Where are you located?
YESS’ emergency shelter, crisis nursery, and counseling programs are located in the Steven N. Blank Variety Club Youth Center at 918 SE 11th Street in Des Moines, Iowa. The building is a former elementary school the agency renovated with outstanding community support in 1996. The location and the facility are ideal for meeting the needs of youth and families who turn to YESS for help.

How many children live at YESS?
In total, there may be 50 babies, toddlers, school age children, and adolescents staying at YESS each night. Annually, there are over 1,000 admissions of children into the shelter and nursery. In addition, YESS provides counseling to hundreds of families each year.

Why do kids go to YESS?
Most often, there are multiple presenting issues that have led to the need for emergency shelter. The only common factor for all kids at YESS is that home is not an option due to the nature or level of crisis in their lives. For many kids and families, YESS is their first or only option to get the help they need — when they need it. Time and again, parents have thanked YESS for helping them keep their family together, or even credited YESS with saving their child’s life.

How do I get help from YESS?
YESS’ professional staff is available around the clock to talk to any youth, parent, or family friend. YESS’ 24-hour crisis line is 515-282-YESS (515-282-9377).

What geographic area do you serve?
YESS primarily serves youth and families from Polk and surrounding Central Iowa counties, however, services are not restricted by geographic location. As a designated shelter for runaways, YESS services are also available to youth from all of Iowa and across the country as needed.

How long does a child stay at YESS?
The emergency shelter and crisis nursery programs at YESS are designed to be short-term. The length of stay is determined by the needs of the child and family, and may range from a few days to several months. Some youth may stay only a few days as a time out or cooling off period when things are reaching crisis mode at home, or they may come to YESS for respite care when there is a family emergency or crisis. However, not all problems can be successfully resolved in 3 to 4 days, and not all families can or should be reunified. YESS is a place where connections are made – linking youth and families to needed resources such as the Department of Human Services, Juvenile Court, substance abuse treatment, legal assistance, or health care.

Where does a child go after they leave YESS?
YESS’ goal is to keep families together, however, depending on the family and child’s situation, there are a number of options. They include home, relative or kinship care, family foster care, hospital, or other treatment programs for children. The Iowa Department of Human Services and Polk County Juvenile Court will decide where children are placed if they have been removed from their home due to abuse or neglect. If a child is admitted voluntarily for respite, the child will simply return home.

Are the kids separated by age?
Young children, ages birth through nine, reside in the Blumenthal Crisis Nursery. The crisis nursery was designed specifically with the special needs of little ones in mind. Located on the opposite side of the facility is the emergency shelter for youth ages 10 through 17. The emergency shelter offers a safe, comfortable, and welcoming environment for youth to work through their issues. A specialized pre-adolescent unit provides structured services to address the unique needs of 10 through 12 year olds.

How much does it cost?
YESS does not charge any fees to families. When families seek extended services or when the situation warrants, YESS staff will work with the family to explore additional service options and they will help coordinate access to those resources.

Is YESS a locked facility?
Although, YESS is not a locked facility young people choose to stay at YESS because they know it is a safe place. Youth are expected to have permission prior to leaving the facility. Regularly, kids leave the building with YESS staff for agency planned recreational activities, doctor visits, appointments, or when home visits are approved with family.

What about school for the kids?
All the school age kids at YESS are required to attend school or be enrolled in an alternative education program. Youth may attend their home school or a year-round Heartland Area Education Association classroom located on site. Tutoring is available to all youth staying at the shelter.

Can a kid come back after they leave the shelter?
Some kids and families are faced with multiple crises throughout their lives. A child may enter the shelter when they are 10, and YESS helps them resolve a troubling issue at that time. However, months or even years later that same child may return when it seems their whole life has been turned upside down again. YESS is there for them along the way — whenever they need a safe place to turn.

Is there another program like this?
YESS services are unique in our community. The comprehensiveness, complexity, and intensity of YESS services does not exist elsewhere in Central Iowa. Any youth or family may turn to YESS for assistance, as YESS is the only licensed emergency shelter for young people under age 18 in Polk County that allows for voluntary admissions.

Is the Blumenthal Crisis Nursery a new program?
Since its inception in 1973, YESS has provided valuable services to adolescents. In 1999, YESS expanded programming to meet the needs of young children, birth through age nine, with the establishment of the Blumenthal Crisis Nursery. Like the emergency shelter for teenagers, the crisis nursery serves as both a child abuse intervention and child abuse prevention program. The hope is that the crisis nursery will be used most often to prevent abuse before it happens…becoming a safe place for parents to turn before a crisis rather than waiting until it’s too late and serious damage is done.

Do you work with other agencies?
YESS is committed to creative collaborative efforts that strengthen services to kids and families. YESS works closely with schools, other agencies, hospitals, and the child welfare system to create a coordinated approach in meeting individual child and family needs. Through the initial assessment, care plan development and review, counseling, and daily program monitoring, YESS staff help kids and families access additional services as needed.

How is YESS funded?
In order to meet the needs of kids and families, YESS blends a variety of funding streams including government grants, purchase of service contracts, and private support. As a member agency of United Way of Central Iowa, YESS receives funds that allow youth and families access to agency programs without prior involvement with the child welfare system. Ongoing support from Variety - The Children's Charity helps fund special projects and needs at the shelter and crisis nursery. Financial gifts from individuals, corporations, and foundations help alleviate funding gaps that may otherwise jeopardize services to kids and families. Charitable donations of goods and services stretch agency program dollars while assuring children’s basic needs are met.