To return to Convening's homepage, click here.
To return to Convening XXIX's Table of Contents, click here.
Sandra Reyes, MPH,
Counseling Center of Lake View,
Chicago, IL.
This workshop will describe the Counseling Center of Lake View's (CCLV) innovative program serving homeless or
precariously housed youth up to the age of 24: Youth In Transition (YIT). Located in Chicago, the YIT program
provides innovative, trauma-sensitive and comprehensive mental health services, including psychiatric services, to
homeless and other at-risk youth. The YIT program is part of CCLV's Child, Adolescent, and Young Adult Program but
is unique in that we provide mental health services off-site as well as on-site. The workshop will outline the services
provided by YIT in the Chicago community: case management, outreach, groups, and individual therapy at residential
programs, drop-in centers, and emergency shelters, as well as psychiatry on-site. Partnerships with other homeless
youth providers are critical to the YIT model.
An estimated 26,000 youth in Illinois experience homelessness each year and studies cite that between 19% and 50% of
homeless youth have serious mental health disorders (2004 Report on Illinois Poverty, Mid-America Institute on
Poverty, Heartland Alliance.) Many youth have difficulty accessing services when they are in a state of crisis due to
distrust of adults, stigma associated with mental health services, or lack of knowledge about the availability of services.
Committing to and maintaining treatment is equally challenging due to the transient nature of their lifestyle, limited
capacity to follow a consistent appointment and/or medication regimen, loss of their medication through theft or
confiscation, or distrust of health professionals. If their illness remains untreated, these youth are at-risk for continued
homelessness and poor outcomes.
A YIT therapist will highlight how staff often encounter youth when they are in crisis. Many are homeless or at-risk of
losing their housing due to reasons including, but not limited to, family abuse, family substance use, or conflict over
their sexual orientation. Others are in acute psychological or psychiatric distress. Some youth are without money and
lack the skills to obtain employment. Many require medical treatment for a chronic condition or injury as well.
Through YIT, staff work with the youth to stabilize the crisis, thereby engaging the youth for individual work. The goal
of YIT is to enhance youths' problem-solving skills through accessing mental health services, and therefore prevent
future crises from either occurring or occurring with the same intensity.
Data presented will include: number of youth served by CCLV, demographic information, presenting problem at time
of encounter with YIT staff, types of services requested and delivered, referral history, outcome measures, and history of
violence/trauma.
To return to Convening's homepage, click here.
To return to Convening XXIX's Table of Contents, click here.