Agency Mission and History

The South Bay Center for Counseling (SBCC) is a private non-profit agency whose mission is to empower low-income individuals and communities through economic development initiatives, the delivery of family support services, and community organizing.

Established in 1973, SBCC began as a grassroots community mental health center focusing on residents in the South Bay of Los Angeles, providing free and sliding scale counseling. Soon after, the organization became recognized as a leader on child abuse and well being issues, expanding its scope of work to include policy advocacy, in school treatment, and direct services to at risk youth. During this expansion, SBCC’s leadership came to view poverty as the core root of child abuse and family well being and developed a series of strategies to build the economic capacities of its clients.

SBCC created a new division focused on creating career pathways: an integrated model intended to develop individuals’ core academic, technical and employability skills; provide them with continuous education and training; and place them in high-demand, living wage jobs.

In 2005, SBCC launched the Energy Pathway Program to train low-income individuals for high wage jobs in the oil refining industry and has since expanded to include career pathways to education, utilities, digital arts, and green technologies. With the success of these initiatives, SBCC has grown into a provider of multidisciplinary services reaching across Los Angeles County with an annual budget of over $4 million and 60 employees.