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Administration for Children and Families US Department of Health and Human Services
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Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB)

 MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of the Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) is to provide national leadership on family and youth issues, to promote the positive youth development approach in serving young people by focusing on both their strengths and their problems, and to assist individuals and organizations in providing effective, comprehensive services for youth and families in at-risk situations.

About the Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB):
The Family and Youth Services Bureau works to promote the creation of a strong continuum of care for youth growing up in difficult situations. FYSB promotes the positive youth development approach, which is predicated on the understanding that all young people need support, guidance and opportunities during adolescence. In cooperation with local communities, FYSB provides services and opportunities to young people, particularly runaway and homeless youth. This is accomplished by awarding grants that enable communities to serve young people and their families, and to test new approaches to helping youth.

The Family and Youth Services Bureau also provides:

Within the Family and Youth Services Bureau is the Family Violence Prevention and Services program. This program assists States and communities in their efforts to increase public awareness, prevent family violence and provide immediate shelter and assistance.

FYSB's objectives are to:


Programs to assist America's Families and Youth:



 PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS


Runaway and Homeless Youth
This program began in 1974 in response to concerns about the increasing number of runaway youth who were exposed to exploitation and the dangers of street life. The program also assists homeless youth on both a short-term and long-term basis and in making the transition to independent living. It also provides drug education and prevention services to runaway and homeless youth and to youth at risk of running away.

The age of runaways ranges from younger than 11 to over 18. The majority of youth who are runaways seek assistance from youth shelters because of issues in family dynamics, usually relationships with parents.

The Runaway and Homeless Youth Program provides four primary services:


Basic Center Program
The Basic Center Program provides financial assistance to establish or strengthen community-based programs addressing the immediate needs of runaway and homeless youth and their families. These programs provide youth with emergency shelter, food, clothing, counseling and referrals for health care. The Basic Center seeks to reunite young people with their families whenever possible, or to locate appropriate alternative placements.

The Basic Center program is designed to:

Grants are awarded to community-based public and private agencies for:

Basic Centers provide:

Funding
— In FY 2004, $49.171 million is available for the Basic Center Program.

Transitional Living
Transitional Living Program (TLP) grantees assist older, homeless youth, including pregnant and parenting teens, in developing skills and resources to promote their development into healthy, independent adults, secure stable, permanent housing and prevent their future dependency on social services, public assistance and emergency shelter. TLPs provide housing and a range of services for up to 540 days (18 months) to youth ages 16-21 who are unable to return safely to their homes. Youth under the age of 18 at the end of the 540-day period, if qualified, remain in the program until the youth’s 18th birthday or at the end of 6 months (180 days).

TLP grantees are required to provide youth with stable, safe living accommodations and services that help them develop the skills necessary to move to independent adult life. Living accommodations may be:


TLPs also provide services to pregnant or parenting youth to help them develop skills in parenting, family budgeting, health and nutrition, economic self-sufficiency and other skills to promote their long-term economic independence in order to ensure the well-being of their children.

TLP grantees provide:

Funding
— In FY 2004, $40.260 million is available for the Transitional Living Program.

Street Outreach Programs
The Street Outreach Program funds local youth service providers to conduct street-based education and outreach and to offer emergency shelter and related services to young people who have been, or who are at risk of being, sexually abused or exploited. The goal of these efforts is to help young people leave the streets. Education and Prevention Grants to Reduce Sexual Abuse of Runaway, Homeless, and Street Youth are awarded to eligible private, nonprofit agencies for street-based outreach, education, and referral services for runaway, homeless, and street youth who have been subjected to or are at risk of being subjected to sexual abuse.

Funding
— In FY 2004, $15.302 million is available for Education and Prevention Grants to Reduce Sexual Abuse of Runaway, Homeless, and Street Youth.


The National Runaway Switchboard (hot line): 1-800-621-4000.
The National Runaway Switchboard is a confidential telephone information, referral and counseling service for runaway and homeless youth and their families. In fiscal years 2002 and 2003, the switchboard responded to approximately 120,016 and 116,687 calls, respectively. Of those calls, 43 percent (FY 2002) and 42 percent (FY 2003) were from youth and 35 percent (FY 2002) and 42 percent (FY 2003) from parents, with the remainder from young people’s relatives and friends or from youth professionals or another adult. Many youth who call the hot line while living “on the run” away from their homes can be helped to return home safely, where this option is appropriate, through bus tickets that are provided for their safe travel. Advice and referrals to services designed for their safety and best interests are provided to ensure that youth are not trapped in abusive or dangerous living situations.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE:

What is Domestic Violence?
Domestic violence encompasses all acts of violence against women within the context of family or intimate relationships. It is an issue of increasing concern because it has a negative effect on all family members, especially children.
Domestic violence is not confined to any one of the following groups:


Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women between the ages of 15 and 44 in the United States - more than car accidents, muggings and rapes combined.

Statistics show that nearly one-third (31 percent) of all violence against women by a single offender is committed by someone close to the victim – a husband, boyfriend or ex-boyfriend. Accurate information on the extent of domestic violence is difficult to obtain because of extensive under reporting. However, it is estimated that as many as 1.8 million instances of domestic violence against women occur annually in the United States. About one-fourth of all hospital emergency room visits by women result from domestic violence.

Domestic Violence and Its Effect on Children
This violence takes a devastating toll on children who are exposed to its cruelty. It is estimated that approximately 1 million children are abused by parents each year. Children whose mothers are victims of wife battery are twice as likely to be abused themselves as those children whose mothers are not victims of abuse. When children witness violence in the home, they have been found to suffer many of the symptoms that are experienced by children who are directly abused.

Family Violence Prevention Programs (FVP)
The mission of FVP is to enhance collective efforts to prevent domestic violence. FYSB’s programs under the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA) improve services and systems that respond to domestic violence at the national, State, and local community levels. These systems include safe shelter and supportive services that have rescued hundreds of thousands of battered women/partners over the years through more than 2,000 shelters and safehouses throughout the United States.

FVPSA assists States in their efforts to increase public awareness about domestic violence and to provide immediate shelter and related assistance for victims of domestic violence and their dependents. Funds may be provided to States, other public agencies, and private nonprofit organizations to provide technical assistance and training programs on domestic violence to law enforcement, legal, social services, and health care professionals.

Programs and Services


 PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS

Battered Women's Shelters and Services
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) awards grants to State agencies, Territories and Indian Tribes for the provision of shelter services to victims of family violence and their dependents, and for related services, such as referrals to alcohol and substance abuse prevention, and family violence counseling. These funds supplement many already established community-based family violence prevention and services activities. They also allow States and Tribes to expand current service programs and to establish additional new centers in rural and underserved areas, on Native American reservations, and in Alaskan Native Villages and Regional Corporation areas. In most areas, there is private sector as well as State and local funding for these emergency shelters.

Funding
— In FY 2004, $124 million is available for Battered Women's Shelters and Services.

National Resource Centers
ACF funds five national resource centers which provide information, technical assistance, and research findings via toll-free telephone numbers.

Funding
— In 2004, $6.3 million is available for National Resources Centers.

National Domestic Violence 24 Hour Hot Line: 1-800-799-SAFE (7233; TTY: 1-800-787-3224)
In 1995, ACF awarded a grant to the Texas Council on Family Violence to establish a national, multilingual, toll-free telephone hot line for victims of domestic violence. Available 24 hours every day, the hot line provides information and referral services, counseling, and assistance to victims of domestic violence, their children, other family members, and the general public. Hot Line counselors are also available for non-English speakers and for people who are hearing impaired. The hot line operates in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Funding
— In 2004, $3 million is available for the National Domestic Violence Hot Line.

Mentoring Children of Prisoners Program
Through the Mentoring Children of Prisoners Program, FYSB awards grants to community organizations that provide children and youth of incarcerated parents with trained, screened and supervised adult mentors. Each mentoring program is designed to ensure that mentors provide young people with safe and trusting one-to-one relationships through: healthy messages about life and social behavior, appropriate guidance from a positive adult role model and opportunities for increased participation in education, civic service and community activities.

Positive Youth Development
The positive youth development approach helps young people develop their assets, as well as self-assurance in four areas that are key to creating a happy, healthy and successful life:

If these factors are being addressed and basic needs are being met (food, clothes, health care, safety, and security), young people can become fully prepared to engage constructively in their communities. Throughout the years, FYSB has promoted positive youth development in all its services, publications, outreach, technical assistance, partnership building, research and demonstration projects with States and communities, and through a continuing series of National Youth Summits and State Youth Collaborations Projects.

Special Initiatives for FYSB
National Youth Summit, Cleveland, Ohio, July 22-24, 2004
For other FYSB information click here.


 CONTACT INFORMATION

Administration on Children, Youth and Families
Family and Youth Services Bureau
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
330 C Street, S.W.
Washington, DC 20447
Phone Number: 202.690.6782
Fax Number: 202.690.5600
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Updated August 2004
Office of Public Affairs (OPA)