about.
Happily serving children and families in cross-cultural communities.
At Youth Unlimited, we serve youth with all sorts of stories and backgrounds. From youth of color to LGBTQ youth, our youth feel they belong. They are socially and culturally involved in their local communities. They are given resources and support which respect their cultural needs and identities. We work to make sure our youth are seen, heard, and celebrated.
Our deep ties to Oregon’s most marginalized communities give us the unique ability to provide our youth with lasting, positive connections to their cultures and communities well into adulthood. Some of these opportunities for connection come through fun annual events, including a back-to-school celebration for our youth in August and a December holiday party for our foster families.
How We Work.
We use a Collaborative Problem Solving approach to support youth with challenging behavior and the foster parents who care for them. According to Think:Kids — a ground-breaking program in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital — youth with challenging behavior “don’t lack the will to behave well. They lack the skills to behave well.”
Collaborative Problem Solving helps adults shift to a more compassionate mindset and work with the youth to build the skills they need to thrive.
How we protect children.
We do everything we can to ensure our youth are living in safe, stable environments and that foster parents have the support they need to bring their best to the youth in their care. We do this by:
Conducting background checks for all prospective foster parents.
Certifying every home where our youth are placed, including initial training and ongoing education for foster parents.
Providing thoughtful case management, with weekly visits and special support from trained staff.
Offering 24/7, on-call crisis support.
