Arrowhead Youth and Family Services on Thursday invited elected officials to tour their facility, and to better understand their mission.
“Our job is to help them work through that trauma and become functional members of society,” Arrowhead COO Kari Ross said. “We want them to be able to go back into their communities and be happy and healthy and most of all reintegrate with their families.”
Many of those attending were unfamiliar with Arrowhead and its mission to motivate youth at risk to become responsible young adults and develop healthy relationships and life skills through quality counseling, education, and social services for them and their families.
There was a common misconception of what Arrowhead Youth and Family Services is. One of the objectives of the tour was to set the record straight.
“I haven’t been out here yet and I wanted to get a sense of what’s going on and what kind of programming they’re doing, and see if there’s any way the state can actually help in fulfilling their mission,” said Illinois Sen. Mike Halpin, D-Rock Island County.”
“A lot of them did think that we were a detention center and that we were a locked facility,” Ross says. “And now that they know, hopefully they will help us create those partnerships not only with local law enforcement but other community members and other community programs to wrap services around our boys.”
Arrowhead adjusted its mission to fit into the recent Family First Prevention Services Act. The act was designed to keep the youth away from foster care and to change the focus of which youth can receive treatment in a residential setting. Arrowhead has shifted its services to meet the new federal guidelines. Halpin says a partnership with the state of Illinois will help Arrowhead get the support needed for continued success.
“We want to make sure these types of facilities are strong and so funding is one area where we can do that,” Halpin says.
For more information, visit here.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7sMHRqqyanJOewaqx0meaqKVfqrukrdOenqiqma%2BypXvEpZycrJWZerCyxaKaopmcqHq1u9SrZJqqoqTEqbHAnWSrmZ6YtW6vzpqjZq6RobmmxYytpmaklZa%2Fr3nAm6aurF2ewbR5zKKqrKGfo3w%3D