Model and Strategy
Homeless and at-risk families have a high level of need for mental health services, due to factors related to homelessness and family instability, such as abuse or community violence, substance abuse, and poverty. Compass Clinical Services provides mental health services to homeless and at-risk families to help them cope with trauma and stress, strengthen family relationships and support networks, reduce the risk of family violence, support healthy child development, and remove barriers to housing stability.
Therapists, including a Child Trauma Specialist, use a trauma-informed approach to provide services in English and Spanish, including on-demand crisis counseling, psychotherapy for individual adults, children, families and couples, and therapeutic support groups. Strong mental health is a foundation for family well-being, without which many barriers to employment and housing can seem daunting and even insurmountable. By improving family well-being, Compass Clinical Services amplifies the impact of our continuum of care for homeless families, to help families to secure better outcomes and brighter futures.
Impact
Compass Family Services is committed to providing mental health services to families, as mental health and family well-being are critical factors as homeless families work to improve their housing stability and economic self-sufficiency. Therapists at Compass Clinical Services work with parents and children to reduce symptoms related to depression, anxiety, isolation and post-traumatic stress disorder, and improve coping, communication and decision-making skills. Mental health services for children focus on relieving negative symptoms, promoting healthy attachment and relationships with their parents, and help children to heal from their experiences, manage triggers and learn coping and other social and emotional skills, paving the way for cognitive development and school success. Family therapy sessions and collateral contacts with parents whose children are receiving therapy serve to strengthen family relationships, particularly parent-child relationships and improve developmental outcomes for children.
Mental and emotional problems, whether temporary or long-term, can affect a family’s ability to work, participate in job training or education programs, or maintain stable housing, and be present for their children. Compass Clinical Services provides access to mental health services, to ensure that families have the tools to address some of the underlying barriers to stability and well-being that keep them from moving out of trauma and leaving healthy, stable lives. Improving mental health for both parents and children has an immense positive benefit for the entire family, but especially for young children, for whom family stability and well-being are major factors impacting their early development, and long-term educational, health, and other life outcomes.
Leadership
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Erica Kisch
Executive Director
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Susan Reider, LMFT
Clinical Director