ADOLESCENT CONSORTIUM
View the list of Consortium members.
Over the past 15 years the Adolescent Consortium has been known as an exemplary networking organization for youth serving agencies. It has also served as a clearinghouse for coordination of services, information and referral, and networking and professional education. The original and abiding interest of the 100 or so participating health, education and human service providers was the prevention of adolescent pregnancy and intervention for the pregnant and parenting teen. Since its inception, the Consortium has come to address issues of sexuality, violence, substance abuse, chronic illness, school failure and suicide through quarterly educational meetings. Providing community education and providing consultation on these issues remains the centerpiece of the work of the Consortium. The Adolescent Consortium now comprises more than 160 health, education and human service providers that are involved in protecting and promoting the health and well being of adolescents.
In the fall of 2000, a survey was conducted to determine to what extent the Consortium was meeting the needs of its membership. The survey results were reviewed by a Focus Group which led to the forming of an Advisory Board. The Advisory Board identified its primary task as using the survey data to assess the current offerings through the Consortium and to create a vision for the Consortium. The Advisory Board has also been working to develop an infrastructure of professional partnerships between the Consortium and various educational and social service organizations in the community. A major goal of the Board was to set in place several areas of interest that would establish ongoing collegial ties. These areas of interest were made into subcommittees, with each Advisory Board member making a commitment to chair or co-chair a subcommittee as an ongoing working group within the Consortium.
Subcommittees were formed in the areas of: Professional Development and Consultation, Advocacy and Initiatives, Community Education, and Networking and Collaboration. The principal aim of the subcommittees is to lay the groundwork for strategic long-term planning that would be negotiated through memorandums of understanding or interagency agreements. The Consortium has an existing wealth of agencies that are poised to formalize collaborative agency efforts and projects. The Consortium is also engaged in developing projects with agencies involved in providing services or promoting the health and well being of youth.
The subcommittee on Professional Development and Consultation has concentrated on: (1) establishing protocols for staff development through educational inservices; (2) reviewing requests to the Adolescent Consortium for consultation and or technical assistance that would be negotiated through the Advisory Board; (3) reviewing recommendations made between agencies that want to collaborate on the delivery of health and wellness programs for youth; and, (4) formal memorandums of understanding are in the process of being drafted to delineate terms of ongoing agency collaborations.
The subcommittee on Advocacy and Initiatives has concentrated on: (1) increasing visibility for the Adolescent Consortium; (2) promoting the Adolescent Consortium as an "expert voice on adolescent issues for parties outside of the academic medicine community; (3) advocating for programs for adolescents which focus on services to adolescents; and, (4) deepening the Adolescent Consortium's involvement in the various coalitions/consortia for children and adolescents in the community in order to more effectively participate in policy making (local and state initiatives) with respect to adolescents and adolescents at risk in the five county area.
The subcommittee on Networking and Collaboration has concentrated on: (1) refining aspects of the website and website links; (2) maintaining a clearinghouse of services and information to support referral linkages; (3) drafting memorandums of understanding for collaborative educational offerings between agencies; (4) considering a needs assessment of current membership agencies to determine possibilities for partnership in joint training and/or technical assistance opportunities; and, (5) providing informal venues for professional sharing, i.e. developing a series of brown bag lunches that would include a community calendar and agency updates.
The subcommittee on Community Education has concentrated on: (1) putting together a community educational calendar; (2) exploring joint educational programming, i.e. Cleveland Regional Perinatal Network providing a training for GRADS teachers in the Cleveland Public Schools or LEAP (Learning, Earning and Parenting) receiving a training from parents as Teachers or Project Redirection providing classes for De Paul Young Parents Program; and, (3) developing a Speaker's Bureau is being explored, along with the traditional offerings of educational seminars. A quarterly newsletter is also an important educational and informational tool for the Adolescent Consortium membership.
The Advisory Board and the various subcommittees have met quarterly in addition to professional education provided for the membership. In the past nine months the Adolescent Consortium has sponsored three educational seminars: in the fall of 2000 we sponsored a seminar on "Nurturing the Pregnant and Parenting Teen"; in the winter of 2001 we sponsored, "Adolescents and Decision Making: Taking Seriously the Spirit of Ethics and the Letter of the Law"; and, in the Spring of 2001 the Consortium sponsored, "Sexual Minority Youth: Care, Counseling and Support - A Panel Presentation on Working with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Youth". All three presentations were very well received and offered participants continuing education units. The Consortium will continue to provide the quality programs for which it is known. The Advisory Board remains committed to developing an infrastructure that will provide another tier of services for those serving youth. In this way we can be
The ultimate goal of the Adolescent Consortium remains ensuring that every opportunity is exercised to serve our membership in its effort to provide the best practices for youth in the five county area. The Consortium has a long-established and well respected place in the community and its membership has the capability and the will to work toward continuing its legacy of care and commitment on behalf of adolescents.
Consortium Members
Achievement Center of Greater Cleveland
Adolescent Clinic Medina County Board of Health
Adolescent Medicine, MetroHealth Medical Center
AIDS Task Force of Greater Cleveland
After School Prevention Program
American Red Cross
American School Health Association
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
Applewood Centers
Bedford High School GRADS Program
Beech Brook Family Services
Bellflower Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse
Brush High School GRADS Program
The Campus Hospital of Cleveland
Case Western Reserve University Educational Support Services
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Catholic Counseling Service
Catholic Social Services
Catholic Social Services of Geauga County
Center for Families & Children
Center for the Prevention of Domestic Violence
Central Family Resource Center
Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, University Hospitals of Cleveland
Citizen Ombudsman Office
City of Cleveland Just Chillin' Program
City of Cleveland Office of Health Promotion
Clark-Fulton Community Center
Cleveland Clinic Foundation Dept. Of OB/GYN
Cleveland Heights High School GRADS Programv Cornerstone
Cleveland Heights-University Heights Board of Education-School Nursing
Cleveland Metropolitan Schools, Dept. Of Student & Family Support
Cleveland Public Schools Center for Conflict Resolution
Cleveland Public Schools Health Education Office
Cleveland Regional Perinatal Network
CMHA Health Services
Collinwood Community Center
Collinwood High School GRADS Program
Community Action Against Addiction
Comprehensive Family Care
The Covenant
Crossroads
Cuyahoga Work & Training
Cuyahoga County Board of Health
Cuyahoga County Commissioners
Cuyahoga County Deptartment of Child & Family Services
Cuyahoga County Department of Human Services
Cuyahoga County Mental Health Board
Cuyahoga County WIC Program
CYO & Young Adult Agency Catholic Charities
Department of Supportive Services, Cuyahoga County
East Cleveland StraightTalk
East High School GRADS Program
East Side interfaith Ministry, Open Doors Program
East Tech High School GRADS Program
Early Start
Eating Recovery Center
Esperanza, Inc.
Euclid High School GRADS Program
Family Life Program
Federation for Community Planning
For the Children
Free Clinic of Greater Cleveland
Friendly Inn
The Global Issues Resource Center
Geauga County Catholic Social Services
Glenville High School GRADS Program
GOALS Program
Health Education Office Berea School District
Health Hill Hospital
Health Museum of Cleveland
Health Services Office, South Euclid/Lyndhurst School District
Healthy CMHA 2000
Healthy Family/Healthy Start
Heights Youth Center
Hispanic Urban Minority Alcohol & Drub Abuse Outreach Program
HIV Planning Council
lnterchurch Council
Interlink |
James Ford Rhodes High School GRADS Program
Jewish Vocational Services
John F. Kennedy High School GRADS Program
John Hay High School GRADS Program
John Marshall High School GRADS Program
Kaiser Permanente Hospital
Lake Erie Girl Scouts
Lakewood High School GRADS Program
Lakewood Youth Services
LEAP Program
Lesbian/Gay Community Services Center
Lutheran Childrens Aid & Family Services
Lutheran Metro Ministries
MacDonald Womens Hospital, University Hospitals of Cleveland
Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, CASE
Maple Heights High School GRADS Program
March of Dimes
Martha Merrick Shaw Safespace
Marycrest
Marymount Hospital
Mentor High School GRADS Program
Mental Development Center
Meridia Center for Women & Children
Merrick Teen Education Center
MetroHealth Clement Center
MetroHealth Medical Center
Michael's House
Miles-Broadway Health Center
National City Bank School Partner Program
Neighborhood Family Practice
NEON Health Services
Office of Student Community Services, CWRU
Ohio Boys Town-East
Ohio Youth Advocacy Program
The Open House
OSU Extension Service
Parents as Teachers
Partnership for a Safer Cleveland
Personal Physician Care
Phone Friends Program
Planned Parenthood of Greater Cleveland
Polaris Vocational School GRADS Program
Preterm
Professional Nurses Association
Providence House
RAPart Rainbow Babies & Childrens Hospital, University Hospitals of Cleveland
Recovery Resources
Responsible Social Values Program (RSVP)
St. Lukes Hospital
St. Martin de Porres Center
St. Vincent Charity Hospital
The Salvation Army
School Health Programs Meridia-Euclid Hospital
Settlement House
Shaker Heights Youth Center
Shaw High School GRADS Program
Shaw High School Wellness Center
Social Work Department, Cleveland Clinic Foundation
Social Work Education, Cuyahoga Community College Eastern Campus
Southwest General Hospital Teen Program
Starting Point
Student Placement Office John Carroll University
Substance Abuse Initiative
Teen Clinic Lakewood Hospital
Teen Paternity Project
Tremont Health Center
Tremont Advocates for School Kids
Universal Health Care Action Network of Ohio
University MedNet
Upward Bound, Cuyahoga Community College
Urban Child Research Center, Cleveland State University
Vocational & Applied Art
Valley Forge High School GRADS Program
Warrensville Heights High School
Welcome Home CCEIC
Westhaven Youth Shelter
Westside Community Mental Health Center
William Pat Day Childhood Center
Windsor Hospital Adolescent Programs
Westside Adolescent Services Network
Womens & Childrens Services, Fairview General Hospital
Womens & Childrens Services, Southwest General Hospital
Womens Health Center, University Hospitals of Cleveland
Youth Re-entry Program
YWCA Project Redirection |
