[title subtitle=”WORDS
Words Catherine Frederick with Allen Wright, Mentoring Coordinator, Comprehensive Juvenile Services, Inc.”][/title]
Comprehensive Juvenile Services, Inc., is a private, non-profit, community-based youth services agency, dedicated to providing needed services to youth age eight through seventeen, and their families in western Arkansas. Do South® reached out to Allen Wright, Mentoring Coordinator, to learn more.
Comprehensive Juvenile Services, Inc.
1606 South “J” Street, Fort Smith, Arkansas 72901
479.785.4031
cjsinc.org
DS: Tell us about the primary services Comprehensive Juvenile Services, Inc. (CJS) extends to our community.
CJS provides a multitude of programs that bring a wide range of benefits to our youth and families. Many in our community know and are affected by programs that directly affect our juvenile at-risk or “at-promise” youth that we serve: Casework, Girls Circle and Boys Council support groups, Active Parenting classes, After Hours Supervision, Community Service, Electronic Monitoring, and our Western Arkansas Youth Shelter, (WAYS) located in Cecil, Arkansas, which provides emergency shelter care available twenty-four hours a day for up to sixty days.
Our new programs are impacting our community in many ways every day! Our Workforce Readiness Program (Aaron Richardson, Program Coordinator) provides youth with job readiness training and academic assistance to receive their diploma or GED and transition to technical, vocational, or a two-or-four-year college or university. We also offer Support Groups and Life Skill Classes to educate older teenagers on basic skills to help them transition into the adult world. Finally, our Strengthening Families Program (SFP) consists of parenting, children’s, and family skills training courses.
DS: What is the greatest hurdle Comprehensive Juvenile Services, Inc. is facing currently?
Our greatest current hurdle is finding mentors willing to spend time with youth one-on-one in these times of COVID-19. There are certainly many ways in which exceptions to face-to-face contact may be made, such as telephone or zoom calls, FaceTime connections, and a myriad of other ways to stay in touch as we all work through this pandemic. Today’s teens are fully capable and willing to relate to others through technological means, and mentors can provide positive encouragement they may not necessarily receive through their normal social media contacts. Another is raising the funds necessary to build a new emergency youth shelter closer to the Fort Smith area.
DS: How can members of our community who would like to volunteer or make a financial donation do so?
January, being National Mentoring Month, is the perfect time for our community to become more aware and involved in our CJS Operation Positive Direction mentoring program. The purpose of this program is to provide adult volunteers the opportunity to experience one-on-one mentoring/role model for a young person. Mentors help our youth, ages ten to seventeen, by showing them how to make the right choices, to work hard, and care for their neighbors in need. Mentors play an important role in a young person’s life, particularly if a parent is absent. A mentor’s involvement in the life of a youth can brighten his/her future, help maintain healthy families, and help promote more vibrant communities. If you would like more information on becoming a CJS mentor, please contact Allen Wright, Marketing Manager and Mentoring Coordinator by phone, 479-785-4031 or email, awright@cjsinc.org. Always remember, every youth is just one caring adult away from being a success story.
