SHIELDS for Families

SHIELDS for Families provides a comprehensive network of mental health and behavioral services designed to promote healing, stability, and empowerment for individuals and families throughout South Los Angeles. As a cornerstone of its mission, SHIELDS integrates mental health care into all of its programs, ensuring that each client—whether an adult, child, or family—receives the support needed to thrive emotionally and socially.

The organization’s Adult Mental Health program offers counseling and behavioral health services to individuals and parents, often alongside substance use disorder and family support programs. Specialized initiatives such as CalWORKs’ Individual Placement and Support (IPS) combine employment assistance with mental health treatment to help participants achieve recovery and independence through meaningful work. For families with young children, SHIELDS’ Birth-Five program provides early intervention and parent-child therapy to strengthen emotional bonds and development from the start.

Children and teens benefit from individualized, family, and group therapy through the Children’s Mental Health and School-Linked programs, which embed trained clinicians in local schools to provide classroom support and therapeutic services. SHIELDS also serves at-risk youth through its Juvenile Justice program, offering evidence-based approaches such as Functional Family Therapy to reduce recidivism and foster resilience.

Across all programs, SHIELDS addresses a wide range of emotional and behavioral challenges—including anger, stress, trauma, and family conflict—helping clients build emotional regulation and positive coping skills. With partnerships across Los Angeles County and a dedicated team of licensed professionals, SHIELDS for Families continues to be a vital resource for individuals seeking hope, healing, and long-term mental wellness.