Where to Go If You're Worried About Your Child

A third grader at a Pacifica school became very withdrawn, unfocused and aggressive with friends during her parent’s divorce.

A middle school boy was missing a lot of school when his mother lost her job, and they were suffering financially.

And a father, whose wife had serious substance abuse issues and left him, needed help raising his teenage daughter and son, who was developmentally disabled.

These stories are just a few examples of what the Pacifica Youth Service Bureau (PYSB) confronts on a daily basis, providing mental health services to Pacifica children, adolescents and their families, who need help but may not have the financial resources, wherewithal and health insurance or coverage to secure such services.

“We also make access to service as easy as possible by placing trainee staff in Pacifica schools, where they can help assess children for mental health issues and provide pro-social skills development groups for students needing support to enhance their academic and social navigation success,” said Marie Ciepiela, who took over as director of PYSB in May 2012 and admits, “I stepped into the very large shoes of Kimberly Wheeler, LMFT and Pacifica resident, who ran the agency for 15 years.”

Still, in the one year that Ciepiela has taken over the reins at PYSB, she has worked very hard on reconnecting the roots of the organization back to Pacifica by increasing visibility and outreach. She has also significantly expanded the organization’s capacity for culturally appropriate Spanish language and Medi-Cal eligible families. PYSB now holds a contract with San Mateo County to provide services for families who qualify for Medi-Cal and they have Spanish-speaking clinicians who can meet the needs of Spanish-speaking parents and their children. 

“PYSB was the first youth service bureau in the country and in this county, opening in 1969,” said Ciepiela. “I want to bring that recognition back to Pacifica and reestablish the everydayness of our presence and work here. I want PYSB to be a household name so that if anyone says, “I am worried about my child,” “I need help figuring out how to communicate with my teenager,” or “I feel stressed and scared at school,” the automatic response would be, “Go see the folks at PYSB over on Manor Drive next to the 7/11.”

Later, the YSB in South San Francisco (formerly know as North Peninsula Family Alternatives) and in San Mateo (formerly known as Project FOCYS) were opened in 1976. The three have since merged with the YMCA of San Francisco and are now part of Urban Services YMCA.

Yet PYSB sticks to its original mission of offering local residents clinical counseling services on a sliding fee scale and free to Medi-Cal and Victims of Crime (VOC) recipients. The organization also works in local schools, providing on-site counseling and assessment, crisis intervention, and on-campus violence prevention and serves as a therapeutic partner with the San Mateo Department of Probation, providing diversion counseling for first-time juvenile offenders, alternatives to incarceration and re-entry programs for youth in the juvenile justice system.

“Diversion counseling for first-time youth offenders was our first program in Pacifica, and we still collaborate with the Pacifica Police Department on this traditional short-term goal oriented family therapy program to help families address the underlying causes of the acting out behavior,” said Ciepiela.

Ciepiela has since expanded diversion options to include an increasing awareness of victim impact through their group-based Victim Impact Awareness (VIA) group.  Also, juvenile offenders who have been either arrested or caught on school campuses for drug related offenses can be mandated to their First Stop program, a CBT therapy based drug and alcohol education group. 

In addition, PYSB is the only agency in San Mateo County to provide the Juvenile Sexual Responsibility Program (JSR) that provides intensive family, group and individual therapy to minors who have committed sexual offenses.

“So I would say we are an expert in the work to positively change behaviors through skilled and compassionate intervention early and have grown into a key County partner in this niche,” said Ciepiela. “Through this work, we also contribute greatly to breaking the stigma that surrounds seeking help for emotional and behavioral issues.”

Programs like this are funded from a combination of sources including several contracts with San Mateo County (Juvenile Probation, BHRS) and the Pacifica Police; fees generated at the clinic; and most importantly, local community support from Pacificans Care and the Pacifica Tribune Holiday Fund. 

“We also raise funds through individual donations and are planning a very large gala event in February 2014,” said Ciepiela.

In their partnership with the Pacifica School District, PYSB has focused more strategically promoting pro-social skills, especially at the elementary schools.  One area Ciepiela would like to develop further is early childhood mental health for families with children ages 0 to 5. 

“I will be writing about that in a Pacifica Tribune article this month, and we plan to host a community forum to figure out how to create more programs for parents of very young children,” said Ciepiela.

When asked to describe the outcome of the three stories she shared for this article, Ciepiela says PYSB helped by:

• referring the third grader to the school-based PYSB counselor out of concern for her changed behavior due to her parents’ recent divorce. The parents were referred to PYSB and participated in therapy sessions focused on co-parenting communication, coordination and emotional support for their child in undergoing the traumatic experience of separation.  The services were coordinated with the PYSB school staff at the school that was able to check in with and monitor the girl.  Her behaviors began to normalize again after three months.

• meeting with the middle school boy and his mother at PYSB with a social worker who helped them access resources to get through this rough period.  The mother was connected to the Pacifica Resource Center; the Daly City Youth Center, where the family could get approved for Medical for medical care; and the Second Harvest Food Bank.  The son and mother also met with the Social Worker to talk about the anxiety caused by financial insecurity and developed a behavior plan to get the boy back on track with school attendance and school work.

• providing the single father with two teenagers a variety of services over the course of a year, including individual therapy for both children and family therapy.  In addition, the daughter joined the agency’s Building Futures Mentoring program and worked with a mentor for a year.  She also participated in PYSB’s Girls United program, a girls therapeutic empowerment group run by PYSB at her local school.  The father was able to focus on developing his parenting skills and the family reported much improved communication and quality relationships.

“We are about supporting families and nurturing children,” said Ciepiela. “We have been a community resource when the Pacifica Youth Service Bureau first opened its doors to provide family counseling services for first-time youth offenders. More than 40 years later, we still do that— and offer a complete array of clinical mental health, school-based prevention programs, and family support services.” 

The Pacifica Youth Services Bureau is located at 435 Edgemar Ave., Pacifica. Call (650) 355-3900 for more information.