Youth and Shelter Services (YSS)

About Youth and Shelter Services (YSS)

Youth and Shelter Services (YSS) is one of Iowa’s oldest nonprofits serving young people and families, with in-person counseling sites that include two Des Moines locations alongside statewide telehealth. Their focus is helping kids and families build stability through prevention, counseling, and recovery support, and they treat substance use together with co-occurring concerns like anxiety, depression, trauma, and grief. Through their Ember Recovery program, they offer a continuum of addiction care that includes residential treatment for teens ages 12 to 18, virtual and step-down intensive outpatient programs, extended outpatient care, and independent living support. Their outpatient clinics also provide substance use evaluations, OWI evaluations, individual and group counseling, and psychiatric medication management for both youth and adults, and they accept most major insurance plans.

Ember’s residential program runs in separate home-style houses for boys and girls, places LGBTQIA+ teens wherever they feel most comfortable, and keeps students on track academically with state-certified teachers or tutors who also help with SAT and ACT prep. Depending on each teen’s needs, treatment draws on cognitive behavioral therapy, STEPPS, trauma therapy, multidimensional family therapy, and individual and group sessions, along with art, music, and physical activity. Families take part through family therapy and Strengthening Families Program weekends held four times a year, and eligible graduates can apply for a collegiate recovery scholarship toward college or trade school. For those who need structure without living away from home, the virtual IOP meets Monday through Thursday evenings for teens ages 13 to 17 and adults 18 and older anywhere in Iowa, while outpatient clinicians also offer EMDR, TF-CBT, parent-child interaction therapy, play therapy, and equine therapy.