Youth Services Center of Allen County
11805 Lima Road
Fort Wayne, Indiana 46818
(260) 449-3561
The Youth Services Center of Allen County (YSC) was established in 1979 as a county-run residential emergency shelter care. The 25-bed facility is licensed by the state Department of Child Services and has CARF accreditation. It is a quality, non-secure, short-term emergency shelter care. Funding comes from the state Department of Child Services and Allen County government.
Referrals are made by area juvenile probation departments and the Department of Child Services. Placements are accepted from the nine counties in the northeast corner of the state of Indiana (Allen, Dekalb, Noble, Steuben, Lagrange, Whitley, Wells, Huntington, and Adams) with preference given to Allen County. Admissions are accepted twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, including holidays. The target population is males and females ages six to eighteen with an IQ of sixty or above who have been abused or neglected or are status offenders. As an emergency shelter care, YSC serves youth in crisis who have an extreme range of social, emotional, and behavioral problems. The facility offers a stable, supportive, clean, caring environment. The maximum length of stay is twenty days unless approval for an extension is obtained from the state Department of Child services.
Medical needs are reviewed and treatment is provided by the center's registered nurse and contracted physician upon admission and thereafter. The nurse monitors and continues previously ordered prescription medications that are brought to YSC. Educational needs are met by the school of origin with support from an on-grounds classroom and licensed teacher hired by Northwest Allen County Schools. There is a structured daily living format and behavioral management system which rewards positive, appropriate behaviors. Cooperative group living skills are addressed and implemented daily through trained youth care workers. Therapeutic Crisis Intervention is used to safely diffuse crises.
YSC exists to meet the needs of youth experiencing abuse and neglect and/or engaging in delinquent or self-harming behavior. A high priority is placed on minimizing the trauma of their present situation by offering a positive, stable, environment and helping them to address the realities of their immediate future with hope and encouragement.
Youth Services Center 2022 Annual Report