Jewish Family and Community Services

JFCS departments have goals that are defined by specific programs and/or individual clients. The overview of JFCS programs demonstrates the agency's success in meeting annual goals to address community needs, which include alleviating poverty, increasing access to mental health and social services, and supporting the most vulnerable among us.
The JFCS Career Development Center serves individuals seeking employment, including dislocated workers, at-risk youth, mature workers, individuals with disabilities, legal immigrants and other unemployed individuals. The goals are successful employment, clients maintain employment 3+ months, clients obtain employment quickly and clients become more marketable.
JFCS Counseling Services provides counseling and other services to children and adults, helping them achieve progress toward treatment goals. The goal is improved mental health.
The JFCS Squirrel Hill Food Pantry serves more than 1,600 food insecure individuals annually in zip code 15217. The goal is feeding families in our community with nutritious, healthy, life-sustaining food.
SOS Pittsburgh provides referrals to community resources and direct financial assistance. The goal is for clients to make progress towards goals in their basic needs plans.
JFCS Senior Services provides services and resources to senior citizens. The goal is to help older adults throughout Allegheny County maintain independence while supporting their caregivers and loved ones.
JFCS Refugee and Immigrant Services provides comprehensive resettlement services to refugees from around the world by connecting immigrants to a variety of human services. The goal is knowledge of basic survival information (laws, norms, etc), successful employment and increased financial self-sufficiency
JFCS Immigration Legal Services helps immigrants obtain or maintain legal status, providing help with naturalization exams and helping unaccompanied children obtain favorable Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) findings in court. The goal is to serve than 1,500 immigrants annually.
JFCS Guardianship Services acts as Power of Attorney and develops, coordinates, and monitors professional services for individuals unable to make their own decisions. The goals are successful employment while avoiding homelessness and hospitalizations.

RESPONSIVENESS: We respond to the needs of people in the Jewish and Greater Pittsburgh communities.
RESPECT: We support people of all abilities by building on their strengths.
QUALITY: We deliver high-quality services.
COLLABORATION: We embrace collaborations in order to better serve our clients and community.
STEWARDSHIP: We manage our resources to achieve the greatest possible community benefit.

Through individualized support JFCS Career Development Center works with job seekers to develop their personal marketing tools, offer individualized career counseling, group workshops and accountability groups. We also connect job seekers to critical needs support if they are struggling with barriers to employment, such as food insecurity, lack of housing, childcare needs, etc.

JFCS Counseling Services offers various modalities to achieve wellness at any age. One on one counseling, support groups, and educational presentations are some of the ways we achieve that goal. JFCS Counseling Services employs certified trauma therapists who specialize in helping those in the community affected by the October 27, 2018 synagogue shooting.

JFCS Refugee & Immigrant Services assist vulnerable refugees and immigrants with barriers of language and culture and connects them to the supports, programs and resources they need to transition to life in their new American home. Refugees and vulnerable immigrants typically face challenges of language and culture, and frequently past trauma due to displacement and violence, along with other barriers many local residents face such as poverty, discrimination, lack of formal education and systems navigation issues. JFCS offers individuals and families specialized assistance that is both culturally and linguistically sensitive to help them overcome these barriers and reach stability.

JFCS Senior Services provides a number of programs to keep older adults in the lives and places they want to live. Caregiver services, caregiver supports, memory training programs, volunteer programs and information and referral are all available to the community’s senior citizens. JFCS is a partner in the long term collaboration known as AgeWell Pittsburgh, which provides social recreational programming, meals, and other supports through their partnering agencies.

JFCS Squirrel Hill Food Pantry strives to make sure that no one is food insecure in the service area and community. It provides social services and referrals to support people experiencing transitions in life and achieves this with food procurement and distribution, case management, financial support to those in need of critical needs support.

Jewish Family and Community Services' team is made up of dedicated professionals, committed to careers in social work, therapy, case management, advocacy and fiscal management.

JFCS Career Development Center has been helping the community for nearly four decades and has a strong presence throughout Allegheny County, working in a variety of neighborhoods in the North, South, East and West of Pittsburgh. A variety of funding sources including United Way of SWPA, Partner4Work, CDBG City and County, a variety of family foundations and private donations helps to achieve the goals.

JFCS Counseling Services employs licensed and certified professional counselors, clinical social workers, art therapists, and other well trained clinicians to address community needs.

REFUGEE & IMMIGRANT SERVICES has developed holistic assessments, individualized plan development and connections to existing resources (eg social services, public benefits, employment, health care, education, legal, faith/ethnic/community organizations, etc) , assistance navigating resources, advocacy with providers and others regarding obligation to serve limited English-speaking individuals.

SENIOR SERVICES: JFCS and AgeWell Pittsburgh have a staff of well trained professionals in the field of geriatrics. We have been working with seniors for many decades and have experience with the wide variety of needs of the different age groups within the older adult population.

FOOD PANTRY: We serve everyone who comes to our doors.

JFCS remains flexible, adaptive and innovative to best serve the community while ensuring that no one
falls through the cracks. This is most evident in JFCS' response to the COVID-19 pandemic by transitioning to virtual support groups and expanded offerings; by moving to telehealth and telemedicine with counseling clients; by launching a community hotline with the support of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh and the United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania.

JFCS will continue to evaluate community need and provide innovative programs such as the newly launched UpStreet Teen Mental Health Initiative which focuses on mental wellness of adolescents and young adults and provides groups, counseling, web-based brief support, peer mentoring, and other teen focused programming.
JFCS is dedicated to forming sustainable collaborations with other agencies to determine community need and how best to connect clients to information and services. JFCS will continue to hold itself to fiscal transparency.