As the needs of children and teens evolve, many social service agencies have reprioritized their agendas.
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One program meeting those challenges in Oak Park and River Forest has announced a new name to go along with its new focus.
The Youth Engagement Program, formerly known as the Youth Interventionist Program, is the rebranded approach that offers free services to individuals aged 6 to 18 in the Oak Park area.
Megan Traficano is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who grew up in Oak Park and has been the township’s Youth Services Director since 2019.
“The program started in 1996 to address problems like gang activity, violent behavior and substance abuse,” Traficano said. “It’s being renamed because today we’re seeing more of a need for mental health services than intervention.”
Operating from the Oak Park Township offices on Oak Park Avenue, the program has an annual budget of about $250,000 and is funded by the nine taxing bodies it serves, which include Oak Park and River Forest’s townships, park districts and library districts as well as School Districts 90, 97 and 200.
“Oak Park’s Youth Services Department was started here in 1967 to help youth and, by extension, their families,” Traficano said. “It was a very successful program since its inception and it still is today.”
The Youth Engagement Program employs seven staff members who include Youth Engagement Manager Jonathan Brown.
“Originally, this was a referral program where case managers went to homes to support youths and families for issues like gangs, violent behavior and substance abuse,” Brown said. “Since then, we’ve been experiencing a need for mental health services like helping kids transition back to school following the pandemic. But some of them just need a little mentoring in things like decision-making skills, financial literacy and navigating their family situations.”
Brown and Youth Engagement Specialists Laura Devitt and Sofia Fernandez all are studying for their LCSW certificates under the supervision of Traficano.
Devitt is an Oak Park native who incorporates her creativity and artistic side into the programs she supervises.
“We did a ‘Poetry and Pancakes’ program last week at the local library,” Devitt said. “The kids choose a book about poetry, read it and then they get pancakes.”
The Youth Engagement Program can handle a maximum of 50 cases at once, Traficano said, including up to 20 clients each for Devitt and Fernandez.
“It’s definitely not an easy job,” Fernandez said. “I’ve been doing social work for three years and it’s great to give back to the community.”
Brown said 75% of their social work interactions are done at remote locations such as schools, parks and in homes.
“Some prefer coming here to the township offices because they don’t want to meet in schools, especially the older students,” Traficano said. “We’ll provide lunch and play games with them just to show that we want them to have fun and see that we’re just regular people too.”
Clients receive help by first completing a referral form, available on the township website, in which anyone can recommend a youth who might need support services. Specific needs are then assessed by a case worker who meets with the child and family at the township office, the person’s home or school.
“Every case is different,” Devitt said. “We work with them to figure out the best way to deal with what problems they might be having. We never want to turn someone away, and we’ll refer them to other services if necessary to make sure they get the information they need.”
Traficano said it is the child who guides the case worker in determining what skills and information are needed and taught.
“If we don’t know an answer, we let kids know who to ask or where to find out,” Brown said. “And that’s another social skill, learning how to ask questions. They’re taught to advocate for themselves, to go out and find the answers.”
Brown said that, due to the pandemic, some younger children may have missed the chance to start school in a group setting.
“Those kids now are back in class and learning how to be with other students for the first time,” he said.
“One of the main things kids struggle with are social skills,” Fernandez said. “A lot of that has to do with the pandemic and how they can now socialize and interact a little more. It’s needed at all age groups.”
One recent concern for the Youth Engagement Program staff has been cyberbullying through cellphone applications.
“We were aware of Snapchat,” Brown said. “But there’s a new Tik Tok phenomenon called Duet where people can place themselves side by side in a reaction video laughing or teasing the other person. It’s a big cyberbullying concern that we didn’t know about until we found out from kids at the schools.”
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Traficano said she and her staff are constantly learning from their clients “because you never know what each generation of kids is going to be involved with. We want to make sure that our programs stay fresh and that we’re trained and ready to work with any youths and any problems.”
Her message to the community is one of providing help.
“Kids should not be afraid of asking us for help navigating their young lives,” Traficano said. “We’re here to help, we’re here to listen, we’re here to create a safe space.”
For more information, go to oakparktownship.org or call 708-445-2727.
