Counseling/Family Services

Counseling and Family Services
Counseling and Family Services Programs offer at-risk families the opportunity to discover long-term solutions to difficult problems. Programs are designed to be proactive, preventive and educational. Our goals are to guide families toward self-sufficiency and make profound differences in their quality of life. A strong emphasis is placed on helping families break the cycle of poverty by offering intensive case-management services that help move them from instability to stable and healthy family environments.

Counseling Services
Specifically, Counseling Services provides free counseling services to at-risk, inner-city families. Many of the children, youth and parents we serve have grown up in unstable family support systems, which place them at risk for risky behaviors and less-healthy emotional expressions. The counseling staff assists other Cabbage Patch staff in determining effective behavioral intervention strategies for troubled children who exhibit disruptive behaviors. 

Core Program Components Include:

  1. Individual Youth Behavioral Counseling
  2. Family and Marriage Counseling
  3. Group Support Programs
  4. Life Skills and Social Development Groups for Youth (Boys Club & Girls Club)

The primary goal of our Counseling Program is to teach our youth how to make positive choices when faced with difficult social and life circumstances. This is accomplished by encouraging them to become active participants in our recreational and educational programs and through individual and group counseling activities.

"If not for you, I might have truly felt deserted..." -- parent

Family Services
The Family Services Program offers at-risk families the opportunity to discover solutions to complex problems and issues. A strong emphasis is placed on helping families break the cycle of poverty through commitment to intensive, long-term case management. This program is open to families with children involved in other Cabbage Patch programs who have a verified financial need. These families are often struggling with unemployment, under-education and insufficient living and coping skills.

As part of the case-management approach, adults meet with staff social workers regularly to determine specific action plans. A self-sufficiency scale is used to objectively determine each family’s needs and help us evaluate whether action plans have resulted in a family becoming self-sufficient. Participants attend pro-active educational parenting classes and receive assistance with basic life needs such as clothing, food, rent, utilities and medical expenses.

Core Components include:

  1. Long-term Case Management for Families With Children Active in Our Other Programs
  2. Patch Parents, a Proactive, Preventive Educational Program for Adult Parents
  3. Seasonal Assistance Programs:
    • Christmas Baskets
    • Back-to-school Supplies
    • Winter Coats for Children

The primary goal of the Family Services program is to guide each family toward self-sufficiency while making profound and lasting changes in the lives of those we serve.