After School & Summer Programs
Crittenton Community Center, 657 South Ohio Avenue, Columbus, OH 43205
About
After-School and Summer Programs include homework help, computer labs, leadership development, recreation, and creative arts programming. The program is offered through Directions for Youth & Families and operates during both the school year and summer.
• Ages: 5–17 years old
• Schedule: School-year and summer options, Monday–Friday
Directions for Youth & Families states its mission as building and inspiring hope, healing and resilience for youth, families and communities through counseling and education. During the school year, the Ohio Avenue Youth Center and the Crittenton Center run from 3:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. In the summer, both centers run from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. DFYF’s licensed clinicians, prevention specialists and after-school workers have been trained in the Attachment, Self-Regulation and Competency (ARC) model of Trauma-Informed and Resiliency-Oriented Care. Directions for Youth & Families describes itself as a resiliency-oriented, trauma-informed agency and notes that most counseling services are provided on an outreach basis in youths’ homes, schools or other community settings. The organization operates two youth centers, the Crittenton Community Center and the Ohio Avenue Youth Center, and plans to implement components of Trauma Informed Community Building (TICB) in the Crittenton Community Center.
Directions for Youth & Families has roots dating back to 1899, when Associated Charities was established. Juvenile Probation Council and Friends In Action were formed in 1968 and merged in 1983 to form Directions For Youth. Crittenton Family Services was formed in 1992, and Crittenton Family Services and Directions For Youth merged in 1999 to create Directions for Youth & Families. DFYF reports that it impacts over 8,500 youth and their families each year through mental, emotional and behavioral health services and states that it believes communities can heal themselves. The Crittenton Community Center is described as a place where community members may gather, open a dialogue with one another, build a supportive community and meet in collaboration with community providers of services. DFYF notes that it was one of 12 agencies in the nation that piloted the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) trauma assessment tool, and that its CEO was invited to the White House to present the findings of the ACE trauma assessment tool and the implications and impact trauma has on one’s life-expectancy. The organization also offers Ready, Set, Grow, an in-home kindergarten readiness program working directly with children and a parent or guardian, and provides prenatal and early childhood support through the Early Head Start Partnership Program.
Last updated June 28, 2026.
• Ages: 5–17 years old
• Schedule: School-year and summer options, Monday–Friday
Directions for Youth & Families states its mission as building and inspiring hope, healing and resilience for youth, families and communities through counseling and education. During the school year, the Ohio Avenue Youth Center and the Crittenton Center run from 3:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. In the summer, both centers run from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. DFYF’s licensed clinicians, prevention specialists and after-school workers have been trained in the Attachment, Self-Regulation and Competency (ARC) model of Trauma-Informed and Resiliency-Oriented Care. Directions for Youth & Families describes itself as a resiliency-oriented, trauma-informed agency and notes that most counseling services are provided on an outreach basis in youths’ homes, schools or other community settings. The organization operates two youth centers, the Crittenton Community Center and the Ohio Avenue Youth Center, and plans to implement components of Trauma Informed Community Building (TICB) in the Crittenton Community Center.
Directions for Youth & Families has roots dating back to 1899, when Associated Charities was established. Juvenile Probation Council and Friends In Action were formed in 1968 and merged in 1983 to form Directions For Youth. Crittenton Family Services was formed in 1992, and Crittenton Family Services and Directions For Youth merged in 1999 to create Directions for Youth & Families. DFYF reports that it impacts over 8,500 youth and their families each year through mental, emotional and behavioral health services and states that it believes communities can heal themselves. The Crittenton Community Center is described as a place where community members may gather, open a dialogue with one another, build a supportive community and meet in collaboration with community providers of services. DFYF notes that it was one of 12 agencies in the nation that piloted the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) trauma assessment tool, and that its CEO was invited to the White House to present the findings of the ACE trauma assessment tool and the implications and impact trauma has on one’s life-expectancy. The organization also offers Ready, Set, Grow, an in-home kindergarten readiness program working directly with children and a parent or guardian, and provides prenatal and early childhood support through the Early Head Start Partnership Program.
Last updated June 28, 2026.
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