2011 Marks SHIELDS for Families' 20th Anniversary

After incorporating in 1991, SHIELDS rapidly grew from 1 program and 3 staff located at Martin Luther King/Drew Hospital to 34 programs and 350 staff throughout 15 locations. Today, SHIELDS invests in the lives of 5,000 families annually through its programs in Child Welfare, Substance Abuse, Mental Health, Children and Youth, and Supportive Services such as housing, transportation, and educational/vocational training. SHIELDS may be best known for its innovative approaches to service delivery which utilizes a “one-stop shop” approach to its family-centered services. SHIELDS is also known for establishing and maintaining strong collaborations with various government and social service entities in order to improve services and outcomes for families.

Some of SHIELDS' most notable accomplishments include the development and piloting of Up Front Assessments (UFAs) as a component of the Point-of-Engagement program with the Department of Children and Family Services. UFAs engage the whole family unit and other supportive members to prevent or reduce involvement with “the system” and ensure their long-term success. These efforts led to cutting the number of children and the length of time placed in out-of-home care by 50% in Compton, which was once the leader in disproportionally placing African-American children in out-of-home care. Another unique accomplishment is SHIELDS’ family-centered treatment model, providing housing, treatment, mental health, children and youth programs, and other supportive services on-site to the entire family, no matter how large. The SHIELDS family-centered treatment model has led to completion rates of over 81% (over 3 times the national average). The model has been featured in many research and scholarly journal articles, national television segments including Vh1’s “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew”, internationally recognized by the UN, and replicated in areas such as Alaska and New Zealand. SHIELDS is most proud of the hard work, success, and commitment of its many active alumni, who have rebuilt their lives, becoming productive members of their family and community, and many of whom now work as employees of SHIELDS.

In 2011, SHIELDS for Families commemorates the past 20 years of changing lives and looks forward to building up more lives and families.