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Utah
Programs
Centro de la Familia de Utah
Program Descriptions
Centro de la Familia de Utah
1996 La Promesa Winner
Contact
Graciela Italiano-Thomas
Centro de la Familia de Utah
320 West 200 South, Suite 300B
Salt Lake City, UT 84101
(801) 521-4473
Fax (801) 521-6242
graciela@la-familia.org
Centro de la Familia de Utah is a private, nonprofit organization founded in 1975 to address the unmet needs of the Latino community. Although the emphasis was originally on serving migrant and seasonal farmworkers, over the years Centro de la Familia has developed expertise working with the entire family. Today, the center’s mission is to strengthen the Latino family by promoting self-sufficiency through culturally competent social services to the Latino community.
All of the center’s programs focus on youth. A substance abuse prevention program is delivered directly to youth and their families in their homes. Youth who are at a high risk for substance abuse or gang involvement are referred from schools, juvenile courts, and private and public agencies. Many families refer their youth directly to the program. The family is taught to resolve their problems as a family, and everyone is included in the process. Another program helps Latina teens and their mothers identify negative images of Latinas in contemporary and traditional music, magazine advertising, TV, and literature. Feedback indicates that the participants have increased their awareness of how media affects their self-esteem and self-concept.
Staff also work with youth in after-school clubs with a gang, substance abuse, and HIV/AIDS prevention focus. Youth learn leadership, communication, decision-making, and negotiating skills; attend cultural events; and interact with adult Latino role models. The center also has a long history of working with youth in state custody. Youth under the custody of the Division of Youth Corrections or the Division of Family Services are placed in the homes of proctors who provide a stable environment and prepare youth for a return to their natural families or independent living. Mental health, academic, and vocational tracking services are also provided.
The center’s Migrant Head Start program offers comprehensive child development services that include education, health and family services, parent involvement, services to children with disabilities, transportation, and nutrition components for low-income, mobile migrant children and their families. Seven sites throughout Utah serve over 2,000 children and their parents.
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