Youth & Family Services Inc

Programs: Youth & family services, inc. Offers eight comprehensive programs woven together to provide assistance, support, educational and recreational activities for more than 14,000 children and their families in 24 western south dakota counties annually. Programs include: girls incorporated of rapid city. Girls participate in challenging and creative activities such as photography, crafts, swimming, computer applications, hands on math and science enrichment activities, homework help and tutoring, literacy, substance abuse prevention, health classes and pregnancy prevention. Health connections, a girls inc. Program that targets at-risk girls, ages 5-15, is an innovative, award-winning program that meets girls' physical, mental, and social health needs by connecting them with medical, dental, and mental health service providers in the community. Last year, 59 girls received services through the program. Girls inc. Operation smart (science, math, and relevant technology) is a highly acclaimed program that encourages girls to engage in science and math activities and investigate non-traditional, technical/vocational or scientific careers. Girls explore through hands-on activities, mentoring experiences, and laboratory experimentation. In 2016, more than 1,100 girls participated in girls inc. Programming. Yfs child development center. Offers quality care, a highly-qualified staff, reasonable rates for low-income families, and a welcoming atmosphere for children, ages four weeks to 14 years. Last year, 80% of families who enrolled their children in this program were low-income. Yfs child development center is open monday through friday year round and is one of only a few center-based programs in the area that accepts infants and toddlers, part-time children, and children whose parents aren't able to make a long-term commitment for child care. Nearly 450 children were served last year, including infants and toddlers, preschoolers, and school age children. Nutritious meals and snacks, planned by a registered dietitian, are served. Trained drivers transport children in kindergarten through eighth grade to and from designated rapid city schools. Children have access to a gymnasium, computer laboratory, library and teaching kitchen, in addition to an outdoor playground and their classrooms. The integration of yfs head start programming allows yfs child development center to offer high quality services, such as developmental screenings, family services assistance, counseling for children and families, parent trainings, and nutrition and health education for families of children, ages 4 weeks to 5 years. Yfs child develpment center accepts families who receive child care assistance benefits through the south dakota office of child care services. Discounted rates are available for families with more than one child enrolled and families who meet income guidelines. Yfs nutrition services. Provides or oversees the provision of nearly 830,000 meals and snacks to children within yfs programs, community children through the summer food program, and children in family child care settings in 21 counties in western south dakota. Yfs nutrition services implements the yfs summer food program, offering free breakfasts and lunches to children up to age 18 in rapid city. Nearly 32,500 free meals and snacks were provided to children during the summer in 2015. Yfs nutrition services staff are experienced, dedicated, and committed to promoting positive food attitudes, healthy eating habits, and awareness of the importance of nutrition to a child's physical, mental, and social health and ability to learn. Staff offer individual nutrition counseling and education services, nutrition education classes, and trainings for families and staff to instill the importance of healthy lifestyles. They use an extensive library of nutrition and wellness resources and implement the "i am moving, i am learning" approach designed to increase time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity, the quality of intentional structured movement, and healthy food choices every day. Yfs counseling center. Provides assessment, prevention and counseling services for area youth and their families, as well as a health advocacy program for at-risk boys, ages 4-17; the youth trauma center to increase identification of youth and families who experience traumatic stress and shorten the time to enter effective treatment programs, the stronger family program to increase relationship skills and promote economic stability and mobility; and the intensive family support program to increase the number of families who develop the skills necessary to maintain a stable family environment and reduce the number of children in out-of-home placement. The master's level counselors specialize in a variety of therapeutic approaches including play, art and sand therapy, abuse and trauma coping techniques and chemical dependency and prevention counseling. The yfs counseling center offers crisis intervention, assessments, counseling and case management services to children, young people, and their families from all walks of life. Services include individual, family, and group therapy; marriage and relationship counseling; stress and anger management; alcohol and drug evaluations; level i alcohol and drug treatment; psychoeducational workshops; parenting classes; adhd support groups; boys' health advocacy services; state- accredited 12-hour dui classes; and mental health consultations and trainings. The yfs counseling center served 1,216 unduplicated youth and their family members in the last year through assessment, counseling, and prevention education. In the past year the youth trauma center completed 181 trauma assessments and provided trauma-informed treatment to 312 children and 30 parents. The stronger family program provided relationship education to 409 area high school students and 205 adults and case management services to 334 individuals. The intensive family support program began in march 2017 with a goal to serve 30 previously unserved youth, ages 10-14 and their families each year. The boys' health program served 85 boys through its extensive and intensive health advocacy activities. Yfs prenatal to five head start. A comprehensive, federally-funded program that enhances the physical, social, emotional, and intellectual development of children, ages 0 to 5, from low-income families through classroom activities, home visits, and socialization events. During the 2016-17 school year, 1,023 children, ages 0-5,and their families participated in the yfs prenatal to five head start programs: 655 in head start and 368 in early head start. Income guidelines are established by the federal government each year. Yfs rapid city head start provides social competency and school readiness activities in a preschool environment. Teachers work with children and their families to develop their skills and set individual goals for each child. Children learn social skills such as problem solving and teamwork in a classroom setting, boosting their self-confidence and preparing them for a lifetime of learning. Yfs rapid city head start offers several program options to meet the needs of the children and families served. A nutritious breakfast, lunch, and/or snack are offered in all sessions. In addition, screening and developmental testing, transportation, services for children with disabilities and their families, resources for family-oriented counseling, educational opportunities, family literacy activities, alcohol and drug dependency prevention, health and dental screenings are also offered. All services are free of charge for qualifying participants. Yfs rural prenatal to five head start. A parent-focused early childhood education program offers home visits and in-home activities for low-income families with children, ages 0-5, in seven counties in western south dakota (custer, fall river, haakon, jackson, lawrence, meade, and pennington). Income guidelines are established by the federal government each year. Yfs rural head start teachers, called family development specialists, work with parents and children in their homes to plan and share activities that will benefit the education and development of their children. Parents are able to continue teaching educational activities between the weekly home visits. Socialization opportunities are offered twice each month to allow children enrolled in the program to play and interact with others their age. Developmental screenings, services for children with disabilities and their families, resources for family- oriented counseling, educational opportunities, family literacy activities, alcohol and drug dependency prevention, health and dental screenings are also offered. All services are free of charge for qualifying participants. Yfs western prevention resource center (wprc). A community resource library providing prevention research, training, and technical assistance to school