YNC

Youth Network Council
200 N. Michigan Avenue Suite 400
Chicago, IL 60601
(312) 704-1257 (312) 704-1265 Fax

The Youth Network Council was incorporated as a not-for-profit (501c3) organization in February, 1972. Prior to its incorporation, beginning in approximately 1968, it had operated informally, providing monthly forums for providers of community based youth services throughout the metropolitan Chicago area. In 1981, the organization amended its by-laws to encompass a statewide constituency.

At its base, the Youth Network Council is a membership organization comprised of and representing agencies, throughout the state of Illinois, that provide services at the community level to young people and their families. The membership, currently consisting of approximately fifty (50) community based youth serving agencies throughout the state, annually elects a maximum sixteen (16) member Board of Directors. A majority of the Board must be comprised of representatives from Organizational Member agencies. There is also a slot on the YNC Board reserved for a Youth Representative -- a young person under the age of twenty-five (25) years, which is consistent with the United Nations definition. The Board is charged with the responsibility of providing operational stewardship of the organization.

Board of Directors

The YNC Administrative Office is located in Chicago, which is within sixty (60) miles of about two-thirds of the state's population. The organization also maintains a State Office in Springfield, the state capital, which is centrally located within the state. Each office fully equipped with fax machine and photocopier to enable mass mailings and other communications. Each of the project's employees has a desktop Pentium computer with extensive internal communications software programs and also has access to online services. While both offices have sufficient meeting space to accommodate small-group functions, each is accessible to public space, such as libraries and state buildings, where larger meetings may be held. Training events are generally conducted in hotels or conference centers where participants can focus in an environment unencumbered by job pressures. Through it's sixteen years of providing training through the Resource Center, YNC has developed relationships with several training venues in accessible locations throughout the state.

From its inception in 1972, YNC has been supporting local youth serving organizations and enhancing their capacity through a multifaceted program of training; technical assistance; information dissemination; public education; state, regional, national and international networking; service brokerage; policy development; legislative advocacy; exposure to myriad opportunities which are not otherwise available at the local level.

Illinois Collaboration on Youth (ICOY): Established in 1979 by a grant from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), ICOY is the membership arm of YNC. The culmination of that grant was the establishment of the Division of Youth and Community Services (DYCS) within DCFS and, ultimately, the implementation of a statewide system of community-based youth services. Since 1981, ICOY activities have been sustained through membership dues and other unrestricted revenue sources. ICOY focuses on the development of youth policy and legislation which supports and enhances the capacity of local agencies to serve young people and families in their communities. In addition ICOY works with the public sector and other funders of services to promote those program initiatives which reflect best practices. The ICOY activity agenda is set by the Policy Board, a committee which, by charter, is categorically and geographically representative of the youth serving community throughout Illinois.

Pathways: A Supervised Independent Living Program (SILP), funded by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). YNC, as the contractor, administers and coordinates the program, also serving as a liaison to DCFS. In this complex, collaborative effort, clinical oversight is provided through a subcontract with a mental health agency, and direct community support services to clients are subcontracted among six (6) community-based youth services agencies throughout Chicago and Cook County.

Illinois Youth Services Resource Center (IYSRC):
Since the inception of Illinois' system of community-based youth services in January, 1982, the IYSRC has been providing training, technical assistance and other support to local providers throughout the state.

Region V Training & Technical Assistance Program (RVTTAP): Funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) under the Runaway and Homeless Youth (RHY) program. YNC provides specialized training and technical assistance (T & TA) to RHY grantees in Illinois, and subcontracts with youth service support organizations in the other DHHS Region V states (IN, MI, MN, OH, WI), while maintaining cooperative agreements with the other nine federally funded regional T&TA programs. It should be noted that the RHY target population (youth in high-risk situations) as well as the RHY services (outreach, crisis intervention counseling, temporary shelter, etc) complement those which are specified in Illinois Comprehensive Community Based Youth Services (CCBYS) program plan. Also, each of the Illinois RHY grantees is linked with the state's CCBYS system as either a recognized local board/service system or a service subcontractor to a local board/service system.