About Us
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 400 full- and part-time staff serve more than 8,000 of the area’s most vulnerable children, teens and families at nearly 100 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 Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance Seal of Approval and 2018 TORCH Award.
- Holds a Platinum Seal of Transparency—the highest level of recognition—from GuideStar, the world’s largest source of information on nonprofit organizations.
- 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.
- Has been named a St. Louis Post-Dispatch Top Workplace for seven straight years.
View Youth In Need’s Agency Brochure.
View Youth In Need’s informational summary.
