Programs

Outreach Programs:

 

Speak Up! 

 

'Speak Up!' it is open to all 6th-8th grade girls.

 

Group facilitated by Emily Heim, MA, Outreach Counselor.  The group will meet at Mt. Lebanon Public Library in the large meeting room.  If you have any questions or need additional information about the Speak Up program, email Stacie Sebastian, or call the Outreach office at 412-561-5405.

  

Deadline to register is April 20, but we will close enrollment when we reach 12 girls. There is no fee for the girls to attend. Please click here for a registration form.

 

We encourage the girls to attend all six groups that will run on consecutive tuesdays from 4/24/12 through 5/29/12 (no group on 5/8/12). Each group runs from 3:30-4:30.

 

Speak Up teaches girls effective negotiation skills. Negotiation skills can assist girls in:

  • Good decision making                       
  • Improving relationships                    
  • Reducing conflict                             
  • Taking more control over their lives 

     

 

Learning to negotiate enables girls to create positive options for themselves and to resist the pressure to engage in activities that put their safety, health, and future in jeopardy. Negotiation skills empower girls to take their own voices seriously.

 

Community-Based Counseling for Teens

 

Outreach has designed this program to meet the unique needs of teens living in these troubled times. Normal developmental issues of adolescents (e.g. physical changes, independence, peer pressure) are enormously complicated by factors such as family turmoil, mental, and emotional health, drug and alcohol abuse, physical and sexual abuse, violence, sexual pressures and economic stress.

 

Outreach seeks to establish a safe space where teens can come for help with these hardships. In most instances, other family members participate in the therapy process. Counseling takes place in our Mt. Lebanon and downtown offices.

 

Please contact Karen Johnson at 412-561-5405, or by e-mail at kjohnson@outreachteen.org for more information.

 

KARE: Kids-At-Risk-Effort

 

In 1983, Juvenile Court began a highly praised education program to address the wide-spread drug and alcohol problems of delinquent youth. Outreach established the KARE program a year later, to provide counseling follow-up to the court process. KARE clients are referred by Juvenile Court from throughout Allegheny County. They are provided with a 6- 12 week counseling program to address not only their problems with alcohol and other drugs, but other areas of concern. Clients can receive additional counseling by mutual agreement. Probation officers are an important and critical part of this counseling initiative. KARE also provides a drug and alcohol assessment which includes family participation. Assessment instructions including the DUSI-R are used, as well as a personal assessment by a specialized Masters-level clinician. The KARE Program is funded by the Allegheny County Department of Human Services; Allegheny County Juvenile Court; and general Outreach fund-raising efforts.

 

Please contact Jean Magazzu at 412-561-5405, or by e-mail at jmagazzu@outreachteen.org for more information.

 

MAST: Magistrate Alternative Sentencing for Teens

 

Magistrates are often willing to consider alternative sentencing for teens in an effort to address the underlying problems behind the offense and to avoid a repetition of the transgression. This can sometimes lead to the dropping of the original charges and fines if the teen completes an agreed-upon alternative program and meets other stated requirements. Outreach has responded to this with an outstanding, skill-based, and solution-oriented program. The MAST program for those caught for underage drinking or other drug use is held every month. The teen sessions start on the first Tuesday of every month for 4 consecutive weeks. The parents are assigned to one separate class during that month. All classes are 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. and the fee is $145.  Pre-registration is necessary and a contract must be signed for successful completion. Outreach recognizes that everyone who is caught for underage drinking is not on the road to addiction, so sessions will look at the addiction process, but the concentration will be on acquiring skills and ideas that will be useful in avoiding future problems.

 

Please contact Jean Magazzu at 412-561-5405, or by e-mail at jmagazzu@outreachteen.org for more information.

 

OJFP : Outreach Juvenile Firesetters Program

 

OJFP is a joint effort with the fire departments and other organizations interested in preventing juvenile fire setting. This service provides assessment, education, and counseling for fire setters.

 

Please contact Jean Magazzu at 412-561-5405, or by e-mail at jmagazzu@outreachteen.org for more information.

 

Parenting Positively

 

One of our most ambitious programs offered is Parenting Positively. For more information on this award-winning program, please click here to visit the Parenting Positively Information Page:  Groups, Education, and Consultation Educational groups for parents and for teens address specific areas of concern, including parenting issues and peer problems.

 

Group Counseling

 

Counseling groups with teens are formed to help groups of teens that are struggling with family break-ups, depression, low self-esteem, debilitating stress and other destructive problems. It is usually very helpful to these young people to interact with others who face similar problems. These groups are formed as need and opportunity arise. Outreach responds to the needs that teens and families express.

 

Seminars

 

Community seminars address issues that affect families. Seminars for professionals are taught with teen and family-related issues. Our 2000 seminar, "Caught in the Net", was devoted to Internet addiction. Teachers, clergy, guidance counselors, social workers, psychologists, and counselors participated in a seminar presented by Dr. Kimberly Young, a clinical psychologist and Executive Director of the Center for On-Line Addiction, the first consultation firm and web-based resource network specializing in human computer interactions. In the past, Outreach has provided professional seminars on a variety of topics. Outreach counselors are available for training (inservice, Act 148) and consultation upon request.

 

 Partnerships

 

We are also proud of our partnerships in providing education with the PTA. Community Education and Consultation on teen-related issues is offered to local civic, social, ministerial and community groups. A Board Speaker's Bureau is available to address an audience about Outreach services.

 

Please contact Karen Johnson at 412-561-5405, or by e-mail at kjohnson@outreachteen.org for more information.

 

Program Ideas

 

We always appreciate hearing from you regarding programs that you are interested in seeing materialize for teens and families. We don't have to limit ourselves to what we are presently doing. There is always a chance that there is grant money or other dollars that we can find to fund a program.

 

Please contact Karen Johnson at 412-561-5405, or by e-mail at kjohnson@outreachteen.org for more information.