PRIMO CENTER

Primo Center makes it a priority to provide integrated physical, dental and mental health services for children and families through partnerships with federally qualified health providers. Our trauma-informed approach allows us to meet our families where they are and develop a plan that meets the needs of individual family members, and empowers parents to support their children and families, find and maintain affordable housing, and realize their personal goals.

Primo Center partners with and cares for parents and children across all life domains, including health, education and housing. We make it a priority to provide integrated physical, dental and mental health services for children and families. Our trauma-informed approach allows us to meet our families where they are, develop a plan that meets the needs of individual family members, and empower parents to support their children and families.

Trauma-informed Care:

Trauma-informed care is an approach to engaging people with histories of trauma. It recognizes the presence of trauma symptoms and acknowledges the role that trauma has played in their lives. A number of key principles guide this approach to care, including the promotion of physical and emotional safety; acting with trustworthiness and transparency; empowering clients; and helping trauma survivors to identify and develop their resilience and other strengths.

Housing First:

Housing first is a philosophy that asserts that housing is a basic human right. It prioritizes the provision of permanent housing to homeless individuals based on the belief that housing is a necessary foundation for attending to other goals, such as getting a job, budgeting or managing substance use issues. Housing first rejects the idea that housing should be dependent on meeting pre-conditions. Housing first has become a mainstream approach to combatting homelessness with a growing body of research supporting successful outcomes and cost-effectiveness.

Primo Center is Chicago’s largest provider of services and shelter for families and children experiencing homelessness. Primo Center works in high-need communities across Chicago, operating facilities in Englewood on the city’s south side, and Austin and West Humboldt Park on the west side.

Housing:

• 410 beds of family shelter with comprehensive services for parents and children
• 12 units of permanent supportive housing including rent subsidies and services

Trauma-informed Care:

• A unique therapeutic community that provides a safe setting that helps families heal
• A harm-reduction approach that meets families where they are and motivates progress

Early Childhood Development Services:

• Early childhood center
• Evidence-based Parents as Teachers (PAT) home visiting program
• Child-parent psychotherapy

Integrated Physical, Dental and Mental Health Care:

• Coordinated health care that addresses families' needs comprehensively
• Linkage to primary, dental and mental health care “homes” in partnership with Heartland Alliance Health, Howard Brown Health and Lawndale Christian Health Center
• Kids Connected initiative to coordinate care among multiple systems citywide

Primo Center rigorously monitors its progress with each and every family served and continuously innovates in order to achieve its annual outcome goals. Major new initiatives include:

The Primo Center stands out as the premier family services provider in Chicago, thanks to its unique trauma-informed, wraparound care approach. This approach has consistently resulted in over 90% of families transitioning from shelters to permanent housing, with less than 4% returning to homelessness in 2023. The Primo Center's reputation has positioned it as a leading provider of homeless and mental health services, particularly in Chicago. As a result of this reputation, IDHS representatives approached Primo Center leadership, inquiring if the center would be interested in operating a homeless shelter for families seeking asylum or new arrivals from the southern border.

Over the course of July 2023, the Primo Center worked closely with IDHS officials, and later with a cooperative team of DFSS and IDHS officials to define the necessary services, bed count, location, and resources to launch the Primo Center’s Diversion and Triage program. This new 80-bed shelter program was made possible through a combination of a new IDHS Triage Center contract, developed in an ongoing partnership with both DFSS and IDHS. IDHS's primary goal is to ensure that every resident in the State of Illinois has access to stable housing and does not experience homelessness or live in overcrowded housing conditions. Safety nets are in place to provide support in the event of a housing crisis and to facilitate prompt resolution to stabilize housing status.

Another exciting development in 2023 was the launch of Primo Center's Trauma Informed Network (TIN), which aims to improve access to effective trauma and traumatic grief-focused treatment, utilizing individuals with lived experience to offer peer mentoring, therapeutic services, practical life skills, and wellness seminars. The team provides direct support to individuals facing trauma, current or previous homelessness, emotional distress, and behavioral health disorders. Through recovery and goal planning, as well as sharing resources, peer coaches encourage the process of making healthful choices, creating or recreating a meaningful life, and being of service to family, friends, and the community. Peer support has been shown to enhance access to social support, reduce involvement with the criminal justice system, and provide greater housing stability. It has also been shown to improve relationships with treatment providers, increase treatment retention, enhance satisfaction with the overall treatment experience, and reduce substance use.