United Communities Southeast Philadelphia

Programs: Case management - united communities operates two case management programs - family empowerment services (fes) and truancy case management (tcm). For fes, families are either referrred directly from the philadelphia department of human services or may request services directly from united communities. All of these families have no safety issues in their home but have an identified barrier that prevents the family from reaching their full potential. Case managers visit the families in their homes and after conducting a full assessment, link families with referrals to address the identified barrier. In tcm connects with young people in grades 4-11 who have reached the absence threshold and referred to a regional truancy court. [cont. On sch. O]case managers work with young people and their families to eliminate the barrier that was preventing the student from attending school so that they will not be referred to the philadelphia family court. Additionally, staff work with identified youth who have not reached the absence threshold so that they will not be referred to the regional truancy court.

youth development services (includes childcare services) - united communities provides after school and summer programming for over 350 children and youth. This includes programming for elementary, middle and high school aged youth. These programs provide a safe environment for the participants and focus on enhancing the educational and social skills of the young people involved in the programs at the six sites where they are offered. In the summer, the high school program offers a work exposure program for the participants while the elementary and middle school sites offer a more traditional summer camp that includes significant literacy activities as a part of the curriculum. [cont. On sch. O]a component of the elementary and middle school programs is a drug prevention curriculum educating these children about the dangers of substance abuse. The agency also has a federal grant which is specifically focused on reducing use of alcohol and marijuana by youth between the ages of 12-18 throughout south philadelphia. The agency serves as the facilitating agency (for united way of greater philadelphia and southern new jersey) for the girls today leaders tomorrow program. Gtlt is a mentoring program working with 6th to 12th grade young women focused on high school graduation, career exploration and leadership development.

client services - the agency's client services department addresses basic human needs - housing, food, energy and clothing. Housing counseling includes assisting households to become first time homebuyers, preventing foreclosure, emergency mortgage or rental assistance, tax delinquency prevention, and avoiding predatory loans. The agency operates a food cupboard that dispersed three days of meals to 725 families. The agency also provides neighborhood energy services to assist households who have had or are at risk of having utility services shut off. Additionally, a clothing closet is available for families in need.

community engagement - united communities operates a benephilly access center assisting families to apply for public benefits. As a result of this work, over 500 families are now receiving benefits which they were unaware that they were eligible.