Parental Stress Center

Accomplishments:

PSC relocated from the South Side to East Liberty and established the PSC Family Center in 2001. The Center, located in East Liberty, is a 73,000 square foot facility and serves children, youth, and families through various programs, including 1) Family Unification Services, 2) Visitation Services, 3) Youth in Service (an after-school program), an 4) Economic Empowerment Initiative for low-income individuals and youth, and 5) Summer Fest.
Since moving into the Center, PSC has had the opportunity to invite like-minded non-profit organizations to co-locate in the facility. The following organizations share space in the PSC Family Center: Youth Enrichment Services Inc., Family Guidance Center, Allegheny County Juvenile Court Hearing Office, PHASE IV Learning Center, and the Three Rivers Computer Clubhouse. Thanks to these partnerships, at-risk families have access to a variety of supportive services and resources in one convenient location.
PSC has been providing supervised visitation and transportation services for families involved with Children, Youth and Family services (CYF) since 1998. In Allegheny County, we are the primary provider of this important service that builds healthy life-long relationships between parents and children.
The Safe Visits Safe Families program was established within PSC’s Visitation Services program in 2006. As the only high-security visitation program in the state of Pennsylvania, it caters to families in which divorced/separated parents and their children are at the highest risk for domestic abuse and violence during court-ordered visits.
Sixty local youths attended Summer Fest in 2007. The program was offered for 10 consecutive weeks, beginning on June 18 and ending on August 24. Campers participated in diverse activities such as a book club, charcoal sketching, team sports, African drumming lessons, writing stories, and field trips to the local swimming pool and children’s museum.
We were able to promote a partnership with the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater in East Liberty so that summer camp participants would have a location where they could display their art and science projects. Based on these positive interactions, PSC plans to pursue an interactive partnership with the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater during the school year.
This program is particularly important for East Liberty, a neighborhood in which street violence and drug activity is prevalent. Supervised recreational activities for youth are limited here during the summer months, and parents are often unable to afford childcare. PSC is dedicated to ensuring the safety of youth in our community, and we believe that all families should be given the opportunity to access our services regardless of their ability to pay. We hope that you will support us in this endeavor to keep youth safe and active this summer, and we thank you for your consideration of this request.