Compass Health 2/22/2017 (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

City of Everett Human Needs Grant January 1 through December 31,2017 Compass Health Cocoon House Homeless Shelter Youth Counseling EXHIBIT A: Program Summary The Compass Health Youth Counseling Program provides mental health counseling services to homeless youth ages 13-18 who have come to the Cocoon Everett Shelter. Our objective is to ensure that these homeless and at-risk youth have immediate, barrier-free, access to mental health services. We provide individualized engagement therapy, individual therapy,group therapy and family therapy when that is appropriate and safe. Additionally,we provide regular and ongoing consultation to the Cocoon staff who are with the youth 24 hours/7 days a week. We can provide help with crisis planning, provide a deeper clinical understanding of the behaviors that the youth may be exhibiting, and help with the overall treatment plan of the youth during their stay at the shelter. Three key goals for the program are: 1) establish a safe and trusting relationship with a reliable adult, 2) establish a long term safe place for the youth to live so they don't go back to the street, and 3) provide individualized counseling to help with pressing mental health issues for each youth. Youth entering the Everett Cocoon House come into the shelter in a state of crisis. Because they often have had such difficult histories with their parents or other adults who may have been the perpetrators of physical or sexual abuse, have had abuse histories of their own, or have had domestic violence that involved the youth or that the youth witnessed, they often do not trust adults. The first task at the shelter is to assess the youth for safety and to ensure that the youth is not suicidal or exhibiting self-harming behaviors. Staff seeks immediately to begin to establish relationships with the youth so that they will agree to individual counseling sessions. This engagement therapy phase is very important and requires great clinical skill. It is critical in order for the youth to be willing to share their story and ask for the help that they need. The engagement process is different for each youth depending on their history and their personality. Some youth are very willing and anxious to talk and to have someone safe to listen to them. For others, it takes a long time in this initial engagement phase before the youth will even come into the room alone with the counselor and share details of their lives.This hesitancy is one reason these youth often will not pursue traditional counseling; they need to first find a trusted individual and then they will participate in a more traditional and structured process. The program service is offered on site so that the youth and families have easy and immediate access to counseling. Once the engagement phase is completed, a review of a safety plan is conducted to ensure that Cocoon staff is aware of any other safety issues. The Compass Health staff person then consults with the Cocoon staff giving them information regarding these safety issues,tips to identify triggers for aggressive or self-harming behaviors, and ways to respond should concerning behaviors occur. In the individual counseling sessions,the clinician will continue to assess the needs of the youth. If it is safe and reasonable for the youth to return home,then family sessions will be set up in order to help the youth and family reunify. This is the preferred outcome if the family setting is safe and the youth is willing to meet with the family. If the family setting is not safe,then other plans are considered including living with a relative or friend or the Cocoon Complex where the youth can live until the age of 18.