San Diego Center for Children

Thanks to all the staff that attended the Summer Staff Celebration! ☀️💛✨

Every dollar counts! Support us during San Diego Gives and help us reach our goal of $5000. Together, we can create lasting change.

🌟 This month’s Value of the Month is Excellence 🌟 San Diego Center for Children promotes welcoming by maintaining a growth mindset, setting high standards, and holding ourselves accountable in fulfilling best practices towards improving the lives of those we serve and promoting an anti-racist and non-discriminatory environment.

Meet Helen and Adam, one of the many lives touched by our work. With your support during San Diego Gives, we can help more people like Helen and Adam.

Thank you to the wonderful volunteer group from Grant Thornton US 🙏 As part of their annual day of service, they conducted a car wash for our youth-transit vehicles and provided a fresh coat of paint to rooms for the Recreation and Transitions Programs. We are grateful to this group for their continued effort and support to the youth we serve.

Our mission is to empower children and families through transformative mental health care and educational services. Through San Diego Gives, we aim to raise $5000 for San Diego Center for Children so we can keep doing the work that we do. Your support helps us continue to service and uplift our community.

Exciting news! 🎉 We’re thrilled to be participating in San Diego Gives, a transformative campaign bringing our community together to support local nonprofits. Join us in making a difference! Together, we can create a lasting impact for San Diego.

Together, let’s show what a true philanthropist looks like! 💙

ECM is a Medi-Cal benefit that provides extra care management services to members with highly complex needs. This new benefit can help you get the care you need to stay healthy and manage the care you get from different doctors and others involved in your care.

🔷 Who can get ECM services?

🔹 Children and youth experiencing homelessness
🔹 Children at risk for hospitalization or visits to the emergency department
🔹 Children and youth with serious mental health and/or substance use needs
🔹 Children and youth involved in child welfare
🔹 Children and youth transitioning from a correctional facility
🔹 Children and youth enrolled in CCS or WCM

🔷 What ECM services are offered?

🔹 Find doctors and get appointments for health related services your child may need
🔹 Find and apply for community based services based on your needs, like housing supports or medically nutritious food
🔹 Set up a ride to get to your child’s doctor, dentist, or therapy visits
🔹 Get follow-up care after your child leaves the hospital or other treatment facility

For more information on Enhanced Care Management, please visit https://www.centerforchildren.org/our-services/wraparound/enhanced-care-management/

Are you looking to make a difference in your community? Come volunteer at San Diego Center for Children and make a positive impact on the children and families we serve. You and your friends can sign up for one of our campus beautification projects OR you can even help put together a food basket and provide a gift certificate to a local grocery store.

Click on the link in our bio to view our current volunteer opportunities!

🙌 🌟 💖 🏘️ 🛠️

School will be back in session soon for the youth served by the San Diego Center for Children.

Unfortunately, many of the children, teens and families we serve lack the resources for proper supplies. For youth in need, something as simple as new school supplies can boost their confidence and self-esteem.

You can help in their success!

🔷 Donate funds today by going to our website: https://www.centerforchildren.org/
🔷 Host a donation drive at your company or service organization - download our Donation Drive Flyer:https://www.centerforchildren.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/backtoschooldrive-2024.pdf
🔷 Shop our online wish lists and ship directly to the Center:

🔹 Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3DNOVUGNVMXNR/ref=hz_ls_biz_ex
🔹 Target: https://www.target.com/gift-registry/gift-giver?registryId=8e20ec60-03cf-11ee-bc2f-491b7eafde15&type=CHARITY
🔹 Walmart: https://www.walmart.com/registry/RR/b083ad5e-2004-4957-a316-3c677367bf81

Deadline is Friday, August 16th

The San Diego Center for Children is looking for dedicated individuals who are deeply committed to enhancing the health and wellness of children and families. If you're searching for a career with a meaningful impact and an exceptional organization, the Center could be the perfect fit for you! Click on the link in our bio to view our current positions.

📢 🚀 🌟 🤝 📝

Stay up to date with San Diego Center For Children. 📬 Subscribe to our newsletter by clicking the link in our bio! 📰✨

🗞️ 📢 🔔 🆕 📖

🤲 This month’s Value of the Month is Welcoming 🤲 San Diego Center for Children promotes welcoming by promoting a positive, friendly, inviting environment where diversity is celebrated.

San Diego Center for Children has been working diligently to build a first of its kind comprehensive continuum of nationally accredited mental health services aimed primarily at giving access to underserved and at-risk youth in our region.

With your help, we can work to build a better understanding of the significant challenges our youth are experiencing and ensure that no youth or family in need is left untreated.

Join us today and make a difference in YOUR life and THEIRS!

💸 💖 🎗️ 🤲 🌍

❤ This month’s Value of the Month is Compassion ❤. San Diego Center for Children promotes compassion by encouraging empathetic practices for oneself and others by viewing all situations through a culturally humble and trauma informed lens.

Social Justice Group, Family Wellness Center’s very own diversity, equity, and inclusion committee, provides a safe space for staff to voice their opinions and talk about changes they want to make within the workplace. 🤝✨ Recently, Social Justice Group has been recognizing holidays and observances from different cultural backgrounds by printing out posters and putting them up in the lobby. 🌍🎨 (Shoutout to Danica and Elaina for making the awesome posters! 👏) Social Justice Group is made up of staff members from both the East County Outpatient Program and Family Wellness Center teams and meets every Thursday before weekly team meetings. 🗓️💬

✊ 🌈

Program Supervisor Chelsea Prout and her Intensive Family Services (IFS) Team attended the Partnership for Well-Being Conference last week in Anaheim. The Partnership for Well-Being Conference is a conference hosted by UC Davis Human Services and is held for practitioners serving the Children’s System of Care in California. To learn more about the conference, please visit the link below: https://humanservices.ucdavis.edu/events/partnerships-well-being-institute

Thank you to Dr. Heline Mirzakhanian and Dr. Donna Corbett from the UC San Diego Cognitive Assessment and Risk Evaluation (CARE) Team for their presentation on Early Identification, Intervention, and Prevention of Psychosis in Adolescents and Young Adults last Friday. We appreciate all the staff who were able to attend this presentation and their commitment to providing the best care for children and families at the Center!

Meet Mark David Grijalva Peres! 👋 Mark has been working at San Diego Center for Children since 2015 and just celebrated his 🌟 9 year milestone anniversary 🌟 the other day. Mark was born in El Centro but was raised in Calexico, California. He is the father to two beautiful daughters and has been living in San Diego for the past 13 years.

Mark started working at San Diego Center for Children in March 2015 as a Residential Support Specialist. While working one New Years Eve, however, Mark injured himself and was taken off the residential floor. Fortunately, he was soon given the opportunity to work as an Administrative Assistant for the Clark Residential Office and 9 months later, another opportunity to work as a Bilingual Parent Partner at WrapWorks. During this time, Mark also started attending the California State Parent Partner monthly meetings where he would meet with others in the field and share his lived experiences and wisdom.

Today, Mark works as a Bilingual Parent Partner at The East County Outpatient Program (ECOP). He continues to work as a Residential Support Specialist at Residential during the week and on weekends as needed. In his free time, Mark enjoys just driving around and listening to music. Mark grew up listening to all kinds of genres of music but particularly enjoys songs with meaningful lyrics and great instrumentals. Since he was young, Mark has had a passion for free verse poetry and short stories. Both of these passions help keep Mark cope, stay focused, and stay in touch with himself and a higher power. Additionally, Mark enjoys watching baseball (his favorite team being the New York Yankees), collecting movies, and watching movies whether they be at home or on the big screen.

In Mark’s own words, “I am not sure what comes next, but what I am sure of is that it will be of service to others in the humblest, effective, caring, and loving possible way that I can.”

We are looking for staff who want to work with a purpose! Come check out our onsite job fair this Friday, June 14th from 10-2 pm at San Diego Center for Children (3002 Armstrong St, San Diego, CA 92111). Go to the link below for more information:

https://intsignup.indeed.com/interview/d6fba98b-b87a-4e07-8b23-4f7be92f4053?from=fb

The Family Wellness Center’s fee-for-service program is now accepting new clients! Our program provides outpatient therapy services (individual and family) and specializes in a variety of areas including anxiety, depression, neurodiversity, and more. The Family Wellness Center also offers Mental Health Access Plan (MHAP) Assessments. MHAP Assessments are used to screen clients and learn more about their needs. The intake clinician who performs the assessment typically sees the client temporarily until they are able to find a permanent therapist or refers them to a higher level of care if necessary.

✅ To schedule an appointment, please call our office at (619) 668-6200 or fill out an online form at https://www.centerforchildren.org/referrals/

✅ For more information about Family Wellness Center, please go to https://www.centerforchildren.org/our-services/outpatient/family-wellness-center/

Career Day at SDCC! Academy students heard presentations from a wide array of career backgrounds - including Media Production, Real Estate Management, Construction, Ocean Lifeguard, Social Work, Pet Grooming, and more. Many thanks to all of our presenters for their time and expertise!

Dr. Ben Maxwell, Division Chief of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego, talks about the growing needs of youth struggling with significant mental health challenges: “We’ve seen the crisis on an annual basis grow really from around 2012 and the rate of growth of this crisis has been consistent to the point that it’s never been worse than it is right now. I think sometimes people think it’s the same as it was 9 years ago and it’s not even close to being the same.”

To meet this need, San Diego Center for Children partnered with Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego in 2020 to create three new programs: Intensive Outpatient Services, Intensive Family Wraparound Services, and Collaborative Care (therapeutic service within pediatric offices). Click on the link to learn more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ERRBDppQ2g

San Diego Center for Children helps provide mental health services to youth and families in need like Helen and Adam. Learn about Adam’s experience at The Residential Treatment Center and The Academy here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oiA7pFYMMM

May is Mental Health Awareness Month! Help support underserved and at-risk youth this May by donating today. With your help, San Diego Center for Children can continue to provide life changing care to families!

We are deeply grateful for the incredible success of the Center's 137th Anniversary Celebration, which welcomed guests to our main campus at the Heart of the Center on May 11. Guests enjoyed gourmet dinner stations, specialty cocktails, classroom tours, and special performances from our youth. The event raised critical funds to support the Center’s transformative mental health care and educational services.

More event photos and videos here: https://www.centerforchildren.org/news/137th-anniversary-celebration/