Ettie Lee Youth & Family Services

Ettie Lee owns group care homes in residential neighborhoods throughout southern California. The goal for group care is for each to be as home like as possible while at the same time serving as a therapeutic setting for the participants. There are five safe and secure group care homes that serve 50 adolescents who have severe emotional and behavioral challenges. Three homes are short term Residential Treatment Programs, two are Shelter Care sites. Fully licensed and accredited, these homes are equipped to care for six to twelve youngsters, ages 10 to 17. A team of highly trained residential care professionals provide nurturing, around the clock supervision. Services include individual, group and family counseling; academic and vocational assistance; independent living skills training; and recreational activities. Through individualized, innovative and flexible services the adolescents are given every opportunity to succeed and our staff encourages family participation in treatment. Ettie Lee also provides services to help youngsters as they transition to community living or to a lower level of care. In 22/23, Ettie Lee served 19 adolescents in our group home program.

Ettie Lee Mental Health Programs extend to all of Ettie Lee programming - group care, foster care adoption and Ettie Lee's community based substance use disorder program and mental health services. The Mental Health Program is designed to meet the numerous mental health needs of children, youth and families. Mental Health Services are provided using trauma informed treatment and evidence-based practices that have demonstrated positive outcomes. Services in support of the child include individual, group and family therapy, psychiatric and medication support services, therapeutic behavioral services (TBS), transition and aftercare planning, and in-home and field-based services (including assessment, consultation, case management, individual and family counseling, crisis intervention). The Mental Health Program assists system-involved youth who are not likely to return to their homes to gain caring relationships and coordinated, culturally-responsive, trauma-informed support services to help them build a life worth living, establish safe, stable independent living arrangements and develop safe, stable adult relationships and social support system. All treatment programs are evidence-based. Most services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The Foster Care Adoption Homes provide children and youth, infants to 21 years old with therapeutic and other support services they need to heal and achieve safety, permanency and well being. Children who have been abused, abandoned, or neglected are placed in dually-licensed (foster and adoption), safe, loving homes. Many times siblings are placed together providing them a permanent place to live and thrive when their own families are not able to care for them. Whenever possible, family reunification is always the first option. Youngsters placed in Foster Care Adoption Homes receive specialized care tailored to meet their individual needs. These services include counseling, psychological testing, psychiatric services, and emancipation assistance. In addition, assessment and evaluation, individual, family and group therapy, individual and group rehabilitation activities, case management, medication support (psychiatric assessment and evaluation, medication monitoring) and psychological assessment are provided. Aftercare services are available following a child's movement to a permanent setting in order to provide continuity of care as needed. Ettie Lee's Intensive Treatment Foster Care (ITFC) program cares for children with serious behavioral problems, who would otherwise require group care placement, and enables them to live in a family setting. This program follows the same model as the Foster Care Adoption Program; however, ITFC offers intensified services for foster youth who need extra structure and support. ITFC places only one foster child in a home where the child has an individualized treatment program and the foster parents receive specialized training and professional support twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.

Therapeutic Behavior Services (TBS), an innovative program, was designed to meet the specific, targeted needs of children. TBS Coaches are called upon to help with motivating a child to get up in the morning to go to school, to introduce tools to manage anger and frustration, or to teach techniques to settle down and get homework done. Ettie Lee's TBS coaches work as a team with the children's families, foster parents and group care home staff to determine what interventions will be used to support each child's behavior change. The TBS staff use teaching, coaching, modeling, early intervention, and de-escalation techniques. TBS coaches, working with the youngsters and their caregivers on a one-to-one basis, help them avoid placement in a more restrictive, higher level of care and also help them transition to a lower level of care.

Ettie Lee's Substance Use Disorders Program (SUDs) is certified by the State of California. Ettie Lee's SUDs Program serves the youth living in group care and foster care adoption homes and also children, youth and families living in the community who suffer from substance use disorders. The program, provided in English and Spanish and known as "Take a Step", seeks to treat the underlying causes of substance abuse, address family issues and provide positive support as the participants seek clean and sober lives. This program is based on a treatment approach that has demonstrated positive results with substance abusing teens. The "Take a Step" program is designed specifically for teens that can develop unhealthy coping strategies and addictive behaviors at a young age. Ettie Lee's "Take a Step" SUDs Program offers participants a structured platform that assists them in getting sober and staying sober. The six to twelve month treatment focuses on these fundamental areas: drug and health education, social and mental health development, family life skills, and AA/NA. Family involvement is very important.

Ettie Lee's Transitional Housing Program Plus provides services to former foster youth who are or are at risk of being homeless. The program helps to address youth needs by providing safe affordable housing as well as a full range of support services designed to motivate youths to work toward their goals and dreams. The program offers youth ages 18 to 24 weekly case management, food and necessities, life skills workshops, emancipation funding, job readiness, financial planning, and educational assistance.