United Communities Southeast Philadelphia (UCSEP)

Case management includes: family empowerment services (fes) and truancy intervention prevention services (tips). For fes, families are either referrred directly from the Philadelphia department of human services or may request services directly from gpca. All families have an identified barrier that prevents the family from reaching their full potential. Case managers visit the families in their homes and after conducting a full assessment, link families with referrals to address the identified barrier. Tips connects with students who have reached the absence threshold that has caused them to be referred to regional truancy court. Case managers work with young people [cont on sch o]and their families to eliminate the barrier that was preventing the student from attending school so that they will not be referred to the Philadelphia family court. Additionally, staff work with identified youth who have not reached the absence threshold so that they will not be referred to the regional truancy court.

Client services - the agency's client services department addresses basic human needs-housing, food/clothing and benefits. In the past year, approximately 700 individuals received housing or benefits access services. As a result of this, 68 families were able to avoid foreclosure and stay in their homes. Over 800 benefits applications were submitted with over 300 benefit enrollments.

Out-of-school time (ost) - the agency provides after school and summer programming for over 400 elementary and high school aged youth across five sites. These programs provide a safe environment for the participants and focus on enhancing educational and social skills. A component of the elementary school program is a drug prevention curriculum educating the children about the dangers of substance abuse. In the summer, the high school program participates in the workready program, offering career exposure for the participants, while the elementary school sites offer a more traditional summer camp that includes significant literacy activities as a part of the curriculum.

Community engagement - the agency provided clients with additional miscellaneous utility assistance (i.e. Home heating oil) that was not covered by other funding sources, as well as gift cards for families to purchase groceries. Additionally, there was a priority placed on marketing efforts in order to increase community outreach.