Youth Service Bureau

The McHenry County Youth Service Bureau was founded in 1975 by a citizen’s group interested in assuring the availability of affordable counseling services for young people of the county and their families. Services include school and community-based prevention programs, group, individual and family counseling services, substance abuse prevention and intervention, delinquency intervention services, psychiatric medication management, home and community based case management and crisis stabilization services. Services are provided in various levels of intensity to meet the unique needs of each family with the overall goal of maintaining children in their community and with their families.

YSB is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors and is supported by a variety of local, state and federal resources including the Mental Health Resource League, United Way of McHenry County, McHenry County Mental Health Board, State Department of Children and Family Services, State Department of Mental Health, and Federal Department of Health and Human Services. All services are offered to residents of the county on a fee schedule that may be adjusted according to family income. No one is refused services due to an inability to pay. The agency is accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), licensed by the Department of Children and Family Services and Department of Mental Health, DHS/DMH)and the Department of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse (DHS/OASA) and certified to provide Medicaid eligible services.

YSB’s mission statement has remained unchanged since it’s founding over 30 years ago and remains the guiding force throughout the agency:

The McHenry County Youth Service Bureau exists to enhance the quality of life of children and families through programs and services which foster commitment to change by providing insight into problems and problem solving skills. The agency strongly believes in the provision of community based services that allow children to remain at home with their families and in their communities whenever it is safe and possible to do so.