WHAT IS YFSP?
The Youth and Family Support Program (YFSP) supports justice-involved youth and their families to ensure the youth is able to be successful in the home and community.
A team is comprised of a Clinical Supervisor, a Youth and Family Counselor and a Youth and Family Support Specialist. Each has their own role to assist the child and the family in the following ways:
YFSP SERVICES
Community Transition – Maricopa, Mohave, and Coconino Counties
Staff will work with youth who are returning home from out-of-home care and/or highly structured level of care. Services could include identifying and/or updating safety plans to stabilize the youth’s behavior, navigating community services/referrals, and increasing youth and family engagement with natural supports.
Family Support – Maricopa, Mohave, and Coconino Counties
Staff will work to improve family functioning to care for the youth in the home and in the community by working with the youth and family. Examples include:
- Teaching and modeling appropriate parenting
- Teaching coping skills and conflict resolution strategies
- Understanding normal adolescent behavior
- Connecting family to community resources and supports
- Mentoring – Mohave and Coconino Counties only
- Mentors will spend time with youth in the community, at school and at home, focusing on the interests of the youth, improving needed life skills and learning new ones. This may include filling out job applications, creating resumes, increasing money management and study skills, or recreational activities such as learning to swim or learning how to play chess. Other domains addressed could include: substance abuse, anti-social behavior, academic performance or pro-social skills.
Interpersonal Skills Training – Maricopa, Mohave, and Coconino Counties
Areas addressed will include: verbal and non-verbal communication, listening skills, negotiation, problem-solving, decision-making, assertiveness, conflict resolution and social resistance skills. These skills will be addressed through psychoeducational material, discussions, and experiential exercises, including role-playing, to develop new behavior patterns and build critical thinking skills.
Life Skills Training – Maricopa, Mohave, and Coconino Counties
Areas addressed will include: employment readiness, practical living skills and personal growth. These skills will be addressed through psychoeducational material, discussions, experiential exercises, including role-playing, to develop new behavior patterns and build critical thinking skills. Examples include:
- Employment readiness – focuses on applying for employment, developing a resume, and interviewing for a job
- Practical living skills – focuses on independent living skills like budgeting, housing, transportation, personal health/medical benefits and community resources
- Personal growth – focuses on setting personal goals and identifying steps to reach those goals
- Comprehensive Youth Program – Maricopa County only
- Areas addressed will include Interpersonal Skills, Life Skills Training and Cognitive Skills Development/Restructuring (focusing on common distortions/thinking errors, exploring thought processes and how they affect actions).
General Mental Health Counseling – Maricopa County only
Combination of counseling and family support services aimed at increasing long-term family functioning and preventing youth from being placed out of the home. Services could include individual or family counseling to address issues related to a youth’s functioning in the home, family, community, school, work or other social environment.