To provide culturally appropriate services which enable youth and their families in East Santa Clara Valley to improve their lives. Description of what your organization does, whom we serve, and major accomplishments: In 1974, Alum Rock Counseling Center (ARCC) began its critical work by addressing the academic, social, and mental health needs of the at-risk youth and families, living in the extremely high-need area of Eastern Santa Clara Valley, CA. Due to the lack of linguistically sensitive and culturally appropriate practitioners and services, many of the predominantly Spanish-speaking individuals in this region were ?falling through the cracks? of the legal, educational, and health systems into lives of poverty, academic failure, illness, incarceration, addiction, and victimization. A group of active community members founded ARCC in the hopes of providing this community with the culturally proficient counseling and professional support they needed in order to lead healthier, safer, and more productive lives. Although, today, there are other non-profit organizations providing mental health & specialized educational support services to Santa Clara County residents, ARCC is the only agency that serves youth (ages 0-19) with a specific focus on the East/Central San José area, serving the highest percentage (over 80%) of Latino, immigrant, and monolingual clients in the region. For over 33 years, ARCC?s programs have helped to keep at-risk youths safe, in school, and drug- and violence-free. Alum Rock Counseling Center serves 3,500 youth and their families a year, and currently has 40 full-time employees and over 100 volunteers, with 95% of direct services staff being culturally and linguistically reflective of the community it serves. Recently, ARCC was awarded Project Cornerstone?s Award in March 2008, acknowledging success in promoting Developmental Asset #41, Positive Cultural Identity. ARCC was chosen due the cultural competency of the staff and similar backgrounds and experiences that they share with clients served by the agency. Since its inception, Alum Rock Counseling Center (ARCC) has addressed the damage of family conflict, school failure and delinquency among high-risk youth, producing responsible community members and a healthier, more vibrant East San Jose. ARCC offers practical, proven solutions to families when and where they need them most. Our services include counseling, 24/7 crisis intervention, mentoring, specialized educational support, case management, support groups and alternative-to-incarceration programs. We employ a strategic service delivery system that is unique among service agencies, which places programs in homes, schools and community centers in order to maximize their impact and effectiveness. ARCC embraces the youth of our community who are at highest risk for academic failure and a life in the criminal justice system?youth that, in many cases, the rest of the community has written off. The agency?s programs are distinctively tailored to the needs of East San Jose families, and provide a personal touch to go with our professional expertise. Our staff and volunteers deliver outstanding, measurable results. ?96% of all youth served by a gang intervention program in the 2006 fiscal year successfully halted their involvement with the juvenile justice system or avoided it altogether. ?92% of all youth served by a mobile crisis response program did not require follow-up interventions by police or juvenile justice authorities.

Children & Youth , Children & Youth Services , Family Counseling

ARCC currently operates 12 major programs, detailed as follows: 1. Home Visitation & Therapeutic Services provides in-home screenings and assessments of children (ages 0-5) as well as coaching and education for parents for families residing in the Mayfair neighborhood of East San José; 2. Community Access for Prevention Activities (CAPA) is a community-based prevention program with strategies designed to assist underserved families in preventing child abuse and neglect.; 3. Crisis Intervention Program for Youth (CIPY) provides a combination of support groups, individual counseling and home visitation, which teach young people the skills they need to address their delinquent and/or problem behaviors, before it leads to involvement with the juvenile justice system. 4. Turning Point Mentoring pairs high-risk students (ages 11-18) with highly trained mentors, who assist youth in reducing/avoiding high-risk behaviors and achieving individualized goals; 5. Smart Start Program provides family violence prevention education and services to minors in the Santa Clara County Domestic Violence/Family Violence Units through a series of workshops and individual counseling sessions; 6. Mobile Crisis Response and Counseling (MCRC) provides 24/7, face-to-face, mobile crisis counseling as well as case management, therapeutic mental health, and aftercare services to youth and families who have been or are at-risk of being involved with the juvenile justice system; 7. Truancy Reduction Services (TRS) is a widespread, school-based program, which promotes school achievement by addressing and removing barriers to school attendance such as learning disabilities, family violence, and socioeconomic stressors; 8. ARCC's Counseling Internship Program prepares tomorrow's mental health practitioners to better understand and support the special needs of the high-risk, disenfranchised populations we serve by providing diverse, holistic training opportunities in homes, in schools, in clinics, one-on-one, and in group settings; 9. ARCC's Outpatient Services offer culturally & linguistically sensitive counseling for underserved, minority youth & families, including victim assistance and family preservation; 10. Evening Reporting Center (ERC) assists high-risk youth from failing probation or committing new law violations by providing a safe, structured environment during the afternoon and evening hours, where program participants receive educational assistance, mentoring, recreation, arts, meals, and cognitive behavioral treatment. 11. Alternative Placement Academy. New in 2007, ARCC is now offering case management and life skills workshops at the Alternative Placement Academy, which is an alternative program to incarceration for law-violating youths. 12. Restorative Justice Program (RJP) is designed to assist at risk and first time juvenile offenders in developing life skills through individual, family, & school involvement. It offers competency development classes in the areas of substance abuse prevention, law related education, violence and gang prevention, community service learning, and individual and family counseling.