WestCoast Children’s Clinic Partners with Motivating, Inspiring, Supporting and Serving Sexually Exploited Youth (M.I.S.S.S.E.Y) OAKLAND, Calif. Business Wire -- 4/27/2009 WestCoast Children’s Clinic (www.westcoastcc.org), a community psychology clinic serving youth and families in the Bay Area, announced today that it will partner with M.I.S.S.S.E.Y, a non-profit based in Alameda County. The collaboration joins two community based groups that can now further help commercially sexually exploited children. There are two components to WestCoast Children’s Clinics involvement: data collection and analysis; as well as mental health services for this population of exploited youth. This complements the mission of M.I.S.S.S.E.Y in addressing the specialized and complex needs of commercially sexually exploited youth through advocacy, specialized treatment, and recovery services; in addition to professional training and data reporting. WestCoast Children´s Clinic’s partnership with M.I.S.S.S.E.Y represents a continuing commitment to children that communities often fail to protect. “Whether we are aware of it our not, children are being bought and sold for sex – sometimes in our own neighborhoods. Our partnership is really the best marriage between an advocacy organization and a community psychology clinic,” said Stacey Katz, Executive Director of WestCoast Children’s Clinic. In this partnership, WestCoast Children’s Clinic has three priorities: 1) increasing the understanding of how complex trauma impacts these youth, 2) helping commercially sexually exploited girls regain a sense of themselves through intensive case management, and 3) collecting relevant and useful data on commercially sexually exploited children. According to Katz, “the faster we can collect data on the children who are most vulnerable to exploitation – the faster we can stop it.” As of July, 2008, WestCoast Children’s Clinic will be operating their Alameda County Screening, Stabilization and Transition (STAT) Program round- the-clock, 365 days a year to provide mental health screenings at the point of removal to all children who are taken into protective custody due to abuse or neglect. For more information on this expanded program, read the press release. WCC's postdoctoral fellowship program has recently become a CAPIC member. Please download our updated posdoctoral fellowship brochure. A December 17, 2006 article in the Contra Costa Times prominently displays WestCoast as 5th among Bay Area charities in terms of spending on programming. At 95.5%, WestCoast's program expenses as a percent of total expenses is well above the 75% minimum benchmark that donors look for, and attests to the agency's strong commitment to its mission. WestCoast receives the "Bridging the Gap" Achievement Award on October 27, 2006. Read about upcoming training events under grand rounds and continuing education.  Read about recent publications and upcoming presentations by WestCost staff under briefings.