Youth Villages is a private, nonprofit organization that uses what it calls “Evidentiary Family Restoration” (EFR) to help the nation’s most vulnerable and troubled children. All of the programs and services operate under the EFR approach, which emphasizes family, measurement, community, intensity and accountability. The organization is centered in Memphis, TN, but has offices and services available in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Oregon, in addition to Tennessee.

Programs

• Lifeset Program Specialists teach life skills/offer therapy for youth aging out of the foster care system
• Project Safe Place Youth Villages Runaway Shelter: emergency shelter for runaway/homeless teens seeking respite care in Memphis, TN area (Part of larger Nat’l Safe Place Network)
• MYPAC Provider Family-driven, strengths-based, in-home, intensive wraparound services for children/families in Mississippi
• Intensive In-Home Treatment Two programs:
       o Intercept Family intervention therapy aimed at keeping kids from being removed for foster care, residential homes, detention/juvenile centers or hospitals
       o Multisystemic Therapy More intensive therapy for youth with very disruptive antisocial behaviors that would otherwise be removed because of the behaviors
• Residential Programs Serve boys and girls who exhibit serious to severe emotional and behavioral problems with other needs. Locations in Tennessee, Georgia, and Massachusetts
• Foster Care Youth Villages is also a private foster care agency
• Adoption Services Youth Villages offers a foster-to-adopt program as well as direct adoption services through its private agency
• Mentoring Youth Villages offers a mentorship program for supportive adults in Georgia and Tennessee
• Specialized Crisis Services Assessment/evaluation of youth experiencing psychiatric emergencies across the state of Tennessee

Also, if you are interested in becoming a foster parent, be sure to read Youth Villages' Foster Care FAQ Page!