This fiscal year marked a transformative period for Youth Services as we expanded our facility, increased access to care, and strengthened programsthat support the mental health and well-being of young people. Driven by a commitment to ensuring every child can access high-quality care regardless of financial circumstances, we served 33% more counseling clients and provided more than $474,000 in mental health scholarships, helping more youth and families find the support they need to thrive.
As we close our books on another fiscal year and leap forward into the next, Youth Services is an agency REIMAGINED. Throughout our history, we have stayed true to our promises to the community, stood by our trusted partners, and remained a beacon of hope for the families who need us. In recent years, however, it became clear that Youth Services needs to REIMAGINE itself internally and externally to ensure we remain mission-focused and able to respond to the mounting need for services. The impact of 2024 has provided a clear vision of what Youth Services will be in the future, and we look forward to welcoming you into our REIMAGINED home as of 2025. Thank you for your support.
As we reflect on this past fiscal year, there is one word that stands out to me: COMMUNITY. Community has run deep within the roots of Youth Services. It has been the anchor through our history and in turn, has been the catalyst for so much of who we are today. Youth Services at its heart is a need-based organization. We pride ourselves on responding to the needs of the community.
At the end of every fiscal year we have the opportunity to reflect on the past year, however it has never been more important to focus on the future. As we face crucial needs and a demand we have not witnessed before, Youth Services is poised to partner with the community in exceedingly creative and impactful ways. We remain committed to ensuring that every child has access to the help they need regardless of their ability to pay and work to remove any other barriers to care within our abilities. We are growing, and our commitment to this community has been – and will continue to be – key to our mission as it has been for 50 years.
Check out our annual meeting notes and see how we’ve grown to meet the growing needs for mental health services.
As we close another fiscal year, we look back on a time unlike any other. It is not a story that can be told in client growth, volunteers engaged, hours of service, or dollars raised. It started with a plan to fill a rapidly increasing need for services – a plan we wholeheartedly embraced – until we all faced some very significant, life-altering changes. Everything about the way we worked had to be modified. However, one thing held true: our FOCUS on the Youth Services mission.
Youth Services provides individual and group therapy, youth development programs, crisis intervention, and academic support. Youth Services does not provide testing or medication.
Youth Services provides individual and group counseling to children and youth who are struggling with depression and anxiety, grief and loss, divorce and familial distress, school-related stressors, and other mental health concerns. Our therapists use a variety of modalities, including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), play therapy, and client-centered approaches. The agency does not provide occupational, physical therapy, or speech therapy.
Youth Services does not have any geographical boundaries. Most of the agency’s clients come from across Chicago’s northern suburbs.
The agency sees clients across their development. Most of the clients are elementary, middle, and high school students. We also offer parent-child group support for young children under five.
Youth Services has multiple payment options to remain accessible to everyone who needs services. Agency clinicians accept insurance, clients may choose to pay privately, and we have the most generous sliding scale in the area to allow every child access to services, in addition to a long list of free programming. The agency’s promise to the community is that we never turn anyone away based on ability to pay.
If you are interested in joining any of Youth Services’ groups or starting individual services, contact the agency to speak with our intake coordinator.
