Tami and Becky, co-founders of Quality Youth Services (QYS), began their business in 2007 after observing a deficit in foster care that focused on the mental health of at-risk youths. Becky explained that kids were typically placed into group environments with little regard for mental healthcare, and a contagion effect would occur—how could a child be expected to learn healthy habits and emotional stability when they weren’t given the tools to do so?
“We started off in a little white house, right in between a tattoo parlor and a Christian worship center,” Tami reminisces. The goal was simple: to find a more innovative way to always put children first. Through QYS's clear guiding principles and a commitment to improving the quality of life for at-risk youth in the community, QYS focuses on a holistic approach to child mental healthcare and certified foster care.
A huge part of QYS’s work centers on certified short-term foster care. Certified foster care involves an entire team supporting the proctor parents during this short-term care. QYS also typically geographically locates the youth, meaning that great efforts are made to keep families together—placing kids with relatives or keeping siblings in the same foster home. Since the ultimate goal is to reunite families and return youth to where they belong, keeping them involved in each other’s lives is key.
“Family-based care does a lot of things,” Becky explains. “You can put a team around them. We’re not talking about finding a family and then setting them up to provide care for somebody without support.” That support includes ongoing training, emergency on-call access, medication management, and monthly treatment meetings with the youth, their biological parents, and referring agents. “We have a pretty big team, and everybody works together on behalf of that youth,” Becky adds.
In addition to foster care, QYS offers support for youth with more specialized needs. This includes NOJOS (Network on Juveniles Obtaining Safety), a state-certified treatment system for youth who have engaged in problematic sexual behavior. QYS is certified to treat youth at multiple NOJOS levels. Tami and Becky both emphasize the importance of trauma-informed care and creating environments tailored to each youth’s unique needs.
QYS also runs a Transition to Adult Living (TAL) program—a six-month initiative for youth ages 17 to 20 who are still in custody and preparing to move from foster care into independent adulthood. The program builds essential skills such as cooking, finding employment or housing, future planning, and living independently. Youth typically stay in transitional housing such as mother-in-law suites attached to foster homes, allowing for a gradual, supported shift toward autonomy. Throughout the program, participants receive mentoring and therapy, ensuring they have the emotional and practical support needed for success.
QYS’s specialties in trauma care—including work with youth experiencing changes in custody—NOJOS, TAL, and certified foster care are all guided by a unified goal: to do what works for kids first.
And what’s terrific about this? You can also be a foster parent. Whether you’re a couple with or without kids, single, a grandparent, or an empty nester—whoever you are, you can be a parent. “People underestimate their ability to be excellent parents,” Becky encourages. QYS needs families offering short-term care as the child reintegrates back to their family. You could serve as an extraordinary role model during a difficult time. QYS will support you every step of the way. All you have to do is say, “I can do this.”
"We do what works for kids first"
-Quality Youth Services Motto