We provide support to teens spanning the entire abuse continuum and advocate for systemic change in the juvenile legal and child welfare systems. The broad scope of our work sets us up to have a lasting impact and empower kids throughout their journey to healing and success.
Everything we do is geared toward creating positive life shifts for trauma-exposed youth. We strive to address all factors of their lives that could hinder their wellbeing so they can feel empowered to take command of their own lives.
At our Center, we look outside of the individual to make positive shifts in their environment through engaging programs, a vast amount of available resources, and court and education advocacy.
We’re always raising awareness and educating the community and change-makers on our learnings from our hands-on work at the Youth Services Center. These learnings allow us to advocate for legal change and to educate the community on how to take an early intervention approach.
We partner with other trusted organizations to perform innovative research that helps inform our evidence-based interventions and programs for vulnerable youth. These successful programs can be shared and replicated throughout the community.
we served more than 180 vulnerable youth who walked through our doors
We provided
Resulting in
After being physically abused by his stepfather, Drew was removed from his biological mother’s home and is currently being raised by his grandparents. A child's zip code should not determine supportive services.
Read more storiesWith limited understanding of his removal from his biological mother’s home and limited resources in place to assist Drew’s grandparents, he began to display verbal aggression and destroy property at his grandparents' home, which resulted in him being detained and placed on probation.
Drew was referred to youthSpark because of family in-home conflict due to his grandparents’ lack of understanding of his sexual orientation. Since being referred to youthSpark’s Expressions program, his grandparents have received gender-specific counseling and psychoeducation which has improved their relationship with Drew and ultimately led to more peace in their home.
Although his grandparents are still learning how to use supportive ally language, they are open to continue to learn about the LGBTQ community and how they can best support Drew. His behavior has also improved, as he is being respectful and using appropriate language at home. He has also enrolled in individual counseling and a GED program to continue and complete his education, and he is consistently participating in Expressions. Drew aspires to be a nurse, and recently passed the Social Studies and Science portions of the GED practice exam. As Drew and his family consistently participate in rendered services, they continue to experience positive family cohesion, and his grandparents have become more supportive and better allies.
