The mission of Catholic Charities of Los Angeles is to manifest Christ's spirit through collaboration with diverse communities, by providing services to the poor and vulnerable, by promoting human dignity, and by advocating for social justice. The agency's scope of work is framed by six core objectives: Alleviating Hunger; Strengthening Communities; Transforming Homelessness; Guiding Children and Teens; Protecting the Aging; and Assisting Immigrants and Refugees. Alleviating HungerFood security is a pressing concern for many of Catholic Charities' clients and, over the past few years, the agency has seen an increase in the number of people accessing CCLA's food pantries across the three counties. Catholic Charities offers food assistance at community centers and shelters; Strengthening CommunitiesCatholic Charities offers a wide array of educational opportunities for adults at community centers and shelters, including financial literacy, life skills and parenting classes, individual and family counseling, employment skills development, and healthy marriage workshops; Transforming HomelessnessCatholic Charities' seven emergency shelters and transitional housing provide a safe haven for homeless individuals – adults, children, and families; Guiding Children and TeensYouth receive after-school care through the Adeste Child Care, a program which creates a safe place for children of working parents, and the Tutoring and Mentoring program, a successful gang intervention program that provides academic, recreational, and cultural activities for middle school and high school students. Youth Employment Services gives paid job experience and mentorships to teens from the most depressed neighborhoods in Los Angeles; Protecting the AgingAimed at alleviating some of the undue stress felt by many of the elderly who live on a limited fixed income, the Older Adult Services and Intervention System (OASIS) and the Gatekeeper Project help elderly citizens through food delivery, utility and transportation assistance, and case management services; and Assisting Immigrants and RefugeesThe path to the American dream can be burdened with hardship, uncertainty, economic strain, and language barriers. To ease this transition, a full range of resettlement services are provided at CCLA's community centers, including naturalization and legal assistance, ESL and citizenship classes, and family reunification.

For almost 100 years, Catholic Charities has responded to the needs of children, women and men who are marginalized, hungry, homeless and poor – providing for their needs, improving their lives, enhancing their dignity, and supporting long-term stability. Making a long-term, positive impact on individuals, families and communities is the guiding principle of the organization's undertakings. At 22 community centers and seven homeless shelters, Catholic Charities offers a comprehensive range of programs focused on growth, healing, empowerment for men, women and children and pathways out of poverty. Catholic Charities provides emergency assistance as well as supportive services that remove barriers to self-sufficiency and wholeness. Programs and services are tailored for the unique circumstances of the people who are served professionally, compassionately, in multiple languages, regardless of their background.

For almost 100 years, Catholic Charities has professionally and compassionately, and without bias, served the men, women, children, and families, from all walks of life, who come to its doors for help. Catholic Charities has evolved over the years in response to the changing needs of the communities. Today, Catholic Charities of Los Angeles, Inc. is the social service arm of the Archdiocese of Greater Los Angeles, which includes Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties and is one of the largest social services agencies in the three county area. Catholic Charities' programs and services are geographically defined by five regions: Our Lady of the Angels Region; San Fernando Region; San Gabriel Region; San Pedro Region; and Santa Barbara Region. Our regional structure enables the agency to maintain a direct service presence in communities with the greatest needs while maximizing cost-effectiveness through sharing common resources and administrative overhead.

When clients enter a program at Catholic Charities, the case manager/coordinator and the client create an Individualized Service Plan (ISP) together. Each ISP establishes goals and desired outcomes. Outcome data and Evaluation of Service Survey are collected from the clients when they exit the program. All outcome data from client ISPs become part of the program's evaluation. The agency's Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) program includes an independent review process to analyze evidence and ensure that:• The client is engaged in his/her plan in terms of goal setting; • Adequate support and guidance is provided for that plan; • Sufficient progress is made toward goals; and• Essential follow up is pursued by staff. The CQI process evaluates each program, the project's Outcome Measurement Framework and client's survey. All programmatic activity is tracked and evaluated at the program level, the regional level, and the executive level. Files are maintained for every client.

In the last fiscal year, Catholic Charities provided over 850,000 services to almost 100,000 individuals. Of those, approximately, 32% were children and over 15% elderly. Nearly 75% of clients have an annual income under $20,800 and are very often trying to support families on that income. Last year, Catholic Charities' community centers provided over 570,000 services to low-income individuals and families, of whom more than half were women. Additionally, during the same fiscal year, the agency's shelter programs, aimed at ending homelessness and stabilizing clients' lives through housing, employment and supportive services, provided 183,000 shelter services. Catholic Charities recently achieved reaccreditation through the Council on Accreditation (COA), an independent, not for profit organization that establishes and upholds internationally recognized best-practice standards for social work service and behavioral health care. Catholic Charities has been accredited by COA for 32 years, undergoing reaccreditation every four years. The credibility, integrity and achievements of Catholic Charities and its programs is externally validated through the COA accreditation process.