Sep 4, 2008

Teen counseling agency to expand

By Will Oremus / Daily News Staff Writer

A nonprofit that counsels teens at local schools is launching an offshoot to serve troubled kids all across Silicon Valley.

Adolescent Counseling Services announced this week that the new, evening-hours Adolescent Counseling Program will begin Monday. For a fee, it will offer psychological testing, treatments and other services to students who in the past were ineligible.

Until now, ACS has provided on-campus counseling for kids in the Palo Alto Unified School District and Sequoia Union School District, as well as a substance abuse program for other area teens. Those who weren't students in those districts and weren't addicted to drugs were referred to private therapists or other agencies.

"We are really pleased to be starting the ACP this fall," Executive Director Philippe Rey said in a statement. "It is something that we believe is needed in the community and something that we have been planning and working on for quite some time."

The agency reports that 47 percent of its clients last year were clinically depressed. Of those, more than three-quarters demonstrated decreased signs of depression in post-screening evaluations.

For more information about Adolescent Counseling Services, call 650-424-0852, e-mail info@acs-teens.org or visit http://www.acs-teens.org/.



E-mail Will Oremus at woremus@dailynewsgroup.com.