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Programs
EMERGENCY SHELTER & ASSESSMENT CENTERS
Of the more than 13,000 calls the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services receives each month almost half require immediate action to ensure the safety of the children involved. The challenge for the County is to find a safe place for these children to stay that meets their urgent physical and emotional needs.
While a safe and more-permanent solution is being sought for these kids in crisis, they can find safe haven at our two Emergency Shelter and Assessment Centers. Our Long Beach Emergency Shelter and Assessment center opened in 
1993 and provides programs for 11- to17-year-old boys in crisis – runaways, homeless, court-placed or abused children. Our Price Family Campus in Los Angeles is an emergency shelter and assessment center for girls, ages 11- to 17-years of age. These are the only private, nonprofit short-term facilities licensed by California and contracted by the County of Los Angeles.
Our shelters are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and can serve up to 28 children at one time. In 2003, these shelters helped 380 children. With respect to ethnicity, 42 percent were African-American; 26 percent Latino; 14 percent Caucasian; 18 percent Asian, Pacific Islander or multi-ethnic. The average age at admission was 14 years.
Where our kids go when they leave our program is a good indicator of how our model of care can be successful in a short amount of time. The majority – nearly 73 percent of our children - move to less restrictive placements after their stay in one of our Emergency Shelter and Assessment Centers.
Three months after departure, 88 percent of our children and youth were attending school, 91 percent have not been arrested and 82 percent reported no problems with alcohol and drug use.
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A True Story
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Devin was 17 when he came to our Long Beach Emergency Shelter and Assessment Center. He had just spent 10 days in a psychiatric hospital for overdosing on prescription amphetamines. His addictions were controlling his life, jeopardizing his chances for high school graduation and making it impossible for him to live at home. After 45 days at our Long Beach shelter, Devin was placed in a drug treatment center. Still not ready for the pressures and temptations at home, Devin continued his relationship with Boys Town in a mid-term residential placement. Although initially argumentative and critical, Devin made tremendous progress focusing on skills attainment, taking responsibility for his behavior, ultimately rejoining his family and returning to school. Today Devin remains drug-free, attained a 3.8 G.P.A. and graduated high school in June 2003. He has joined the Army and will be trained in intelligence. When asked what impact the Boys Town Programs had on his life, Devin replied, “This program saved my life.” |
