CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION SERVICES
Abused, neglected, and at-risk children are referred by the Department of Children and Family Services to El Nido for comprehensive services.
Some of these children are in foster care; others remain with their families under the supervision of child protective services workers.
Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment:
There are up to 200,000 cases of child abuse and neglect in LA County each year.
Given the stress families are experiencing, the need for El Nido’s services is greater than ever. Without help, affected children suffer alone and in silence. The effects can last their entire lives.
El Nido professionals offer affected children what they need most — an adult they can trust again, who understands their experience and can comfort them.
Verbal, play, and art therapy help children work through the traumas of their abuse. Group counseling helps child abuse victims realize they are not responsible, alone, or abnormal due to the abuse.
Parent Education:
El Nido’s parent education programs are the first defense against potential child abuse or neglect, school failure, teen parenting, and other problems.
mom children play Play Parties for young parents and their children.
The parents El Nido works with want what we all want…for their kids to be healthy, happy, and successful. They often start with disadvantages, such as a history of domestic violence or neglect, family substance abuse, and little knowledge of what children need to thrive.
El Nido’s Master’s-level professionals help prevent child abuse by partnering with families to build upon their existing strengths, enhancing family functioning, and treating underlying trauma.
Therapists empower parents to identify effective strategies, examine how and why they work, and increase positive practices in place of harmful behaviors.
El Nido reaches out to pregnant and parenting teens in some of Los Angeles’ highest-need communities.
Through home visits, our case managers make real connections with young mothers who are isolated, overwhelmed, and unprepared for parenting challenges. We link them with resources enabling them and their babies to thrive — health and mental health care, education, vocational training, housing, and nutritional or income support.
Perhaps most importantly, El Nido therapists and case managers give teens the encouragement they need to succeed in school, prepare for the workforce and provide the best possible care to their babies. Our nurses also visit the homes of teens with complicated pregnancies or medically fragile infants to make sure the next generation gets a healthier start.
The support of our partners and generous donors helps El Nido Family Centers to continue our efforts to heal hearts and rebuild lives by strengthening the foundation on which children depend – their families.
Teen Parent and Infant Development:
El Nido is the largest provider of teen family services in California. Babies of teen mothers are more likely to be born prematurely and underweight, raised in poverty, in danger of infant mortality, have ongoing health and developmental problems, and of becoming teen parents themselves. Our programs demonstrate that with intervention, the cycle can be broken.
El Nido helps create healthy families with education and support for children and parents. Teen mothers are often isolated, overwhelmed, and unprepared for the challenges of motherhood. El Nido staff educates and encourages teens, promoting healthy lifestyles, optimal birth outcomes, positive parenting, educational attainment, and vocational success.