AT-RISK: WHAT DOES IT MEAN, AND WHO DOES IT APPLY TO?

At the Occupational Therapy Training Program in San Francisco (OTTP-SF), my current place of employment, at-risk youth is the primary population we are providing services to.  In my opinion, this population consists of, but is not limited to, youth which are performing low in school, participating in criminal activity, experiencing teen pregnancy, involved with gangs, and may lack positive role models in their lives.  Many of these youth lack the knowledge and understanding of who they really are, or more importantly, who they can become.  Many do not possess the confidence, encouragement, and motivation to view their lives in any other way than how it currently is and what they see in their immediate environment. 
I believe that this provides a window of opportunity for OTTP-SF to provide therapeutic services via social work and occupational therapy interventions, to teach skills and strategies to youth which will enable them to cope with everyday life stressors.  By identifying youth strengths and skills and then building upon those, I hope to empower the youth to take control of their lives by making better decisions, improving their performance at school, at home, and in the community, and then for these youth to experience the feelings associated with being responsible for those positive changes and results.  With that being said, couldn’t these “at-risk” youth also be referred to as “high-potential”?

Cathy Nanez, MS, OTR/L

This is the first installment of the OTTP-SF blog.  Please look forward to more additions from various clinicians, diverse points of view, and interesting topics.

 


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    Authors

    This blog is a collection of the perspectives of the occupational therapists, social workers, and marriage and family therapists that collaborate to provide services to at-risk youth on a daily basis. They are excited to share their perspectives and the experiences that inspire them to pursue this exciting line of work. 

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