The Youth and Family Services Program (YFS) provides Reunification/Permanency Services. The Program uses an in-home family focused approach in order to secure a safe and permanent home for children who have been separated from their families due to abuse, neglect/dependency or delinquency issues. Staff work directly with family members through case management and counseling to resolve the problems leading up to the family’s separation and to ensure the child can return home safely. A strong collaborative effort is made by Youth and Family Services to include immediate and extended family members, social service agencies, county agencies, and the placement resource in order to provide the highest standard of services that best fit the needs of the each family.

Youth and Family Services employs eight staff members, all of whom have Bachelor’s degrees in human services. Each family counselor receives monthly training and supervision from the Clinical Programming Consultant on clinical intervention and practice. Youth and Family Services consist of two units, the Foster Care Unit and the Group Home Unit. Both units work collaboratively to ensure each family receives goal-oriented services and supports to determine the optimal level of reconnection that is appropriate for each family.

YFS provides a continuum of care by working with family members as soon as the child is placed in foster care or a group home and during the aftercare period when the child is transitioned back into the home . If a child cannot return safely home YFS also finds him/her a permanent home with extended family members or foster parents. Visits between children and parents are scheduled on a weekly basis and serve to maintain family relationships as well as provide an invaluable assessment tool for staff. Visits, counseling, and parent education sessions normally occur within the home but may also be held at the office. Upon the child’s return home and/or when permanency is achieved, aftercare services are provided to the family for a period that varies upon the family’s needs and participation. On average, Family Counselors work with families for six to eighteen months.

The formation of The Life Book Nook has been an immense accomplishment for the program this year. Here, staff members complete approximately 10 to 12 thirty page life books per year. The Life Book Nook allows the youth to answer the following five permanency questions: Who am I? What happened to me? Where am I going? How will I get there? and How will I know when I belong? This is accomplished through compiling pages of photos, stories, birth certificates, report cards, birthdays, and holidays. The life books include the child’s birth family members, resource family, and/or their group home experiences. Life Booking is a valuable tool in helping children and youth come to terms with what is happening in their lives and celebrate their families and accomplishments.

Youth and Family Services is fully funded by Centre County Children and Youth Services in an effort to strengthen and stabilize families.

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Copyright © 2009 Centre County Youth Service Bureau
410 S Fraser Street, State College, PA 16801 -  Phone: 814-237-5731 - Fax: 814-237-2228

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