{"id":31,"date":"2015-06-28T21:12:02","date_gmt":"2015-06-28T21:12:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/youthservicesinc.org\/website_b0b5e883\/?page_id=31"},"modified":"2024-08-07T19:20:04","modified_gmt":"2024-08-07T19:20:04","slug":"who-we-are","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/youthservicesinc.org\/website_b0b5e883\/who-we-are\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Who We Are<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n

Our mission is to build resilence and be a catalyst for change in Windham County communities. Since 1972 we have been dedicated to helping youth, adults and families thrive. At Interaction (formerly Youth Services) we believe in helping people learn how to grow, both as individuals and as a family, so they can solve their own problems.<\/p>\n

Each year, with the help of hundreds of volunteers and partially funded through individual and foundation donations, this private nonprofit works with an average of 1500 young people and adults. We strive to ensure all clients receive services, regardless of their ability to pay. Read our Core Values<\/a><\/p>\n

History:\u00a0<\/h3>\n

Six years before Youth Services was founded in 1972, citizen groups in Windham County were already discussing their concerns surrounding the growing problems of area youth. A number of initiatives were undertaken to improve the relationship between young people and law enforcement; however, youth-related problems continued to grow. Following a number of efforts toward intervention, the Youth Services Commission (now Youth Services, Inc.) was incorporated as a nonprofit organization, dependent in part on local fundraising.<\/p>\n

At Youth Services we provide stepping stones for local youth as they grow and catch those who stumble. We assist families to help their young men and women choose healthy behaviors while discovering their own path to adulthood. Forty years ago our court diversion program started serving adults in addition to juvenile offenders and\u00a0 now we have many clinical services and restorative justice programs that work with adults.<\/p>\n

Relationships Are the Intervention! This is the premise upon which Youth Services began in our community nearly 50 years ago. This is the premise that lies behind its 21 comprehensive programs serving 1,500 individuals last year.<\/p>\n

Significant Dates:<\/h3>\n

1972\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Youth Services Commission incorporated.<\/p>\n

1975\u00a0<\/strong>Big Brothers Big Sisters, the nation\u2019s premiere mentoring program, joins the agency.<\/p>\n

1977\u00a0<\/strong>Family and youth counseling services added to the agency with an emphasis on prevention.<\/p>\n

1979 Adult and Juvenile\u00a0<\/strong>Court Diversion Program formally established under Vermont\u2019s Attorney General.<\/p>\n

1982\u00a0<\/strong>Youth Services joins the Vermont Coalition of Runaway Youth Programs.<\/p>\n

1986\u00a0<\/strong>With expansion of programs, Youth Services relocates to a larger office at 32 Walnut Street.<\/p>\n

1987\u00a0<\/strong>Counselors visit families in crisis to provide guidance where children risk foster placement.<\/p>\n

1990\u00a0<\/strong>Created a ninth Diversion Board to serve offenders in the Wilmington and Dover areas.<\/p>\n

1992\u00a0<\/strong>Brattleboro Area Prevention Coalition formed to help prevent substance abuse among teens.<\/p>\n

1994\u00a0<\/strong>Student Assistance Professionals stress prevention work in area high and middle schools.<\/p>\n

1998\u00a0<\/strong>Provided mediation to families and youth in crisis, and outreach to teens experiencing difficulties.<\/p>\n

2000\u00a0<\/strong>Satellite office opened at Parks Place Community Center in Bellows Falls.<\/p>\n

2003\u00a0<\/strong>Big Brothers Big Sisters expands to Deerfield and West River Valleys, Bellows Falls.<\/p>\n

2006\u00a0<\/strong>H.E.Y.! Help Empower Youth promotes teen assets development and adult attitude shift.<\/p>\n

2007\u00a0<\/strong>Bellows Falls families with at-risk teens \u201cwrapped\u201d in services through weekly home visits.<\/p>\n

2008<\/strong>\u00a0Summer employment project piloted for six-weeks in Bellows Falls with agricultural focus.<\/p>\n

2009\u00a0<\/strong>Conducted The Listening Project: Giving Voice to Adolescent Youth Living in Difficult Circumstances.<\/p>\n

2010<\/strong>\u00a0Approach shifts to therapeutic case management<\/p>\n

2011\u00a0<\/strong>Pregnant and parenting teens matched with mentors, Young Mom\u2019s Group forms<\/p>\n

2012\u00a0<\/strong>Career development mentoring\u00a0lends extra support\u00a0to high school students through RAMP<\/p>\n

2013<\/strong>\u00a0Youth shelters for homeless and transitional youth opens doors in Brattleboro and Bellows Falls.<\/p>\n

2014\u00a0<\/strong>Truancy pilot encourages school attendance through intensive work with families and youth<\/p>\n

2015<\/strong>\u00a0Restorative Justice expansion adds pre-trial services, supervised visitation and driver\u2019s license suspension programs, serving adults and young adults.<\/p>\n

2017<\/strong>\u00a0Big Brothers Big Sisters program becomes stand-alone VT non-profit.<\/p>\n

2018<\/strong>\u00a0Clinical services expand to include substance misuse treatment and outreach.<\/p>\n

2019<\/strong>\u00a0Youth-led screen-printing business, DemoGraphix launched with high interest.<\/p>\n

2020<\/strong>\u00a0Work Today piloted as low-barrier, easy access jobs program to address unmet need for people with significant barriers to employment and extreme poverty in Brattleboro.<\/p>\n

2021<\/strong>\u00a0Brattleboro Community Justice Center merges with Youth Services\u2019 Restorative Justice programs.<\/p>\n

2022<\/strong>\u00a0Youth Services celebrates 50 years of serving Windham County communities with innovative and relationship-based programs that are a catalyst for change.<\/p>\n

2024<\/strong> Youth Services changes its name to INTERACTION: Youth Services & Restorative Justice.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Who We Are Our mission is to build resilence and be a catalyst for change in Windham County communities. Since 1972 we have been dedicated to helping youth, adults and families thrive. At Interaction (formerly Youth Services) we believe in helping people learn how to grow, both as individuals and as a family, so they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":579,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-31","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/youthservicesinc.org\/website_b0b5e883\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/inner-fpo.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/youthservicesinc.org\/website_b0b5e883\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/31","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/youthservicesinc.org\/website_b0b5e883\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/youthservicesinc.org\/website_b0b5e883\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youthservicesinc.org\/website_b0b5e883\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youthservicesinc.org\/website_b0b5e883\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/youthservicesinc.org\/website_b0b5e883\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/31\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4628,"href":"https:\/\/youthservicesinc.org\/website_b0b5e883\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/31\/revisions\/4628"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youthservicesinc.org\/website_b0b5e883\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/youthservicesinc.org\/website_b0b5e883\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}