To develop, deliver and evaluate culturally sensitive, comprehensive service models that empower and advocate for high-risk families in South Los Angeles.
Believing, Building, Becoming…Believing in our families that the can overcome whatever challenges they face. Building a foundation of hope that our families can acquire the skills and support needed to accomplish their goals. Becoming empowered…as proud individuals, nurturing parents, and productive members of the community.
In 1987, physicians at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center delivered 1,200 infants exposed prenatally to drugs—an all-time annual high in Los Angeles and in our nation’s history. At the time, few had hope for these children. Even fewer had hope for their parents and families. There were no programs designed to serve the special needs of this population, and the future looked bleak. Full of hope, three women banded together to put an end to this epidemic and founded SHIELDS for Families, Inc. in 1991. Although Xylina Bean, Kathryn Icenhower, and Norma Mtume came from different backgrounds, they shared the belief that they could help shape the future. And they have. SHIELDS for Families started in a trailer on the campus of King Drew Medical Center, providing services through the GENESIS Program, the first program of SHIELDS and what would be the first program of its kind in the nation. The first client, Lenora Robinson, walked in to the trailer and signed up for services. She later graduated and was hired by SHIELDS – serving 18 years before passing away in 2011. Following in her legacy, the first employee, Ms. Esther Hardaway, still works as a child development specialist for SHIELDS today. Like the founders, the first employee, and first client, many of our staff are still here with us today after serving children, families, and communities for 10, 15, 20+ years at SHIELDS. SHIELDS has always operated “outside the box” when designing and implementing models of service delivery to fit the unique needs of the individuals, families and communities it serves. Oftentimes, when models from the classroom didn’t work, or current social systems didn’t function effectively, SHIELDS decided to “just do it” and to do it differently and the results showed! SHIELDS has been instrumental in informing legislation, piloting service models that work, and implementing programs that have real success. SHIELDS programs have helped save millions of County dollars, reduced the amount of time children and families spent “in the system”, and has helped break the cycles of untreated mental health, child abuse, poverty, and substance abuse. Today, SHIELDS is a nationally and internationally recognized organization that offers award-winning programs in Los Angeles’ most challenged communities. The organization has grown to serve more than 7,000 families each year, employing more than 380 full-time staff, with an annual budget of more than $22 million from federal, state, and local funding sources. SHIELDS operates 39 programs across 16 different locations and serves as the lead agency with four collaborative networks. Programs are collaborative and comprehensive, spanning across 5 main divisions including child and youth development, child welfare, mental health, substance abuse, and support services.
