What We Do
Like an extended family, Identity teaches and models for young people the social-emotional, academic, workforce and life skills they need to thrive in the modern world.
Programs and services are provided at no cost at school, in the community and on playing fields and are complemented by family case management, mental health and substance use counseling, non-clinical emotional support and recreation. When it is most effective, programs and services are delivered virtually. Central to our work is empowering parents to engage in their children’s education and be champions for their success and the success of the community. As such, our youth and parents are full partners in planning and implementing our programs and services and community engagement efforts.
We bring a holistic approach to every client, family and neighborhood we help. Our programs and services are grounded in evidence-based models that are culturally and linguistically appropriate and trauma-informed, ensuring that youth and families can build and strengthen skills and abilities that will help them flourish throughout life.
The theoretical framework for our programming is Positive Youth Development (PYD). This is a strengths-based model that views youth as assets to be nourished rather than problems to be fixed. Programs are designed to build social-emotional competencies that decrease risky behavior. Identity offers engaging and culturally appropriate academic support for students who have interrupted education, a fragile connection to school and/or are falling behind. We provide support and activities to accelerate learning and school connectedness, which research shows can improve academic achievement.
Rigorous process and outcome evaluation is a hallmark of all Identity programs. Extensive information, including comprehensive indicators of social-emotional and behavioral wellness, is collected, monitored and analyzed through multiple surveys, which are available in English and Spanish to accommodate client preferences.
Our Programs and Services
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High School Wellness Centers
Identity manages Wellness Centers at six Montgomery County public high schools: Gaithersburg, John F. Kennedy, Northwood, Seneca Valley, Watkins Mill and Wheaton.
These on-campus centers combine social and emotional skill building, academic support, clinical and non-clinical mental health support, therapeutic recreation, workforce development and family case management with access to medical care and serve as hubs that promote the physical, social, emotional, and academic well-being of students through their high-school years.
Our trauma-informed, culturally and linguistically responsive programs strengthen school connectedness and protective factors that have been shown to lead to better academic and life outcomes.
Wellness Centers serve the full diversity of the school community and operate in partnership with Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services, 480 Club, Emerging Triumphantly, EveryMind and True Connection Counseling.
Bridge to Wellness High Schools
Identity offers social and emotional skill building programs, activities and mentoring for teens who need extra support to thrive at eight Montgomery County Bridge to Wellness high schools. The goal is to increase access to Positive Youth Development programs and services that help students connect to their peers, school and education in schools without a Wellness Center. The high schools are Albert Einstein, Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Clarksburg, Magruder, Quince Orchard, Rockville, Richard Montgomery and Springbrook. The programs are run in partnership with the YMCA, EveryMind, Sheppard Pratt and Montgomery County’s Street Outreach Network.
Líderes De Mañana, Middle School
Identity offers academic coaching, STEM enrichment, family engagement and social and emotional skill building for middle-schoolers to help them build resilience, develop leadership skills and improve their overall well-being and success in school. Programs and services for families stabilize basic needs and increase parent engagement in their child’s academic success.
Jóvenes De Mañana, Elementary School
Jóvenes de Mañana provides academic support to struggling second- and third-grade Latino students. Our program combines literacy lessons, STEM enrichment, social and emotional skill building and family engagement and case management to promote success in school. Small group instruction with plenty of hands-on activities helps young students persist in their learning journey, while creating connection with each other and trusted adults.
Recreation
Identity’s bilingual coaches provide youth a chance for connection and access to healthy recreational activities and team sports without fees, while also helping youth build leadership, goal-setting and teamwork skills.
This program may be be the only option for Identity middle and high school players to be involved with competitive sports, as many do not qualify for school teams, leaving them especially vulnerable to disconnection.
In addition to soccer and other sports, our coaches connect families to basic resources and safety-net supports, organize hikes on nearby trails and facilitate participation in special outdoor events across the region. We also offer parents workshops in Spanish in collaboration with the Parent Encouragement Program (PEP).
The Recreation Program helps young people improve physical and mental well-being, increase conflict resolution and anger management skills, increase school connection and build healthy friendships with peers.
Youth Opportunity Centers
Identity operates two Youth Opportunity Centers (YOC) that provide programs and services to youth upcounty and downcounty and in a dozen neighborhoods across Montgomery County. The YOCs focus on helping young people facing especially challenging situations such as those who have not completed high school and/or do not have jobs, lack English-language skills that impede their job-seeking success or are vulnerable to gang involvement. Some struggle with unaddressed trauma, substance use or other behavioral health issues.
Our YOCs emphasize building social and emotional and job-readiness skills to help older youth (re)connect to the education system, the workforce, their families and the community. Whenever possible, we advocate to re-enroll school-age students in Montgomery County Public Schools. The YOCs offer English and Spanish GED classes as an alternative path to a high school diploma. They also offer basic English as a Second Language (ESL) classes to support youth's educational, work, and life goals. All programs are complemented by intensive case management and individual or group mental health therapy. With our partners the YOC staff helps diverse young adults move toward a more positive future.
Workforce Development
Identity’s Workforce Development program helps unemployed or underemployed older youth and adults establish a path to economic stability and mobility. The program offers a comprehensive range of services to support clients in earning high school diplomas through our bilingual GED classes, gaining industry-recognized certifications, gaining college readiness skills and habits, obtaining scholarships, internships and work experience, entrepreneurship training and mentoring, and finding and retaining a job in their chosen field. In addition to training, bilingual Case Managers help address issues that frequently derail efforts to find and keep gainful employment by resolving basic impediments such as transportation, childcare challenges and business clothing or uniforms, while also stabilizing their living circumstances. We also partner with employers to meet their workforce needs while creating opportunities for job seekers.
Case Management
Identity’s bilingual Case Managers assist clients in distress access benefits and lifesaving safety-net food, clothing, health care, and other essentials to stabilize their home environments and strengthen their families. Case Management services are available to participants in Identity programs and their families, as well as to all the individuals and families across Montgomery County that need critical assistance.
Nonclinical Community Mental Health
Culturally appropriate behavioral health supports – both non-clinical and clinical - are available to program participants.
Because of the prevalence of trauma among our client population, all non-clinical frontline staff are trained to recognize the signs and symptoms of trauma and are trained in non-clinical techniques to help young people and families manage the tremendous emotional impacts of trauma, including those related to immigration.
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Encuentros - Identity’s Encuentros program provides non-clinical culturally and linguistically appropriate emotional support groups for adults and high school-age youth. Delivered by trained and trusted community co-facilitators with support from Identity staff, these multi-session groups offer a safe space for participants to engage in open discussion about mental and emotional health challenges and share strategies for managing them.
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Family Reunification and Strengthening - Identity’s multi-session healing program helps reconnect youth and their families who have experienced long periods of separation. Families participate together in activities and exercises, often with siblings and extended family, to strengthen communication and develop trust, respect and a more cohesive and resilient family unit.
Community Engagement
Parent Education and Engagement
Because Identity’s approach to working with youth is family-centered, we work to remove barriers to parent engagement. In collaboration with schools and other partners, our staff facilitate workshops aimed at deepening parent involvement in their children’s school and education, which has been shown to directly impact long-term success in school and in life.
During these workshops, parents and guardians learn about child and adolescent development, and how to navigate the school system and communicate with school staff. They also learn how to improve communication with their children, prevent and respond to bullying, and recognize and avoid high risk behaviors such as substance use.
Padres Latinos Conectados/Parent Leadership Academy
Identity champions equitable and sufficient resources, supports and opportunities for Latino and other historically underserved youth and their families to bring about systemic changes that can interrupt patterns of underachievement, lost hope and disconnection. Our community engagement work reflects a belief that impacted communities must have a leading role in identifying and driving lasting change.
To that end, Identity’s curriculum-based Padres Latinos Conectados/Parent Leadership Academy trains and encourages Latino parents to be engaged advocates for equity and champions for their children’s success in school and in life.
Newcomer Services
Montgomery County is a destination for New Americans. Identity supports these youth and families with trauma-informed, culturally responsive programs and services including specialized case management, Positive Youth Development and non-clinical Family Reunification and Strengthening, Encuentros emotional support groups and parenting support groups. We help them feel welcomed, and to acclimate and thrive in their new community.
