Youth Guidance

Counseling and prevention is core to all Youth Guidance programs. Our school-based mental health programs work with students who are at higher risk of school withdrawal and antisocial behaviors, to gain the skills and resources necessary to improve school engagement and thrive in and beyond school.Our flagship group counseling programs are Becoming a Man (BAM) and Working on Womanhood (WOW). BAM and WOW are in-school strength-based, trauma-informed group counseling and clinical mentoring programs that seek to change the life trajectories of boys and young men of color and girls and young women of color in grades 6-12, who have been exposed to cycles of intergenerational poverty, violence, and trauma.We also implement STRIVE, which is specific to youth ages 14-21 who are in Illinois' foster care system, Community Connections, a case management and resource provision program designed to connect Youth Guidance students and families to resources to meet immediate needs, and in-school Counseling programs, which includes both 1:1 and group counseling models. Our newest offering within the Counseling & Prevention program is the EVOLVE program. Drawing on core content and processes from our evidence-based Becoming a Man (BAM) and Working on Womanhood (WOW) programs, EVOLVE's innovative capacity-building approach is designed to dramatically increase the number of schools and students who have access to group-based social and emotional support. The EVOLVE program provides professional development for school staff on the principles of adolescent development, trauma-informed and healing-centered approaches, and practices for supporting students' healthy learning and development.The primary mechanism of EVOLVE is the group circles, with a structured curriculum providing opportunities for learning, practicing, and internalizing social and emotional skills, to improve students' self-awareness, healthy relationships, school engagement, and goal attainment.