Youth In Need

To learn more, please visit: www.youthinneed.org

Youth In Need is a nonprofit child and family services agency, headquartered in St. Charles, Mo. Through a variety of crisis prevention and intervention programs, Youth In Need is dedicated to building positive futures for the community’s most vulnerable children, teens and families.

Each year, Youth In Need serves more than 10,000 children, teens and families with residential homes, foster care case management, homeless outreach, counseling and support groups, education and infant, child and family development at more than 25 sites, spanning 100-miles, in six counties in eastern Missouri.

Youth In Need was founded by community volunteers, who opened the organization’s Emergency Shelter in 1974. It is through the generous support of community volunteers, business leaders and donors that Youth In Need has been able to continue its mission of believing in the power of potential.


Because every child deserves a future...
Youth In Need has been serving the greater St. Louis area since 1974, when volunteers reached out to the agency's first client. A teenage runaway, who left her home after another beating, was picked up on the streets and taken to the local jail with adult criminals. Troubled by the community's response to runaway and homeless teens, volunteers changed the way these teens were treated by opening Youth In Need's Emergency Shelter.

Today, more than 300 full- and part-time staff serve more than 10,000 of the area's most vulnerable children, teens and families at 25 locations in six counties in eastern Missouri.

A reputation for excellence...
Youth In Need is applauded for the professionalism of its staff and effectiveness of its programs.

Youth In Need:

Is nationally accredited by the Council on Accreditation.
Is a recipient of the United Way of Greater St. Louis' highest possible quality rating.
Is a recipient of the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance Seal of Approval.
Is recognized by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as an "exemplary program."
Practices evidence-based programs, based on solid research and proven, effective approaches.