Youth Opportunities Upheld, Inc. (Y.O.U., Inc.) is a private, non-profit child welfare and behavioral health organization serving troubled and at-risk children, adolescents and families in the Worcester county area since 1971. Y.O.U., Inc. began as an arm of the Worcester Juvenile Court through a community effort to provide court diversion and prevention services to troubled adolescents. Over the years, Y.O.U., Inc. has remained true to its mission of providing opportunities for people to become contributing members of the community while expanding and diversifying services to meet ever-changing community needs. Today, the agency has over thirty different programs within five components: outpatient services, community-based, residential, education, and managed care. Last year, Y.O.U., Inc. provided services for more than 21,000 clients.
Mission Statement
To provide youth and families with opportunities to fulfill their potential and build a brighter future.
Component Programs
Community-Based Services
· Substance Abuse Outpatient Services (– (81 Plantation Street, Worcester) is an insurance-based program that provides a comprehensive continuum of substance abuse treatment options, including assessment, intensive outpatient group, (IOP) outpatient groups, individual and family therapy. The program accepts youth between the ages of 13 and 18, if still enrolled in high school.
· Therapeutic Day Treatment Services (formerly known as YMD) – (81 Plantation Street, Worcester) an after-school program offering therapeutic and educational groups teaching skills such as anger and stress management, peer relations and life-skills. Family intervention is also provided.
· Family Stabilization Services – (172 Lincoln Street Worcester) the Family Stabilization Team works with multi-stressed families who are experiencing a family crisis.
· Intensive Foster Care – (172 Lincoln Street Worcester) Intensive Foster Care services are designed for youth who are not able to be cared for by their parents/Caregivers for a variety of reasons. Children placed in Intensive Foster Care are individually matched with foster parents who are trained to care for the specialized needs of the child.
· Juvenile Firesetters Intervention Program – (172 Lincoln Street Worcester) provides assessment and educational classes for the treatment of juveniles with a history of fire setting behavior.
· Alternative to Lockup Program -(172 Lincoln Street Worcester) assists local police departments in assessing and placing adolescent detainees until the next business day of the juvenile court.
· Pregnant & Parenting Teen Program - (495 Main Street, Oxford, 52 Charlton Street
Southbridge) provides a continuum of services from pregnancy prevention to parent support for teens who do become pregnant.
· Voice with Choices- teen pregnancy prevention program, providing youth, parents, schools and community providers with accurate, age-appropriate information about teen sexual health, healthy relationships, self-esteem, healthy decision making, and goal setting.
· Worcester Juvenile Resource Center – (60 Harvard Street, Worcester) offers intensive supervision and treatment services, graduated sanctions, and aftercare reintegration into the community for adolescent males who are involved with the Worcester Juvenile Court and/or Department of Youth Services.
Outpatient Services
Family Centers - (3 sites: Worcester, Gardner and Southbridge) each Center is licensed to provide individual, family and group psychotherapy for children, adolescents, and entire families. The professional staff also provide testing and diagnostic services, medication management, consultation and training. In addition, we now have a Parent Resource Specialist who coordinates family fun nights, free educational talks for parents, parent support groups, an advisory council, and a Resource Center that helps families to access necessary support and prevention services.
Assessment Center - (3 sites: Worcester, Gardner and Southbridge)Within the Family Centers we provide a single point of access for evaluations, including psychological, neuropsychological, risk management, ADHD, substance abuse, parental fitness, and trauma evaluations.
Latino Outreach Services - (81 Plantation Street, Worcester) All of the same services offered within all of our Family Centers are provided to families in Spanish and in English, including all types of therapy, parent support groups, testing and consultation.
School-Based Services - (81 Plantation Street, Worcester) Our clinical staff offer individual and group therapy to students within the school setting, and consultation and training to school staff.
Child Care Consultation - (81 Plantation Street, Worcester) We provide clinical and consultation services to preschool children, parents, and staff of child care facilities throughout Worcester County.
Positive Parent Coaching - (Denholm Building, 484 Main St, Worcester) The Parent Coaches assist parents who can benefit from a hands-on educational approach in acquiring new skills and achieving more consistent structure in the home. They join with parents through intensive home-based work, developing parent support groups, and providing crisis management and consultation.
Therapeutic Tracking - (Denholm Building, 484 Main St, Worcester) Mentors provide a model of tracking for at-risk youths that incorporates the positive elements of a meaningful counseling relationship with the usual beneficial function of tracking activities.
Education, Employment and Training Services
· Educational Day Academy – (130 Elm Street, Millbury) a Chapter 766 approved, special education day program, with a clinical component for middle and high school aged students.
· Education for Employment/GED – (6 sites: Worcester, Webster, Southbridge, West Brookfield, Whitinsville, and Uxbridge) provides GED preparation, career exploration, job and post secondary education placement, as well as follow up services.
· Assessment Program – (2 sites: Worcester and Millbury) located at the McGrath School and Kathleen Burns Preparatory School, this 45-day program provides comprehensive special education, behavioral, clinical, and substance abuse evaluations for middle and high school students from local towns.
· Bruce Wells Scholars Upward Bound Program – (Worceste)r a four-year program for at-risk high school students, in the Worcester and Southbridge communities, with potential to succeed in college.
· Dynamy Internship Year-- is an innovative gap year program for young adults who want a full academic year of internship and experiential learning opportunities before moving on to college; specialized services are also available for students with learning disabilities
· Dynamy Youth Academy provide comprehensive academic and personal supports, college and career planning, , life skills and job readiness training, and internship opportunities for promising but at-risk high school students from the Worcester public high schools.
Residential Services
George Bernardin Oxford House – (15 Pleasant Street, Rochdale) a Behavioral Treatment Residence for male adolescents.
· Carol A. Schmidt Village – (129 Blackstone River Road, Worcester) a co-ed behavioral treatment residence and community based acute treatment center for children and adolescents ages 10-17.
· Joy and Robert Wetzel Children's Center – (1 Granite Street, Worcester) a co-ed diagnostic, assessment center and hospital diversion program for children and adolescents ages 7-18.
· William O. Gardiner III Teen Parent Apartments – 23-33 Boylston Street, Worcester) a teen parent program providing transitional housing for homeless teenage mothers with infants.
· Grafton House – (75 Main Street, South Grafton) a group home for adolescent girls.
· Burncoat Street Teen Parent Apartments ((321 Burncoat Street, Worcester) a teen parent program providing transitional housing for homeless teenage mothers with infants.
· Bridge STARR – (35-37 Boylston Street, Worcester) a stabilization and assessment center for children ages 0-12 years.
· Cottage Hill Academy – (83 Hospital Road, Baldwinville) a residential school for at-risk adolescent girls ages 12-18.
· Sybil H. Flagg Children's Center – (1 Elmwood Place, Boylston) This Flagg STARR program is a stabilization and assessment center for male adolescents.
· Family Support Networks
Family Networks – (484 Main Street, Worcester) Y.O.U., Inc. serves as the Lead agency for the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families Worcester West office. Through this partnership with DCF, Y.O.U., Inc. manages an integrated, comprehensive system of purchasing services for the children and families being served by the Massachusetts Child Welfare system.
Family Support Network (2 sites: Southbridge, Milford) Our Family Support Network program is a Community Service Agency which provides wraparound services in the South Central/Blackstone Valley Area as part of the new CBHI (Children's Behavioral Health Initiative) funded by the Commonwealth MassHealth program. As the lead agency for this initiative, Y.O.U., Inc. staff provide Intensive Care Coordination for families including facilitation of care planning meetings to identify family strengths and needs, coordination of referrals for supports as well as provide family support and training for families with children with (SED) serious emotional disturbance through the use of Family Partners.
DYS Community Program – (3 sites: Worcester, Webster, and Fitchburg) DYS has contracted with Y.O.U., Inc. for the development of regional community services teams that effectively combine the DYS regional casework staff and provider employees into a team that delivers high quality, culturally responsive services and supports; that build on the strengths and compensates for the deficits of the youth and families served by the Department; and in a manner that produces positive results for DYS clients, their families, and their communities.
To apply contact
career@mountida.edu for directions.
