Agency Details:

Associated Youth Services

Associated Youth Services exists to advance the social, educational, health and overall success of youth and their families.

Description:
Associated Youth Services (AYS), located in Kansas City, Kansas, serves underprivileged youth in crisis situations. For more than 35 years, AYS has provided crucial intervention for severely at-risk youth residing in Wyandotte County, the poorest county in the bi-state Kansas City metropolitan region. Despite the risks our youth face – poverty, a lack of caring adults, underperforming schools, substance abuse, crime, emotional and physical abuse – AYS believes in the inherent worth and potential of our community’s fragile youth. We strive to teach our youth that they are great and that they can achieve great things in their lives. To this end, AYS exists to advance the social, educational, emotional and overall health and success of youth and families.

AYS’ programs have evolved over the years to include an array of services centered around the needs of youth in crisis: 1) AYS Academy: an alternative education for long-term suspended youth; 2) Adolescent Drug & Alcohol Prevention and Treatment (ADAPT) Program: outpatient substance abuse treatment and prevention paired with a caregivers’ support program; 3) Resource (Foster) Family Care: a statewide foster care and training program that serves some of the hardest-to-place youth in the State of Kansas; 4) Home Ties: a youth residential shelter for 10 adolescent boys, many of whom have been adjudicated; and 5) Community Health Program: an education and direct-services health program aimed at meeting the needs of at-risk youth in our community.

Over the past 3 ½ decades, AYS has impacted the lives of thousands of youth who have grown to become contributing members of our community. Although we have witnessed stories of heartbreak and setback, we continue to be amazed at what our youth have accomplished. They continue to prove that it is not too late to break the cycles of poverty, crime and abuse. Their lives are the inspiration that keeps us committed to our mission.

Contact people:

Karen Rohrer, Volunteer Coordinator, (913) 831-2820, (email) Dennis Vanderpool, Executive Director, (913) 831-2820, (email)

Office fax number: (913) 831-0262

Address:

PO Box 171234 Kansas City, KS 66117

Web Site: http://www.aysusa.org

Last updated on October 19, 2009