Youth Services Agency (YSA) is a non-profit corporation with 27 years experience serving at risk and high risk youth. YSA has developed programming for communities, school districts, and public juvenile justice and children & youth agencies. Our programs constantly evolve and are know for their creativity and youth development philosophy. Currently the agency serves about 1,000 youth each day in 14 programs throughout Pennsylvania and Maryland. YSA grew from a small county agency to it’s present status as a dynamic corporation of near 400 employees.
It’s CEO for the past 25 years is Roger Dawson who has degrees in Psychology and Public/Business Administration (MA). He has published research on agency program outcomes in the Journal of Juvenile & Family Court in 1984 and 1992. Vice-President Bob Smith,MSW has been a senior director in company for 20 years and is a specialist in family therapy and clinical program development. Regional Directors are Tom Bogovich (NE PA), Lou Kassa (SE PA), and Jonathan Kassa (MD). Rich Barrett oversees our Job Corp Programs. YSA’s success is shown in its’ 20% annual growth for a decade.
Agency growth has been fueled by our three main programs: (1) two Adventure Challenge Therapy (ACT) residential outdoor camps, with 200 male beds and 100 female beds; (2) twelve alternative education programs, and (3) in home casework programs. The agency has another unique achievement- it involves at risk youth in building its facilities, especially its trademark Adventure Learning Centers (ALC). Two of these community centers are in large renovated, historic barns (circa:1730 and 1850). They serve as sites for alternative schools, casework, and have creative arts, music, science, vocational programs such as car building, as well as indoor ropes courses, climbing walls and other adventure activities and even programming for senior citizens.
These centers are open to the public and serve over 30,000 people each year. By combining resources from education, Children & Youth Agencies, JJS and Job Corps, we build these multi-purpose Adventure Learning Centers that benefit the entire community. All four current center (3 more are in the planning stages) are built on public land with long term lease backs to YSA. We offer these centers free to counties or states whose annual contracts exceed certain levels. Our investment in community-based programs, coupled with our restitution payments of over $600,000 in 5 years, makes YSA a national leader in community service, and restorative justice.
Administrative Philosophy - continuous improvements are evident in our programs. We do not use static, linear, fixed planning like many organizations. Rather, we use dynamic systems assessment and resource development based on expertise in Learning Organizational Theory and General Systems Theory. We have invested resources in very different activities than most other programs and are widely regarded as having very cost effective, quality programs that assist very difficult youth with whom other organizations struggle.
Some examples of YSA’s creative programs & accomplishments:
- We are an innovator in truancy reduction programs, and have impacted chronically truant youth through a multi-systemic casework model. We have developed alternative suspension programs and intervention programs for school drop-outs (Bridges). In one such program- TRACK, half of the 200 TRACK clients are school dropouts and have had extended juvenile court involvement. 75% of these clients meet poverty guideline by age 18 and 50% are classified special ed. Attendance in track activities reached 87% with 75% reductions in truancy in the following school year following the intervention.
- The 85% attendance rate at our 11 alternative schools and a 70% graduation rate (or return to regular public school) are exceptional positive outcomes for high risk youth.
- Several years ago, we testified to Congress as an example of best national practices in our Runaway and Homeless Program (during the OJJDP reauthorization).
- Last year, our casework was cited by the Juvenile Court Chiefs Association as best practice.
- The U.S. Dept of Education visited our alternative schools in 1998 to develop a report of model national programs.
- Recently, Senator Arlen Specter held a press conference with Congressman Kanjorski at our Wyoming Valley Regional Alternative School to present a check to establish one of our Adventure Learning Centers in that region, demonstrating bipartisan support.
- Since instituting YSA as a primary service provider to Luzerne County, they have seen recidivism rates drop from almost 50% to less than 15% in 18 months.
- We have written and successfully managed over 17 major federal or state grants for high-risk youth.
- Two years ago we entered into a project with the Keystone Job Corps Center in PA. We have high-risk youth in a separate YSA dorm at the 600-student campus. We are demonstrating a new model wherein clients participate in the vocational school by day, benefiting from all the Job Corp training, yet live separately at all other times under close, staff secure, supervision. If they do poorly, we remove them quickly, without additional court order, and return them temporarily to our ACT camps. Our students are consistently among the best students at Job Corps and they have the option of transitioning into regular 2 year Job Corps placements (without placement costs) after 3-6 months. A true win-win model for all involved.
- Our ACT Camps have given payments of over $500,000 in client-earned restitution in the last five years to counties, the most of any youth agency nationally.
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