Community Based Services
About the Services
The Guidance Center is committed to building a community where all children have the help they need to be healthy and happy so we’ve partnered with our neighbors to create programs that support healing beyond our walls.
Educare
Educare is a national early education public-private partnership between organizations committed to ensuring all children receive high-quality care and education from the moment they are born to the day they enter kindergarten. The partnership between Educare and The Guidance Center is made possible by funding from First 5 LA.
Click here to read an update on Educare and stay tuned on our blog for more to come.
Emergency Response Videos
The Guidance Center in partnership with the Los Angeles Area Regional Training Group (LAARTG), Los Angeles Area Fire Chief Association (LAAFCA) and Long Beach Fire Department (LBFD) developed a series of web-based trainings on mental health for any local or state fire department or paramedic across the country to use.
First Response Mental Health offers training that is pragmatic, concrete and direct, with the goal of assisting first responders with the tools to readily identify the signs of mental illness in the field and to safely and effectively de-escalate these encounters. Funded by a grant from The Ahmanson Foundation, the videos are available on The Guidance Center’s website at no cost to any interested fire department across the country.
It’s About T.I.M.E
“It’s About T.I.M.E. program has been a great addition to our school support systems. I’ve seen Nathan’s direct positive impact on both individuals and groups of students as well as staff due to his interactions with them. Through It’s About T.I.M.E., Nathan has helped the staff understand the science of trauma, explaining the ‘why’ behind the many successful student support programs we have here at Beach.”
– Troy Bennett, Principal of Beach High School
It’s About T.I.M.E. (Trauma-Informed Movement in Education) is a first-of-its-kind for Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) training program, based on ChildTrauma Academy’s Neurosequential Model in Education, that equip educators with tools to understand and help students who are experiencing negative impacts of trauma.
The two-year program builds on the foundation created by established support systems within LBUSD schools, and brings the trauma-informed approach to educators through formal training at the beginning of the school year and onsite support throughout the following two academic years.
The approach looks at how children’s behavior, brain development and functioning, and traumatic experiences are all connected. This provides educators with a different lens in which to view and respond to challenging behaviors in ways that promote healing and academic success.
Launched at the beginning of the 2018-19 academic year in partnership with LBUSD, It’s About T.I.M.E. has collaborated with schools and programs in Long Beach:
- Beach High School
- Poly Academy of Leaders and Achievers
- Jane Addams Elementary School
- Long Beach Head Start
- Educare of Los Angeles at Long Beach
- Lakewood High School
- Barton Elementary School
Click here to read updates on It’s About T.I.M.E and stay tuned on our blog for more to come.
Roll Call Training Videos
The Guidance Center has partnered with Long Beach and Los Angeles Police Departments and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to develop a series of web-based trainings for any local or state law enforcement agency across the country to use. This training series received a Bronze Award in the 40th Annual Telly Awards. For more information or to sign up to receive the series, click the button below.
School Crisis Response Team
The Guidance Center in partnership with LBUSD has developed the School Crisis Response Clinician Program or “CARES.” Through this collaboration, we have developed a multi-tiered system of support to help improve student’s overall functioning by supporting staff and school safety officers through crisis intervention strategies, providing consultation of student mental health needs, facilitating district-wide training, and providing preventative care and outreach. We aim to prioritize the mental health and well-being of all LBUSD students and staff. CARES was created with the intention of demonstrating a trauma-informed approach to mental health crises.
The CARES model is defined as:
- Connect/Build Rapport,
- Alleviate emotional distress by removing triggers,
- Regulate by engaging students in grounding skills,
- Encourage problem solving and School Crisis Response.
Whole Child
The Whole Child Program at The Guidance Center is dedicated to improving the psychological, behavioral, emotional, and social well-being of children, adolescents and young adults with chronic health conditions, medical complexity, and special health care needs.
The program specializes in assessing and treating the unique emotional and behavioral needs of children and adolescents who are receiving medical treatment for one or more health conditions.
In particular, The Whole Child Program has a focus on recognizing the strengths of youth aged 6-21 and families; and helps families build upon those strengths to foster improved adjustment and adaptive coping with their specialized health care needs. For services, call 562-595-1159.
