OUR STORY
History
Consolidated Youth Services, Inc. (CYS) is a 501c3 private, non-profit corporation governed by a Board of Directors. The County Judges of Craighead, Poinsett, and Greene Counties incorporated the organization in March 1979, as the successor organization to Craighead County Youth Home. The organization was established to provide community-based services for the prevention and treatment of juvenile delinquency.
In April 1979, CYS assumed operation of the Craighead County youth shelter located at 4220 Stadium Boulevard, Jonesboro, Arkansas. In 1979 CYS also implemented outreach treatment services in Craighead, Mississippi and Poinsett Counties. CYS is licensed by the Arkansas Child Welfare Board to provide emergency shelter and residential care for youth ages 8-18.
In October 1981, CYS received a contract with the Division of Youth Services to provide all residential and outreach services for seven (7) counties (Craighead, Poinsett, Greene, Mississippi, Clay, Randolph, and Lawrence) in Northeast Arkansas.
In March 1996, the University of Arkansas Medical Center contacted CYS to develop a joint project for a continuum of services, including both residential and outpatient services, for the treatment of adolescent sex offenders in Arkansas. In 1997, Consolidated Youth Services became licensed by the Child Welfare Board to provide residential sexual rehabilitation services. Since 1997 CYS has contracted with the Arkansas Department of Human Services to provide residential and outpatient sexual rehabilitation services for clients of the Division of Youth Services (DYS) and Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS).
In July 1996, the Division of Youth Services (DYS) awarded CYS a contract for all community-based youth services for the 2nd Judicial District (Craighead, Greene, Poinsett, Mississippi, Crittenden, and Clay) Counties and the 3rd Judicial District (Randolph, Jackson, Sharp, and Lawrence) Counties. Crittenden County had a well-established youth services program; therefore, CYS subcontracted with that agency, East Arkansas Youth Services, for the community-based youth services in Crittenden County.
CYS continues to provide emergency shelter, residential treatment, and community based outreach services for youth living in the 2nd and 3rd Judicial District as well as emergency shelter and residential treatment for youth referred by DCFS and DYS.
CYS has expanded its residential facility to include:
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Residential facility for boys which houses up to 20 boys ages 10-18
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Residential facility for girls which can house up to 11 girls ages 10-18
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Two Group Homes for youth in the Sexual Rehabilitation Program which can house up to a total of 22 boys ages 13-18
In 2019, CYS was awarded accreditation through The Council on Accreditation (COA) for the Juvenile Justice case management, therapy, A&D counseling, and residential services components.
Accreditation provides a framework to manage resources, offer best practices, and strive for continuous improvement. Which supports an organization’s sustainability, encourages its growth, and helps it to achieve measurable results. The Council on Accreditation (COA) was founded in 1977 by the Child Welfare League of America and the Family Service America (now the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities). With over 40 years of experience in promoting best practice standards, COA is a well-respected ally for the human and social services field.
OUR GOAL
Mission Statement
The Mission of Consolidated Youth Services, Inc. is to provide youth with a safe treatment environment that offers a range of intervention services to help the youth to develop social, academic, and vocational competencies necessary to live law-abiding lives and to become productive members of their communities.
WHAT WE BELIEVE
Philosophy
Consolidated Youth Services is convinced that services for the prevention and treatment of juvenile delinquency can best be provided to youth and their families within the local community. Local service providers are best able to assess and treat the problems of youth because they are more familiar with the youth, his/her family, and background and environment. CYS believes that the optimum treatment setting is the youth's own home, but if that is not possible, a residential placement within the community is the best alternative.
To offer the best chance of success, treatment must include the family and other significant persons. Such treatment can be best facilitated if the child remains within the community. If the child is removed from the environment where the problems developed, it is difficult for treatment staff to determine when treatment has been successful because they are observing youth in an artificial environment. "Acceptable" behavior in an artificial environment may or may not continue when the youth returns to his original environment. For this reason, CYS strives to provide youth with the opportunity to be a part of the local community.
CYS believes that youth must be given the opportunity to develop the competencies to live freely and successfully in the community, while at the same time the safety of the community must be assured. Therefore, youth should be provided the supervision and treatment services appropriate and necessary to safely reintegrate them into the community. Youth should be held accountable for their behavior, and one element of treatment should include the youth's acceptance of responsibility for his/her behavior.
Consolidated Youth Services strives to develop strong, cooperative relationships with the service community, particularly with law enforcement and the justice system. These relationships help ensure that community-based services and opportunities are available to youth to aid in rehabilitation.