job to foster resiliency, helping kids succeed in spite of the challenges they face.
Not just a drop-in center…
The Teen Center program is staffed by social workers who are expert at the planned and purposeful use of activities to help youth grow. So what may look like a simple game of dodgeball has actually been planned out to benefit the kids individually and as a group.
Everyone participates
When kids join the Teen Center, the staff get to know them and make their initial assessments of them. Each day when kids come in, there is free time to play pool, video games, basketball, cards, and more. There are also two group activities daily that all kids present are expected to participate in. There is a substantial snack served every afternoon as well….some kids arrive at 3:00 and stay until 7:00, missing dinner at home.
Everyone helps solve problems
Anytime there is a group of kids playing together, opportunities for problem solving arise naturally. We use a group problem solving process that helps kids to learn to deal with problems on a progressively more mature level. We involve everyone in the Teen Center, so that we can use their relationships and sense of ownership to ensure that they treat one another fairly. We do not use a “zero-tolerance” approach, but guide the kids to solutions that “fix” the problem.
Helping one another
In addition to interacting with the kids through free time, planned activities, and snacks, most teens have the chance to join a group. These groups meet once a week for 8 weeks at a time, and are often the “safe” place to talk about real, heavy-duty issues facing teens. This is where social workers help the kids help each other, realizing that they are all “in the same boat.”
High expectations everywhere
Social workers also visit schools weekly, to check on current participants, as well as meet other kids who might want to join the Teen Center. They also monitor the attendance and behavior of our participants at school.
A safe place to grow
The greatest gift and challenge in working with our teens is their developmental stage. They think they know everything. They are beginning to make decisions on their own, for better or worse. They can understand their life’s context more fully. They begin to realize that they are responsible for their own choices.
It’s all about RELATIONSHIP
The greatest key to our success with the teens is relationship. Our job is to start wherever the kids are at and help them to see both their strengths and their challenges. We treat them with respect even when that respect seems undeserved or non-reciprocated.