A half-century of mental-health counseling
Outreach Teen & Family Services celebrates 50th anniversary
Fifty years ago, some teens in Mt. Lebanon were engaging in unhealthy activities in the municipality’s parks and near the schools.
The Mt. Lebanon Police Department and community relations board took action, and from that grassroots movement, Outreach Teen & Family Services was created under a grant from the Pennsylvania State Law Enforcement Assistance Administration.
“There were issues with kiddos doing things they shouldn’t be doing in the parks and uptown,” said Mary Birks, executive director of Outreach Teen & Family Services. “We had a really wonderful police chief that was about getting people help. It was really in response to the truancy issues that were going on.”
In 1981, the organization incorporated as a nonprofit agency with the name Outreach South, later changing it to Outreach Teen & Family Services.
Today, the community-based, mental health counseling agency remains active, serving teens and families across Allegheny and Washington counties.
Its anniversary will be celebrated April 26 at the “Connections Gala in Wonderland” at the Renaissance Pittsburgh. Tickets are available at the agency’s website, outreachteen.org, at a cost of $150.
Birks, who is in her 10th year as executive director, said this year’s Community Champion Award will be given to the Mt. Lebanon Police Department to recognize the department’s efforts in creating the agency.
“We still maintain a really strong relationship with the police department,” Birks said. “We really are both focused on the health and well-being of our community and of our kids.”
The organization’s main office is in Mt. Lebanon on Washington Road and has a satellite office in Bethel Park.
“We work with kiddos in 30 unique zip codes all through the South Hills of Pittsburgh and into Washington County,” Birks said.” We work with kids ages 5 to 21 and their families and their parents. We are, sort of, that first line of defense, when parents don’t know what’s going on with their kids. We’re here to work with kids who may have different levels of anxiety, depression, stress, peer issues, school issues, family concerns, adjustment issues. We try to help as many kids as we possibly can.”
The agency has eight counselors, each with a different personality, so attempts are made to match counselors to clients for a good fit. Counselor Kylie Tautkus-Malobisky is on staff at Chartiers-Houston Middle School.
Outreach Teen & Family Services also provides community-based education programs. Maggie Zangara, the agency’s program manager, works with local school districts, libraries and the community in general to gauge what programs help kids deal with the various issues they’re facing.
“Since we are community-based, we can be pretty responsive and we’re pretty flexible,” Birks said. “We don’t have the bureaucratic structure that a lot of other agencies might have. If one of our stakeholders comes to us and sees kids struggling with one particular issue, we can put our heads together and get something together to address the need pretty quickly.”
The amount of time a kid spends with a counselor varies. Most clients receive 10 sessions.
“We do have kiddos who stay with us for a number of months, sometimes for over a year,” Birks explained. “Sometimes, our kids go off to college and come back for what they call a check-in. They have a conversation with a counselor to see how they’re doing.”
Birks said she has a personal connection to the agency.
“Two of my older siblings were clients here, back in the day,” she said. “They shared their experiences and how beneficial it was to them and how special this organization is to them to this day.”
Outreach Teen & Family Services, a HIPPA-compliant agency, is funded in part through the municipality, which enables the agency to offer Mt. Lebanon clients their first two sessions for free and sessions three through 10 are offered at a discount.
“No one pays more than $50 at this point to come and see a professional counselor,” Birks said. “No one is ever turned away, even if they can’t pay.”
Those who may feel the need to use the agency’s services may do so through its website at outreachteen.org or by a phone call at 412-561-5405.
“It’s a real privilege to be a part of this team,” Birks said. “They are such great people. They’re doing an amazing job every single day with these kid