Allies for Every Childrens

Child Development/Early Childhood Education: Recognized by the Centers for Disease Control as an effective child abuse and neglect prevention strategy, Allies provides comprehensive, trauma-informed, culturally-responsive early education programming that is focused on social-emotional development and designed to prepare children and their families who face a myriad of stressors (e.g. poverty, child welfare system involvement, special needs/disabilities, etc.) for kindergarten and beyond. Allies serves over 300+ children (0-5) every year in nurturing environments at our state-of-the-art early education center, through our network of licensed home-based education providers, and in individual family homes, (See Sch O) with priority placement for children in foster care and families experiencing homelessness. Allies maintains a low staff-to-child ratio in our inclusive, bilingual classrooms to ensure every child's healthy social-emotional, cognitive, and physical development. Allies' programs are data-driven and designed with the flexibility to be responsive to individual child and family needs, exceeding requirements set by funders and oversight bodies. Children and families enrolled in Allies' early education programs also have access to extensive tailored supports, including early childhood mental health services, pediatric health consultations, disability screenings/advocacy, community events, etc. Allies is able to provide this level of quality by strategically layering and leveraging private dollars and government contracts (e.g., California Department of Education, California Department of Social Services, Early Head Start, etc.).

Child Abuse Prevention & Intervention:Since our inception, Allies' priority population has been and continues to be children who are involved with the child welfare system. Through our Family Preservation program and related child welfare programming, Allies protects at-risk children of all ages by partnering with families who have been referred to us by the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) due to substantiated abuse or neglect, as well as other vulnerable families in the community. Families access a range of services aimed at healing and strengthening relationships to keep children in their birth/first home (when possible and in the child's best interest) and prevent the need (See Sch O) for further child welfare system involvement. A recent review by LA DCFS showed that 98% of families who participated in Allies' Family Preservation program did not have repeated engagement with the child welfare system. These outcomes are a result of Allies' multidisciplinary team (overseen by licensed clinicians) addressing issues related to trauma, domestic violence, substance dependence, and parenting through in-home assessments and counseling, child and family mental health services, and intensive case management. Allies also works with families to build protective factors, characteristics proven to reduce the risk of child maltreatment, and offers family activities and community events that provide critical support by reducing social isolation, building resilience, and providing direct and concrete resources that reduce stress.

Foster Care and Adoption aka Resource Family Approval Services:Allies' Foster Care and Adoption program (partially funded by LA County Department of Children and Family Services), works to break the devastating cycles associated with children who age out of foster care (e.g., homelessness, poverty, incarceration, etc.) by providing nurturing, well-equipped families for children and youth in the foster care system, especially those who are disproportionately represented, including older children and teens, sibling sets, children of color, and LGBTQ+ youth. Allies recruits, trains, and certifies foster families who are driven by a desire to ensure that all children have a childhood that is equitable and just and who are committed (See Sch O) to providing the family that each child needs. Allies' social workers and licensed clinicians provide extensive training and support to equip foster parents with the skills necessary to parent a child who has suffered the traumas associated with being in foster care, and to ensure parents are ready to embrace and support the children who need a home.

Comprehensive, Integrated Services:Because every child and family's circumstances are unique and nuanced, Allies invests in providing an array of vital, multidisciplinary supports tailored to meet the individual needs of children and families across all programs. For example, because of Allies' extensive experience working with children who have experienced trauma, and the knowledge that birth through age five is a crucial window of brain development, Allies' team of social workers and therapists provide infant and early childhood mental health services to hundreds of children and their families each year to help heal the wounds of childhood trauma, helping children build trusting relationships with nurturing adults. Through this integrated Early Childhood Mental Health model, Allies provides trauma screenings and mental health services, including dyadic therapy, psychoeducation groups, mental health consultation, and client-centered advocacy. A focus of this work is helping caregivers regulate their emotional state so they can form a secure attachment with their child and buffer the impact of trauma. Additionally, Allies provides children and families with semiannual disabilities screenings and year-round advocacy, pediatric health consultations, dental and vision screenings, nutrition education, parenting groups, etc., and we work closely with a robust network of community partner agencies such as UCLA TIES for Families, Upward Bound House, Venice Family Clinic, St. Joseph Center, and Miriam's House to ensure families are connected with stable housing, medical care, etc. COVID-19 Response:Throughout FY 2021/2022, Allies continued (and continues) to see a spike in need in our community as COVID-19 created new challenges related to poverty and childhood trauma; the population we serve is still disproportionately impacted by the economic, social, and psychological effects of the global pandemic. This has only made Allies' services and our team's trusting relationships with families that much more critical. In addition to the above programs and services, throughout the pandemic, Allies has provided essential meal, grocery and supply deliveries, hosted drive-through distributions, increased our remote mental health work, and found creative ways to keep families engaged and connected (research is clear about the connection between social isolation and children's increased vulnerability to maltreatment).