Youth and Family Services

Youth & Family Services (yfs) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to support children and their families in being capable, caring, and contributing members of the community. To fulfill this mission, yfs offers nine comprehensive programs to children, from birth through age 18, and their families. Annually, yfs serves more than 14,000 individuals in rapid city and throughout 31 counties in western south dakota. Yfs child development center offers state-licensed, affordable, quality child care serving children, 4 weeks through third grade. The program focuses on the unique needs of low-income families. During the 2023-2024 fiscal year, this program served 264 children and 55% of families who enrolled their children in this program were low-income; 71% of the children served are from single parent households. Yfs counseling center offers crisis intervention, assessments, counseling, and trauma treatment Services that help young people and their families overcome challenges and pave the way for an improved quality of life. During the 2023-2024 fiscal year, this program provided counseling Services to 333 unduplicated Youth and adults, screened 460 children and Family members for traumatic stress, and completed 106 trauma intake assessments. Yfs counseling center provided assistance and support at no cost to 44 individuals who were victims of crime. Additionally, 35 men were treated using the duluth model for perpetrators of domestic violence. Yfs Family support and advocacy Services is comprised of several programs - boys' health program, health connections,stronger Family program, stronger Youth program,and connect - that offer support, education, mentoring, coaching, and access to needed Services and resources for families, both parents and children. During the past fiscal year, 66 girls and boys received Services through yfs' health connections and boys' health program. These innovative, referral-based, case management programs worked to meet the physical, mental, and social health needs of at-risk children, ages 5 to 18, by connecting them with medical, dental and mental health service providers in the community. The yfs' stronger Youth and stronger Family program provided relationship education classes to 268 new adults and 294 unduplicated high school age Youth during the last year. Yfs connect program responds to and advocates for Youth and young adults, ages 11 24, who have been affected by sexual violence, domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, and/or trafficking. This program provided case management, mentoring, and trauma intervention programming to 51 Youth this past year and healthy relationship education, prevention Services, and leadership/positive bystander training to 160 Youth. Yfs girls Inc. of rapid city offers award-winning educational, recreational, and community action programming that inspires girls, ages 6 -11, to be strong, smart, and bold. This past fiscal year, 384 girls participated in programming to improve their life skills, gender equality, relationships, and more. Yfs prenatal to five head start is a federally funded, no-cost, parent- focused program that serves low-income children, ages 0-5, and their families. Yfs offers two head start programs: yfs home-based head start is an early childhood education program offering in-home Services and activities and regularly scheduled socialization opportunities for children in seven western south dakota counties: pennington, meade, fall river, custer, jackson, haakon, and lawrence. Services for expectant parents are also available. Yfs rapid city head start offers comprehensive programming to enhance the physical, social, emotional, and intellectual development of children through classroom activities. During 2023-2024, yfs provided head start programming to 643 children and their families. Yfs middle school program offered engaging programming and activities for 192 middle school Youth in a safe environment that provides the opportunities for adult mentorship, positive peer-to-peer interactions, stem education and other academic enrichment, homework help, and more. Yfs nutrition Services oversees the provision of well-balanced meals and snacks for children within agency programs and registered, in-home child care providers in 31 counties each year. Nutrition education is also provided. This past year, the program provided or oversaw the provision of 299,796 meals and snacks to children. Yfs western prevention resource center offers training and assistance in the prevention of violence, tobacco use, drug and alcohol abuse, and more. An extensive library of videos and materials are available for anyone to check out. Consultations also provided. Training and outreach Services available in 23 western south dakota counties. This past year, yfs' western prevention resource center provided prevention programming to 2,581 unduplicated individuals. This program continues to partner with coalitions to impact Youth and adults, facilitated a suicide prevention training for 46 adults, and provided oversight of communities that care grantees in custer and fall river counties that targeted 16,376 residents with prevention Services.