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Counseling, Lifeskills & Prevention

 

YouthWorks programs strengthen youth resiliency through the delivery oflife skills prevention education and counseling services; crisis intervention and youth advocacy work; positive youth development program implementation for youth engaged in the Juvenile Justice system; afterschool and out-of school.counseling and lifeskills service delivery. Over the past nine years, YouthWorks has delivered no-fee professional counseling support in the Santa Fe Public Schools to assist with the large number of students requiring emotional and behavioral intervention. In addition to our in-school counseling services program, YouthWorks also receives requests and delivers counseling services to out of school children and youth,in after-school programs and City-run summer programs. YouthWorks no fee counseling program also extends services to YouthWorks' SantaFe Youth Corps job training participants. Youthengaged in YouthWorks job training programs can opt to receive counseling in order to address issues, achieve personal stability and reinforce personal growth and progress toward greater individual success.

YouthWorks maintains a team of professional, master's level, licensed counselors that are assigned to students and or situations that are presented through counselor/teacher/and other agecy referrals. YouthWorks receives hundreds of referrals each year from the schools, and strives to meet each request by matching the student or students with the appropriate counselor and or skills. In many cases, students with similar "presenting problems" are placed together in support groups to maximize counselor availability and funds. Support group topics include, grief and loss, behavioral issues, interpersonal issues, need for increased empathy/respect for others, repeated school violations and or suspensions, and personal/family/system difficulties.

Counseling sessions average one hour, once per week. Counseling services for students in school and out of school are delivered free of charge for a minimum of 8 weeks, as needs are determined, and may be extended if the individual can benefit from further support.

YouthWorks has broad-based knowlegdge and training in Lifeskills and has susccessfully facilitated LIfeskills to thousands of youth inthe Santa Fe Public School District since its inception in 2001. YouthWorks staff has facilitated Lifeksills substance abuse prevention training curriculum to entire cohorts of 4, 5 and 6tth graders each year in the school District, reaching 900- 1200 youth per year in hundreds of classrooms, with 8 to 16 sessions per classroom. YouthWorks staff is trained specifically in Botvin's LIfeskills TRaining, and evidence based curriculum that has been adapted to be made more culturally appropriate for the region and population.