Saint Francis Community Services, Salina, Kan., is merging with Associated Youth Services in a move to allow Saint Francis to expand and enhance services to at-risk children and youth within Kansas City, Kan., and the rest of the state.
A nonprofit provider to youth in crisis situations since 1972, AYS will continue to operate its programs and services within the Kansas City metro area and Garden City under the name “Associated Youth Services,” according to the announcement.
“Simply put, this merger will help us serve more children in more ways,” said the Very Rev. Robert Nelson Smith, SFCS president, CEO, and dean. “For decades, AYS has provided exceptional care to at-risk youth through a variety of programs. Saint Francis already serves children and families in 75 Kansas counties, and by combining our resources, we can provide much needed, healing services to more youth in even more areas of Kansas.”
AYS will maintain its office in Kansas City while continuing to provide programs that include foster care, Juvenile Justice Foster Care, Adolescent Drug and Alcohol Prevention and Treatment, community mental health education and treatment, and residential care for adolescents.
Those programs will operate in conjunction with Saint Francis’ array of programs and services that include foster care and reintegration, residential treatment, family preservation, adoption, substance abuse counseling, and community outreach. For 70 years, Saint Francis Community Services has been an innovative leader in serving at-risk children and youth. From its origins as Saint Francis Boys’ Home in Ellsworth, Kan., SFCS has grown into a multi-state Episcopal ministry, providing programs and services to 10,000 children, youth, and families in Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Mississippi. Saint Francis Community Services is a donor-supported, Episcopal child and family, community-based service provider since 1945.