Communities In Schools of the San Fernando Valley/Greater Los Angeles has served youth and families throughout Los Angeles since 1994. CIS is in the business of saving lives. The people of CIS focus their talents and energies on ending gang violence and helping gang youth and young adults develop the skills, abilities, relationships and associations necessary to foster self-esteem, persistence, perseverance and positive lifestyles.
We directly serve over 790 youth and young adults annually. In addition, the holistic and wrap-around nature of our work enables CIS to also directly serve their estimated 3950 family members annually.
Wrap-around Integrated Service Delivery Strategy
CIS was the first organization in the area to deliver services to gang-involved and gang-oriented youth and young adults within a cohesive, integrated, wrap-around service delivery strategy aimed at addressing root causes. These wrap-around services integrate violence prevention, gang intervention, parenting, intensive case management, therapeutic counseling, life skills and job development based on the individual needs of each client.
The critical element in this integrated service delivery paradigm is intensive case management. This is used to define an overall picture of the client including individual interests, risk factors, family and environmental conditions, and then to establish goals with a plan to achieve those goals. For example, on a home visit to a assess a client and his environment, our case manager may learn that a sister needs glasses or a big brother just got out of jail and needs a job. Thus, under our CIS strategy, we often address the needs of the entire family.