Interview with Katie Reisinger, Program Director at Huckleberry House
by Justin Slaughter, AmeriCorps VISTA
Our topic this month is runaway and homeless youth. What programs and/or services do you offer for this age/population?
Huckleberry House is the component of Huckleberry Youth Programs that works specifically with runaway youth. The House is the first runaway shelter in the nation, established in 1967 when, after the “Summer of Love,” neighbors on Haight street came together to support runaway and homeless youth in the community. The Huckleberry House is on Page and Lyon, in an old Victorian though very much a warm and inviting and not institutional house. Our crisis center for youth 11-17 years old never closes. We have a 24hr crisis hot line, which anyone can call and begin the process of youth accessing services.
The House has a full-time therapist on-site that develops case plans for youth via a thorough intake that assesses the needs, goals, and strengths of the youth. A big component of the services to run-away and homeless youth at the House is the therapist. Not only the youth utilize the therapist, but also the parents meet with therapist in shelter to guide through issues of youth out of their home. We involve the family of troubled youth ASAP. Though sometimes, the reason the youth is not in his original home is for safety concerns, and in those cases, we have to work with Children Protective Services to resolve the issues of the youth.
When we have a youth enrolled in school, we work with her school when the student is having difficulty. Our case management for each youth makes sure she transitions back home to a safe living situation with after-care services, after-care phone calls. Our youth shelter works in conjunction with the City Department Public Health (DPH), that provides confidential reproductive health services, heath screening, educational workshops on health twice a week, help with peer relationships, and prevention of drug and alcohol abuse services.
What makes you special from others doing similar work?
Our focus on family intervention makes us unique. We are really good at it. The House is very careful about not taking sides in conflicts between the youth and the family they ran away from, even if youth is struggling because of family problems. It’s scary that your child is running away, but the parents can be supported by us. We never see the parents as enemies, and usually the best situation for the youth is to go back to the family they ran from, though with support and services.
Another feature of our program that makes us unique is that we are really about collaboration. We want to pull in everyone involved in the youth’s life, seek to bring in other family members, other service providers, to come to some consensus that will be most helpful to the youth.
What are some of your notable successes?
Usually we have 250-300 youth come through the program each year. The reunification rate of youth who ran away or where homeless with their family is 92% per year. So we’re really good job at patching things with the family. The House is always looking at how we can do what we do better, really focused on after-care and tracking services, trying to be really more systematic about the situation the homeless youth are in. It’s easy to think about the youth’s issues you have in front of you, but unfortunately, it is much easier to lose track of that young person who left a little while ago.
What should people expect from Huckleberry House in the future?
That we are going to be here. There are a lot of programs that are going to be closing, but we are not the type of program that is going to be making any radical changes. We will still be focusing on the family work, developing that to its fullest potential. Our residential staff will continue to attend a lot of trainings, learning how to talk to families, help both parties, etc.
Personally, what motivates you to do the work that you do at Huckleberry House?
Before the Huckleberry House, I did a lot of work with at-risk youth in different capacities, as a special-ed teacher for years, working with drug treatment centers. Now I like residential work with youth. Personally, I enjoy knowing the youth in a way that is different than their parents or their teachers. The youth really bear their souls to us at the House. They really honor us with that. There is wonderful moments of healing, hearing the success stories. No two days are exactly alike, you constantly think on your feet. It takes a certain kind of person to fill these shoes, that keeps me going.
For more information about the Huckleberry House or the Huckleberry Youth Programs’ Cole Street Youth clinic, contact Heather at hmathews@huckleberryyouth.org.
Call Huckleberry House’s Teen Hotline at 415.621.2929 for 24-hour support. Counselors are on hand to take your call and your conversation will be confidential.
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- Interview w/ Laurie A. Scolari, Dean of Counseling & Student Support & Acting Director at Gateway to College, CCSF
- Interview w/ LeaJay Harper, Program Coordinator for Young Mothers United, Center for Young Women’s Development
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