SHIELDS for Families

SHIELDS for Families is a non-profit community-based organization dedicated to developing, delivering, and evaluating culturally sensitive, comprehensive service models that empower and advocate for high-risk families in South Los Angeles for over 20 years. 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 10,000 families each year, employing more than 350 full-time staff, with an annual budget of more than $30 million from federal, state, and local funding sources. SHIELDS operates 38 programs and serves as the lead agency with four collaborative networks. Programs are collaborative and comprehensive, spanning across three main divisions including community and family, behavioral health, and supportive services.