Centers For Youth And Families Inc
Centers For Youth And Families Inc falls under the Family Services category: Organizations that provide a wide variety of social services that are designed to support healthy family development, improve the family's ability to resolve problems and prevent the need for unnecessary placement of children in settings outside the home.
Our mission is to provide specialized prevention, intervention and treatment services that promote emotional and social wellness for children and families in Arkansas.
Haley was born in a small Arkansas town. Her parents got divorced when she was 4.
Growing up, she witnessed her mom’s boyfriend verbally and physically abuse her mom. She was scared to come home to be around him.
When Haley was 13, she began dating her first boyfriend. He started doing drugs, and she followed along. She was escaping the trauma from home. She became depressed.
Haley remembers her sweet sixteenth birthday like it was yesterday. It was the day her mom’s home was raided for marijuana possession and paraphernalia. Soon after, Haley ran…
During this time she was sexually abused. She was on the run for over a year, staying with various friends. “I was lost. I was very depressed. I wasn’t even me,” Haley said. “I had a lot of ‘I don’t care’ moments.”
In March of 2019 she was staying at a friend’s house when the sheriff’s office showed up. There were 6 cops linked arms ready to catch Haley if she ran. She walked up to them, stuck her hands out to be handcuffed, and said “I’m not going to run. Take me.” She was exhausted. She was ready for her life to be different.
Since coming to The Centers, her grades have improved drastically. She used to have all Fs, but she finished this schoolyear with a perfect 100 in Algebra. She says she was able to focus on her schoolwork for once. “I didn’t have to worry about what’s going to scare me next.”
Her therapy sessions have helped her feel more understood. She feels like she now has a future. “I can tell I’ve actually changed,” she says. “I know I can do something with my life.”
Financials
Programs
Psychiatric Residential Care for School-Aged Youth
We are home to up to 82 boys and girls, ages five to 19, at any one time and close to 250 over a year on The Centers’ 12th street campus in Little Rock and 26 boys and girls and close to 100 over a year at the organization’s Southeast Arkansas Center in Monticello.
Youth in our care have a mental health diagnosis and are working with their clinical team to recover from or manage challenges like anxiety or depression. They go to school on our campus and complete life skills, leadership, service and recreational activities as they prepare for a better future.
Human Trafficking Treatment Center
We are a national resource center for survivors of human trafficking in Arkansas and other states, including Alaska, Idaho and Texas. Boys and girls who have been trafficked for sex or labor are cared for in residential care and access additional intensive services in the only program of its type in Arkansas.
Therapeutic Foster Care
The Centers’ has the largest Therapeutic Foster Care program in Arkansas. We have 60 foster families who care for 75 children and youth each month. We continually recruit and train families to care for boys and girls in foster care who may be medically fragile or have mental health diagnoses that make it impossible for them to thrive in regular foster care.
Outpatient Programs
Centers for Youth and Families cares for youth in central Arkansas who need mental health support and education in a smaller classroom through our day treatment school.
We help adults who are struggling with mental health challenges or substance abuse through our day treatment program.
We offer outpatient counseling to people of all ages, including people who are uninsured or underinsured and cannot pay for services.
Volunteering + Events
Centers Classic Golf Tournament
Centers for Youth and Families invites golfers to be part of our annual golf tournament each fall, held at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Little Rock. We are looking to add a virtual golf opportunity so any golfer, anywhere can help children and families through their golf game.
The Evolve Gala
Centers for Youth and Families hosts a celebratory gala each spring in Little Rock. During the gala, we recognize a community leader as our Hero of Hope and honors 11th and 12th grade boys who are part of our Champions of Hope leadership and service program during the annual black-tie optional gala with hundreds of guests in attendance. Anyone, anywhere can shop our silent auction and help children and families!
BrunchFest
Centers for Youth and Families welcomes our area's best brunch restaurants and hundreds of supporters at our annual BrunchFest celebration in Little Rock.
Champions of Hope
Centers for Youth and Families invites 11th and 12th grade boys to be actively engaged in philanthropy, service and leadership through this six-month program. All participants are recognized at The Evolve Gala each spring.
