About the Family and Youth Services Bureau

The HHS/ACF/Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) provides national leadership on youth and family issues. The Bureau promotes positive outcomes for children, youth, and families by supporting a wide range of comprehensive services and collaborations at the local, Tribal, State, and national levels. FYSB endorses the Positive Youth Development approach, which recognizes that empowered young people need support, guidance, and opportunities during adolescence. Using Positive Youth Development strategies, FYSB programs give young people the chance to build skills, choose healthy lifestyles, exercise leadership, and participate in their communities.

FYSB grant programs:

• Basic Centers for runaway and homeless youth
• Transitional Living Programs for older youth, including maternity group homes for pregnant and parenting young people
• Street Outreach
• Mentoring Children of Prisoners
• Family Violence Prevention
• Abstinence Education

The Bureau collaborates with other Federal agencies to convene conferences, meetings, and forums for youth and youth-serving professionals and to coordinate Federal policies and programs related to the Nation’s young people. The Bureau also recruits youth to help review grant proposals from community- and faith-based organizations, believing that young people know best what makes a good youth program. With its research and demonstration program, FYSB encourages State and local collaboration to strengthen the Positive Youth Development approach in local communities and neighborhoods.

FYSB also supports:

• the National Runaway Switchboard, a confidential, 24-hour, toll-free hotline (1-800-RUNAWAY)
• the National Domestic Violence hotline (800-799-SAFE)
• the National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth (NCFY)
• training and technical assistance for grantees