Supportive Programming for Justice System-Impacted Youth
The Pathfinder Network’s youth programs provide support for children and teens impacted by justice system involvement, whether it is parental and familial involvement, their own involvement, or both. Our goals are to help youth build protective factors, increase their resilience, strengthen family and community connections, and thrive in school and in life. We do this through a variety of relational, responsive, and holistic services and supports.
We work not only with youth, but with their parents, caregivers, and families—providing support that encourages family stability, reunification, and success for the entire family. From one-on-one support and group programming to arts-based support groups, our programs are designed to meet youth right where they are and wrap around them with the tools and resources they need to grow into healthy, thriving adults living out their fullest potential.
We deliver early intervention and prevention strategies that address root causes before people reach crisis points or become involved in the justice system.
We are focused on aiming upstream through facilitating prevention programming to reduce risk of system involvement and strengthen individual, family, and community resilience.
Programs for youth include:
Mentoring Inside Out at The Center for Family Success
Mentoring Inside Out (MIO) is a positive development youth mentoring program for youth ages 7-18 in Portland who are impacted by a parent or caregiver’s incarceration and systems involvement. It offers individual mentoring, group mentoring activities, wrapround support, resources and referrals, school support, basic needs assistance, and an annual summer camp. Services are offered in English and Spanish. MIO 2.0 is offered for youth navigating their own justice system involvement.
Email cffsinfo@thepathfindernetwork.org or call 503-286-0600, Option 1 to schedule an intake or refer a youth for mentoring services.
The PATHfinder Club is an arts-based support club for teens impacted by incarceration, detention, and deportation. Through art, expression, and community, members pave a trail from hurt and harm to hope and healing. We support youth in a variety of settings to feel comfortable and confident to stay in school and graduate, set and achieve goals, expand their resilience, conquer challenges, embrace opportunities for healing and self-expression, and connect in meaningful ways with their peers, loved ones, and their community.
Each year we publish an anthology of club members’ creative work for the world to see. Learn more about our anthologies on our Publishing page.
We host a network of PATHfinder Clubs across the country and deliver four clubs locally:
- A school-based club at Parkrose High School
- A community-based club at our Center for Family Success
- Two juvenile-justice detention facility clubs at Donald E. Long Facility in Portland and the Jackson County Juvenile Services Facility in Medford
Email tpc@thepathfindernetwork.org or call 971-500-2176 to get involved or to refer a youth. To get more information about The PATHfinder Club model, visit www.thepathfinderclub.org.
Resilience & Recovery Project Youth Peer Support
The Resilience & Recovery Project Youth Peer Support Program serves justice system-involved youth in Jackson County. We work to provide an opportunity for participants to build individual, social, and community resources for long term resilience and recovery, successful completion of supervision and reintegration into the community. We partner with Jackson County Juvenile Services to deliver programming embedded within probation, detention, residential, and community settings.
Services we offer for youth in Jackson County include:
- After school programming through the Accountability, Skills, Transition, and Education Program (ASTEP) as an alternative to detention sentences
- Peer delivered cognitive skills groups
- Recovery support groups in custody and in the community
- Transition peer support programming for youth in the Barriers 2 Bridges residential programming, in detention, and in the community
- Arts-based support programming with The PATHfinder Club
Email jcpeers@thepathfindernetwork.org or call 541-231-0765 to learn more or to refer a youth.
Cognitive Behavioral Skills Groups for Youth in Clackamas County
Since 2023, we have partnered with the Clackamas County Juvenile Department to offer cognitive behavioral skills groups to youth on probation in Clackamas County. Our programming is designed to empower growth and inspire change for youth. Participants discover pathways towards positive change and personal growth. Our groups focus on uncovering your potential, overcoming obstacles, and finding a path towards a future filled with hope and success.
Groups we offer for youth in Clackamas County include:
Power Source
An evidence-based program designed to empower youth at risk with the social and emotional skills necessary to forge paths of healthy development and disengagement from high-risk behaviors. Grounded in a belief in the intrinsic dignity and worth of each person, Power Source guides adolescents and young adults in discovering their own resilience, while also building the skills associated with healthy social, emotional, and identity development.
Voices: A Program of Self Discovery and Empowerment for Girls
A trauma-informed, gender-responsive program created to address the unique needs of adolescent girls and young women. It encourages them to seek and celebrate their “true selves” by providing a safe space, encouragement, structure, and the support they need to embrace their journeys of self-discovery. The program includes modules on self, connecting with others, healthy living, and the journey ahead.
A Young Man’s Guide to Self-Mastery
A trauma-informed, gender-responsive treatment program that addresses the impacts of socialization and adverse (traumatic) life experiences and how these contribute to impaired critical thinking, trouble in dealing with emotions, antisocial behavior, and substance misuse. This 14-session program helps participants to understand the effects of adversity and trauma in their lives, develop healthy senses of themselves, understand their emotions, increase their communication skills, better understand their sexual and gender identities, and build healthy relationships.
Alternatives
A youth diversion education program focusing on substance abuse designed to provide facts, tools, and support for those under 21 years of age who have experienced consequences due to alcohol and other drug-related behaviors or who are at risk for engaging with alcohol and other drug-related behaviors.
The Choice is Yours for Male Identifying Youth
An interactive journaling group that helps male individuals understand the short- and long-term costs of gang involvement. Participants have the opportunity to: understand some reasons why people are attracted to the gang lifestyle, explore what being a gang member means, consider the costs and rewards of gang involvement and gather the facts to decide whether they will choose to associate with gangs.
For more information email cffsinfo@thepathfindernetwork.org or call 503-286-0600, Option 1, or talk to the youths Juvenile Court Counselor.
Family Engagement Activities
Our Center for Family Success in Portland provides free family engagement events throughout the year that enhance family connectedness and create community. Events and activities include outings, gatherings, celebrations, and on-site activities at the Center for Family Success. Annually, we host a National Family Week Celebration, Holiday Toy Giveaway, Back to School Event, and Community Building and Resource Fair.
Email cffsinfo@thepathfindernetwork.org or call 503-286-0600, Option 1 for more information about getting involved with programs at the Center for Family Success.
To learn more about our youth programs or to refer a youth, email cffsinfo@thepathfindernetwork.org or call 503-286-0600, Option 1.
For youth peer support in Jackson County, email jcpeers@thepathfindernetwork.org or call 541-231-0765.
To get involved with The PATHfinder Club, email tpc@thepathfindernetwork.org or call 971-500-2176.
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