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Teen counseling program
celebrates 30 years with tears, testimonials
by Patty Fisher
San Jose Mercury News
At most 30th birthday parties, there are lots of jokes
about lost youth and approaching old age. The 30th birthday
celebration I attended Tuesday was a different kind of
affair. The tears were more memorable than the jokes.
In 1975, a group of folks in Palo Alto, concerned that
the schools weren't meeting the mental health needs of
local teens, created an agency that became Adolescent
Counseling Services. They opened Caravan House, a group
home for abused and neglected girls. They began providing
mental health counseling on school campuses and eventually
opened a substance-abuse program.
As Adolescent Counseling services turns 30, it is providing
therapy and other services to 2,000 kids a year at Palo
Alto's high schools and middle schools and at Menlo-Atherton
High School. It's hard to imagine the community without
it.
Each year, ACS throws a luncheon for its supporters,
featuring testimonials. 'l'he stories of teen drug abuse,
depression and family conflicts always hit a little too
close to home. Tuesday, as a young woman told an emotional
story of how living at Caravan House helped heal the
scars of an abusive childhood, people were dabbing their
eyes as they reached for their checkbooks.
A public-private model
There's a lot of talk these days about public-private
partnerships, and ACS is a classic example. About one
third of its $1.5 million budget comes from the government,
and the rest comes from foundations and individuals.
In a perfect world, school districts would be able to
provide enough counselors; instead, communities that
can afford the services have them.
Looking back 30 years, Executive Director Philippe Rey
focused on how times have changed since 1975 – when
the VCR was brand new and camera phones and iPods were
still science fiction. Life was different then, but kids
were the same. They wanted to be cool and independent. "We
didn't want to be square at their age either," he
said.
'70s parents freaked out about teen sex and drugs, as
parents do today. They worried that their kids would
go deaf from all that loud rock music - and now, according
to recent reports, they were right.
The difference today, Rey said, is that technology has
put new pressures on family relationships. The Internet
and cell phones make it harder to know what kids are
up to or who their friends are.
But the changes aren't all bad, said Laurie Linscheid,
supervisor of the ACS campus counseling program. Kids
have always confided in their best friends, kept diaries,
written love letters and "catastrophized" everyday
life. Now they just do it online, with blog sites like www.myspace.com.
"They're able to pick who's in their group, and
I think it's more good than bad," she said. Kids
have referred their friends to her after reading something
disturbing in their blogs.
Expansion plans
The next step for ACS is to expand its services beyond
school campuses. In the coming year, the city of Palo
Alto plans to consolidate all teen services into Mitchell
Park Community Center - a cost cutting move that seems
to
have a bright side. The current Mitchell Park after-school
center, The Drop, will expand to include s computer/
homework center. Another non-profit, Youth Community
Service, will move its programs there. And ACS will open
a counseling center.
"There's going to be a real synergy," said
Richard James, the city's community services director. "Kids
will be showing up to do something else, and if ACS is
there, it will be easier to get in touch with them."
After 30 years, ACS has a new philosophy: If the kids
won't come to you, go to the kids.
Patty Fisher writes about the Peninsula on Wednesday
and Saturday. Contact her at pfisher@mercurynews.com
or call (650) 688-7510.
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