Staff reports
Lake County >> As of Jan. 1, “Redwood Children”s Services, Inc.” of Lake and Mendocino counties is “Redwood Community Services, Inc.” (RCS).
“Our primary focus has always been to provide services for children, youth and families and this continues to be true,” digital director Gail McAlister stated. “Our youth range in age up to 25 years old, and some of these young adults have children themselves. Our behavioral health services continues to provide therapeutic services for community families in addition to our children and youth in care. In the spirit of inclusion and respect for our older youth population and community families who are not considered ”children,” RCS recognizes that we provide services to our community.”
With the development of its transitional housing placement plus program in 2007 and TAY Wellness in 2008, RCS finds that it was serving a larger population of young adults. These young adults up to the age of 24, benefit from the additional time in programs to develop independent living skills needed to be successful adults, McAlister stated.
“From research, we have learned that the human brain does not reach full maturity until at least the mid-20s. RCS offers support during this critical time period when our young adults are faced with the decision of what path in life to choose,” McAlister pointed out. “Increasingly, we are seeing young parents in these two programs as well as the Nurturing Education and Skills Training (NEST) program serving pregnant or parenting homeless youth ages 18 to 21.”
The National Institute of Mental Health addresses the brain development of this population as a critical developmental stage.
It states: “Mortality rates jump between early and late adolescence. Rates of death by injury between ages 15 to 19 are about six times that of the rate between ages 10 and 14. Crime rates are highest among young males and rates of alcohol abuse are high relative to other ages. Even though most adolescents come through this transitional age well, it”s important to understand the risk factors for behavior that can have serious consequences. Genes, childhood experience, and the environment in which a young person reaches adolescence, all shape behavior. Adding to this complex picture, research is revealing how all these factors act in the context of a brain that is changing, with its own impact on behavior.”
The increased need for programs serving the transitional age population and behavioral health services that RCS offers has created a different environment for Redwood than when it started serving children, according to McAlister.
“We pride ourselves on our ability to tailor programs to meet the needs of our community and in doing so feel that changing the name to Redwood Community Services will better define the work we do,” she said.
