Harbor House (formerly known as Ocean’s Harbor House) is dedicated to assisting homeless, runaway, abused, neglected, and abandoned youth, ages 10-21. Our mission is to provide a safe haven and caring environment for vulnerable youth to enable them to unlock their potential and learn skills that will empower them to build healthier lives, relationships, and futures.

Located along the central Jersey Shore, we work with youth, ages 10-21, primarily from Ocean and Monmouth Counties. A smaller number of youth come from other various parts of the state.

Since 1988, Harbor House has helped tens of thousands of children and their families with temporary and transitional housing, counseling, and supportive services. Further, our agency has utilized the skill and dedication of hundreds of staff and devoted community leaders, as well as countless volunteers – all driven to support our mission.

Harbor House is committed to a comprehensive approach to stabilizing youth in crisis by operating several programs that focus on prevention, intervention, and aftercare. We maintain an Emergency Youth Shelter for children ages 10-19 with emergency housing needs, a dynamic outreach program that works with thousands of youth annually, and a transitional living program for youth ages 16-21.

Emergency Youth Shelter
The 12-bed shelter provides a safe haven for youth in crisis, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. With the goal of family reunification, our staff works closely with parents and extended family members to create a partnership that not only resolves the presenting crisis but provides long-term family stability. This is accomplished by providing a variety of counseling services and support groups.

Supervised Transitional Living Program
The Supervised Transitional Living Program (STLP) was established in 2001 to meet the needs of older youth, ages 16-21. In the past, these youth were too old for traditional shelter services, yet they still required supervised housing and/or everyday life skills in order to become self-sufficient, independent adults.

Outreach Programs
The Outreach counselors hit the streets in 31 towns in Ocean County to work with thousands of kids right on the streets every year. In addition, Outreach counselors travel to speak at schools and community events. We offer Street Works, Group Programs, and Community Education as part of our Outreach Program.

Family Crisis Intervention Unit
The Family Crisis Intervention Unit is a county-funded program within Harbor House, offering free counseling and case management services to Ocean County residents. Our counselors are trained and qualified to intervene in family crises, working with juveniles ages 10 to 18 years old and their families. At the Family Crisis Intervention Unit, we aim to divert cases involving juvenile family crises from the courts by providing our families with the counseling, case management, and referral assistance needed to stabilize the immediate family crisis.

Eligibility	Target population varies by program. For example, the shelter houses youth ages 10-19 and the Transitional Living Program provides transitional housing and supportive services for youth ages 16-21. Overall age range for the agency is youth ages 10-21.
Age Groups	Children Adolescents
Community Services	Basic Needs / Assistance Accepts Donations of Goods Housing / Shelter Community Drop In / Community Center Employment / Training Preparing for Adulthood Family & Support Services Case Management Parenting & Caregiving Pregnancy / Teen Pregnancy
Health Services	Behavioral / Mental Health ADHD / ADD Anger Management Anxiety Conduct Disorder Depression Family Conflict & Distress Grief / Loss Crisis / Safety Crisis / Safety / Prevention
Treatment Services	In-Community Services Outreach Services Out-of-Home Services Transitional Living Outpatient Services Counseling / Therapy, Family Counseling / Therapy, Individual
Payment Options	Free
Language Spoken	Spanish

Last Updated: 03/27/23