Youth Service Bureau Of Rock Island County

The Youth Service Bureau of Rock Island County has two programs: Family Therapy and Peer Justice.

The Family Therapy Program provides comprehensive counseling and case-management services to families with a child age 18 or younger. Special populations include children at high risk of school drop-out or delinquency, teens at risk for psychiatric hospitalization, low-income families, multiple problem families, African Refugees, Latino immigrants, and LGBTQ+.

Peer Justice is a program for teens who plead no contest to misdemeanor charges, non-violent felonies, and ordinance violations. Teens are referred to Peer Justice instead of municipal or juvenile court. A sentencing hearing is conducted with a judge and teens who serve as volunteer jurors. The jury determines a sentence. If the referred teen completes the hearing and sentence civil charges are dropped and the teen does not have a court record.

The Youth Service Bureau is a behavioral health organization founded in 1972 to serve delinquent teens and low-income families. The Youth Service Bureau of Rock Island County serves about 800 children and teens every year. The majority of those children and teens are diagnosed with mental health problems. Diagnoses include depression, anxiety, intermittent explosive disorder, ADHD, autism, and conduct disorder. Since its founding YSB has been committed to serving low-income families, ethnic minorities, and delinquent populations that are unlikely to go to a mental health center for treatment. The median income for a YSB family is $29,922. The median income for the county is $46,891. In FY 2011 25% of YSB's clients lived at or below the poverty line ($20,050 for a family of four). Fifteen percent of YSB clients live between 50 and 99% of the poverty line. Twelve percent of YSB clients lived at between 0 and 49% of the poverty line. Twenty-three percent (23%) of YSB clients are African-American or African refugees while 7.5% of Rock Island County residents are Black. Seventeen percent (17%) of YSB's clients are Latino while 8.6% of the county is Latino. The Youth Service Bureau works with a population of teens and children at high risk of involvement with the police and court. These teens present a risk to public health and safety. Among the children and teens served 57.8% made antisocial statements and expressed antisocial plans. Anti-social behavior was exhibited by 40.76% of the children before age eleven. A pattern of anti-social behavior (i.e. more than three incidents) was observed among 37.5% of the children and teens served. 42.56% of the children and teens had a parent with a criminal history.

The mission of the Youth Service Bureau is to strengthen and empower youth, families, and communities through effective counseling, prevention, and leadership.

YSB Core Values

Respect: We work extensively with immigrants, refugees, and clients of different social classes, economic groups, and cultures. Every family and individual deserves to be treated with respect for who they are without regard for their income, past or present circumstances, race, religion, or world view.

Community Systems: Individuals and families do not live in isolation. They do not develop problems in isolation. They do not become healthier in isolation. YSB counselors strive to identify and leverage individual family and community strengths to minimize the negative impact of individual family and community vulnerabilities.

Accessibility: We offer counseling services in the office, in the home, at school, or in other convenient locations in the community that will enhance the family's receptivity to services and treatment goals.