Recognitions well deserved!

On December 21, 2010, RAMS received three Certificates of Recognition from Sai-Ling Chan-Sew, LCSW, Director of the Child, Youth, & Family System of Care in the San Francisco Department of Public Health.

The RAMS Child, Youth, & Family Outpatient Services was recognized for

• Exceptional agency-wide compliance in providing a detailed picture of children, youth, and families served by completing the "Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths" assessment, and


• "For its commitment to the implementation of the Second Step program, a research based violence prevention curriculum that emphasizes the development of social and emotional skills to help students succeed in school and in life"

The RAMS Wellness Centers (Behavioral Health Services) program was recognized for

• "Its commitment to the implementation of Seeking Safety, an evidence-based, manual-guided cognitive behavioral therapy for co-occurring PTSD and substance abuse issues"

A huge CONGRATULATIONS to our program staff for all of their hard work and accomplishments!

We're known for our Cookies too!

A recent article in local neighborhood paper The Potrero View talked about the writer's journey "Hunting Dogpatch for the Best Chocolate Chip Cookie". It just so happens that RAMS Hire-Ability's very own Cafe Phoenix is in the Dogpatch neighborhood, and we were listed amongst notable Potrero purveyors such as Serpentine and Mr & Mrs Miscellaneous as one of the chocolate chip cookie finds!

Cafe Cook/Trainer Phil Woods was interviewed for the piece by Potrero View staff writer Bill Slatkin: "Meanwhile, I checked out the cookie offered at the Cafe Phoenix, owned by [RAMS] Hire-Ability, the training and job placement nonprofit located south of Dogpatch on Indiana Street. Cook and baker Phil Woods produces a firm and tasty two-ounce cookie sold for $1.25, which ranks with the best in the neighborhood. And while recognizing there’s an art to doing it correctly, [Woods] emphasized what he called the “exact science” of using fresh ingredients in the precise amounts, baked at the ideal temperature for just the perfect amount of time. Those specs remain a trade secret."

This blog writer has also tried the cookies herself, and they are absolutely delicious, crispy along the edges, with a substantial chewines. Thank you, Phil!

To read the article in its entirety and discover more about where the GOOD chocolate chip cookies can be found in the Potrero, click HERE.

2010 Community Service Award from NCSPP

On December 3, RAMS was presented with the 2010 Community Service Award from the Northern California Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology:

"In recognition of your longstanding commitment to advocating for and providing community-based, culturally competent, and consumer-guided services to the residents of San Francisco, and in deep appreciation for the high quality psychodynamic training that you provide to mental health service providers. Your program serves as a model for the compassionate, socially responsible, and culturally-informed practice of psychodynamic psychotherapy and training."

RAMS was recognized for its contributions to both patients and therapists-in-training, and for serving as an inspiration to those committed to providing psychodynamically-informed treatment to everyone, regardless of financial circumstance, immigration status, or ethnic & cultural background.