"To save one life, it is as if you had saved the world." Talmud
Tidewater Youth Services Foundation - Changing Lives

     The Tidewater Youth Services Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that was established in 1991 to provide philanthropic support for the Tidewater Youth Services Commission (formerly Tidewater Regional Group Home Commission.)

     The Commission operates community-based programs for youth who are risk of coming or have already come to the attention of the juvenile and domestic relations district courts.

     By working closely with the local court service units, departments of social services, mental health and substance abuse agencies, and the public school system, the Tidewater Youth Services Commission offers a full range of services to youth and families.  These services are designed with flexibility to meet the needs of the individual client and to control, reduce, or prevent dysfunctional behavior.

     The Tidewater Youth Services Commission provides both residential and non-residential services.  All are community-based, family-oriented, and individualized.  Counselors go in to homes to help families develop solutions to crisis situations.  Group Homes and therapeutic foster care provide a safe and supportive environment.

     Youth served by the Commission learn life skills, social skills, and problem solving techniques.  Academic achievement is enhanced through the Commission's literacy program, SUCCESS.  Those who have dropped out of school receive help in completing their GED and finding a job.  Individual, group, and family counseling help children deal with the problems that resulted in court or social service involvement.

      It's been said that a public institution may be very good, but that with philanthropy, that same institution can be excellent.  As the charitable partner to the Tidewater Youth Services Commission, the TYS Foundation is able to touch the lives of children in ways not possible through state support alone.

     With community support, we can offer remedial education programs and provide the tools needed for vocational exploration.  We can provide therapeutic recreation and pro-social activities and expose children to the arts and cultural enrichment.  We can improve the physical environments of group homes.  We can preserve programming that would otherwise be eliminated due to state budget cuts.  We can even address the needs of kids in crisis, providing clothing and medication, or helping with family financial emergencies - including loss of utilities or eviction - events that destabilize families and compound a child's problems.     
    
     Jerrauld C. Jones, former director of the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice said, "We are not just concerned with locking up youth when necessary, but also concerned with lifting them up to progressive and successful lives in their communities".  At the Tidewater Youth Services Foundation, we are working to "lift them up".  We invite you to join us.