YSS Facts

• Organized in 1974 as a nonprofit by local citizens, social workers, clergy, attorneys and judges seeking answers for youth and families in crisis.
• Operates emergency shelters for youth. Samaritan House for boys and Helinski Shelter for girls, both in Wheeling.
• Operates the only Safe Place program in West Virginia.
• Has an independent living program to prepare young people to live on their own after they leave foster care—Tuel [pronounced: Tool] Center in New Martinsville.
• Operates the only private nonprofit juvenile center in West Virginia.
• Operates a community-based adolescent drug and alcohol program in the Northern Panhandle.
• Provides in-home support and skill building for parents in the Northern Panhandle.
• Offers job skills training and employment programs for youth in the Northern Panhandle.
• Operates three Peer Recovery Homes, Lazarus House and Mark's House for men and Mary & Martha House for women.
• Youth Services System’s success with youth is the result of the commitment and generosity of our staff, fellow agencies, courts, law enforcement, and businesses, large and small.
• Youth Services System believes that young people are every community’s treasure and that we should say "yes, yes and yes again" to help them succeed.