Youth Guidance

Community & After-School Programs (CAP): CAP offers services and support to meet students' academic, health, and family needs. CAP integrates the Community School philosophy of student support and systemic change into school-based opportunities for students. Our holistic approach improves school climate and engages parents and/or guardians, teachers, and the community to develop critical skills and strategies to help students.

Counseling & Prevention: Counseling and prevention is core to all Youth Guidance programs. Our school-based mental health programs work with students who are at higher risk of school withdrawal and antisocial behaviors, to gain the skills and resources necessary to improve school engagement and thrive in and beyond school.Under this delivery area, we have STRIVE (specific to youth ages 14-21 who are in Illinois' foster care system), Community Connections, a case management and resource provision program designed to connect Youth Guidance students and families to resources to meet immediate needs, and in-school Counseling programs, which include both 1:1 and group counseling models. Our flagship group counseling programs are Becoming a Man (BAM) and Working on Womanhood (WOW).BAM and WOW are in-school strength-based, trauma-informed group counseling and clinical mentoring programs that seek to change the life trajectories of boys and young men of color and girls and young women of color in grades 6-12, who have been exposed to cycles of intergenerational poverty, violence, and trauma.

Career Readiness & Success (CRS): CRS focuses on supporting young adults in honing the skills necessary to thrive in the 21st-century workforce. Through a range of programs, including @Work, Project Prepare, Project Prepare Blue, Alumni Engagement, and The Fellowship Initiative, CRS provides a curriculum that leverages clinical expertise in social and emotional development to guide participants through the practice and internalization of durable 21st-century skills that are necessary for success in the workplace.

EVOLVE: Drawing on core content and processes from our evidence-based Becoming a Man (BAM) and Working on Womanhood (WOW) programs, EVOLVE's innovative capacity-building approach is designed to dramatically increase the number of schools and students who have access to group-based social and emotional support. The EVOLVE program provides professional development for school staff on the principles of adolescent development, trauma-informed and healing-centered approaches, and practices for supporting students' healthy learning and development.The primary mechanism of EVOLVE is the group circles, with a structured curriculum providing opportunities for learning, practicing, and internalizing social and emotional skills, to improve students' self-awareness, healthy relationships, school engagement, and goal attainment.