Volume 2, Number 8
September, 2013
THEory into ACTion
A Bulletin of New
Developments in Community Psychology Practice
DEPAUL FAMILY AND COMMUNITY
SERVICES – “Strengthening and empowering families and communities through
innovative, evidenced-based, community-oriented services and the training of
culturally-competent, socially responsible professionals.”
DePaul Family and Community Services Clinic Responds to the
Needs of Chicago-area
Youth
by
Orson Morrison,
Psy.D. and Olya Glantsman, Ph.D.
The staggering exposure of
Chicago’s youth to trauma and violence is well documented. From 2008 to 2012,
more than 530 youth were killed in Chicago; nearly 80% of the homicides
occurred within 22 African-American or Latino community areas, located in the
South, Southwest, and West segments of the city. In 2010, 1,109 school-aged
youth were shot, and 216 of those were killed. Nearly half of Chicago’s
homicide victims are young people aged 10–25. In the Chicago Youth Development
Study, 80% of inner-city teen boys reported exposure to violence. In the “Illinois Infant Mental Health Survey:
Findings and Recommendations” (Gilkerson and Cutler), nearly 50%
of inner-city adolescents demonstrated signs and symptoms of depression. These
results are in line with the findings of the National Center for Post-traumatic
Stress Disorder showing that more than 40% of children exposed to violence show
symptoms of post-traumatic stress.
Service
History
DePaul
FCS has been in existence since 1974 when the National Institute of Mental
Health, State of Illinois Department of Mental Health, and DePaul University
joined in an agreement to fund a new community mental health center to serve
children and families with mental health issues living in the near north area
of Chicago, Illinois. Beginning in 1998, a grant from the Department of Human Services
(DHS) under the Urban System of Care program allowed DePaul FCS to expand
programming including opening two satellite offices located in close proximity
to Cabrini-Green and Lathrop Homes (Chicago public housing developments). Since
that time, DePaul FCS has continued to embrace the model of providing flexible,
community-based interventions to some of the most in-need communities in the
Chicago area.
Program
Services
- Individual and Family
Counseling
- Group-Based Interventions
- Parent-Child Interaction
Therapy (PCIT)
- Psychological Testing/School
Observations
- Psychiatry, Medication
Evaluation and Medication Monitoring
- Professional Development/Continuing
Education
Awards
and Honors
In 2005,
DePaul FCS’s community based work was recognized by the American Psychological
Association (APA) when DePaul FCS received the national Harry V. McNeill
Memorial Award for Innovative Community Mental Health.
DePaul
FCS also functions as a training center for the clinical psychology graduate
program at DePaul University, and all students are trained for at least one
year of their clinical practica through DePaul FCS. In 2006, the APA named the DePaul University
Clinical Psychology doctoral program as an Outstanding Training Program in the
area of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology. As part of this award, DePaul
FCS was particularly singled out as providing students with strong training in
delivering effective services to underserved populations (e.g., low-income,
urban youth) and with training in the area of diversity. In 2007, APA selected DePaul’s Clinical
Psychology program as one of three Richard M. Suinn Minority Achievement Award
winners. This award honored DePaul for
its percentage of ethnic minority students and faculty, and its active efforts
to promote diversity in clinical psychology.
When interviewed about the clinic,
the center’s director, Orson Morrison,
said: “DePaul FCS embodies the
Vincentian values of social justice and empowerment. We are deeply committed to
partnering with the community and other child and family systems to address
issues and needs that have been identified by them. We value working in natural
settings in the community which improves access to services, provides a
contextual understanding of our clients, and facilitates the transfer and
application of knowledge gained over the course of our work with clients.”
When
asked about their experiences at the FCS, many graduate students commented on
the valuable experiences they have had at the clinic and the center’s unique
embodiment of Community Psychology principles. For example, Abby Brown, an
advanced Clinical-Community graduate student at DePaul stated: “The clinical
training experience I have received at FCS has been grounded in everything I
value as a budding clinical-community psychologist: empowerment, culturally-appropriate
interventions, and social justice.” Another advanced Clinical-Community
graduate student, Meredyth Evans, had this to say about the center: “My
time as an extern at DePaul Family and Community Services was a highly valuable
experience. It taught me that therapy work can be much more than meeting with a
child and her family in an office every week. It taught me that it can and
should also involve understanding the broader communities in which the children
and their families live in, including their neighborhoods, and their schools.
For instance, I had the opportunity to see some of my clients in their schools
every week, which allowed me the chance to regularly meet and consult with
their teachers, school counselors and others who impact their lives on a daily
basis. Overall, my time at [DePaul’s FCS] trained me to think beyond the
individual when providing effective treatment and support to our clients, by
fostering the continued development of my cultural awareness and competency and
through reflection and understanding of the broader systems that our clients
live in.”
For
more information on DePaul Family and Community Services contact:
Orson
Morrison, Psy.D.
Director
DePaul
Family and Community Services
2219 N.
Kenmore Ave. Suite 300
Chicago,
IL 60614
(773)325-7780
omorriso@depaul.edu
http://csh.depaul.edu/centers-and-institutes/dfcs/
