Staff: Macedonio "Max" Frausto

Max brings 10 years' worth of experience in the field of social services to the Friends LA team! He has a passion for working with youth. For the past five years, he worked as a substance abuse counselor for youth ages 14 through 17. Through this work, Max realized the challenges youth had internalizing healthy strategies for managing negative situations. He found that by age 14, youth had many years of negative exposure which created barriers to change.

Max joined Friends LA because of our long-term mentorship model. He is looking forward to working with his youth to help them identify and foster their strengths -- thus increasing resilience and their ability to navigate life stressors. Max is excited about collaborating with caretakers and brainstorming strategies that will help improve the family unit and increase access to services. His goal is to be an advocate for youth and improve the way communities view mental health needs!

Previously, Max attended Antelope Valley College where he earned two AA degrees in Liberal Arts and Sciences: Arts and Humanities and Liberal Arts and Sciences: Social/Behavioral Sciences, respectively. Currently, he is a student at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) seeking a Bachelors in Psychology. In the future Max plans to become a California Board of Behavioral Sciences licensed Marriage Family Therapist (MFT).