YouThrive
Side By Side’s YouThrive program offers early intervention services that equip young people with the strategies that build resilience and coping skills to stay on a positive path through school and thrive in adulthood.
SCHOOL-BASED SERVICES
Embedded in schools in Sonoma and Marin counties, YouThrive serves students in grades K-12. The program’s successful early intervention program consists of weekly sessions (fall and spring) for students who are referred by school counselors and staff, youth-serving organizations, or parents to address social-emotional challenges, truancy, failing grades, disruptive behavior, gang activity, or drug and alcohol use. Depending on the age-level, the program includes:
- Weekly group in-school meetings
- Workshops addressing anger management, communication, mental health challenges, life skills, gang prevention, and restorative justice as well as higher education
- Daylong excursions and wilderness adventure trips for middle and high school students to incentivize positive behavior, introduce therapeutic nature experiences, and provide opportunities to practice skills learned in workshops
- One-on-one and group mentoring for all grades
- Case management support
- Regular monitoring of grades, school attendance, and disciplinary actions
- Bilingual parent outreach and support groups
- Referrals to the program’s clinician for individual therapy sessions when appropriate
The benchmarks for success include reduced anxiety, depression, and other mental health challenges; improved grades, school attendance, and behavior, as well as improved relationships among peers and adults in the school and at home.
UNBROKEN
UnBroken from Side By Side on Vimeo.
UnBroken features the Irene M. Hunt School, Real Alternatives, and YouThrive. The film was shortlisted for the Social Impact Media Awards and screened at the 2021 Oakland Film Festival.
Video credit: Andrew Hida.
