Vashon Youth and Family Services

Vashon Youth and Family Services (VYFS) is dedicated to serving the people of Vashon-Maury Island. VYFS’s mission is to foster a thriving community of emotionally healthy and resilient children, youth, adults and families. Our vision is that all Islanders, regardless of identity, have the emotional health to achieve their full potential, and have equal access to resources they need to help them thrive.

Our agency was started by Islanders 1977 in response to the substance use and behavioral/mental health needs of the island’s youth. Our continued presence here helps reduce barriers Islanders face in getting support when they need it. Initially offering counseling and job placement services, today VYFS is the sole licensed community mental health agency and a leading social services provider on the island.

Our programs are designed to encourage the development of skills needed for emotional health, to reduce isolation, build community, and provide support Islanders need to help them thrive. We work on our mission through five program areas:

1) Family Place: our program serves families with young children from prenatal to age 6. Family Place works to bring parents and children together to build community, and to educate parents and provide them tools that promote their children’s healthy development and resilience. Family Place offers low-cost drop-in play opportunities, “Play and Chat” parents’ education group, and “Parents’ Night Out” child care, a “Dads’ Meetup” group for dads, and “Life with Baby” discussion group for parents with babies. We also offer comprehensive infant and early childhood home visiting program “Parents as Teachers”, and the Spanish-bilingual “Play and Learn Kaleidoscope” multicultural group.

2) Vashon Kids: Vashon Kids provides year-round out-of-school enrichment for 5- to 12-year-olds, to support working families, and help children develop to their fullest potential. Vashon Kids emphasizes social-emotional learning, which is often lacking in childrens' academic instruction. The program staff recently developed a new curriculum focusing on subjects including theatre, science, engineering, art, and geography, and is continuing “Orca Kids”, the special programming for 9- to 12-year-olds.

3) Behavioral Health: Our Behavioral Health program helps islanders increase their emotional stability and coping skills by offering individual and family counseling, substance use disorder (SUD) treatment, case management, and crisis intervention services. In 2018 we served well over 550 Islanders.

4) Hispanic and Latino Outreach Services: One of our newest programs, Hispanic and Latino Outreach and Services (Latino Outreach), began in response to the needs of the growing number of Latinos on Vashon who have very low incomes and English proficiency. This program is working to overcome barriers that exist for Latino Islanders to achieving equitable childhood education opportunities and social services, and in cooperation with other Island organizations, to facilitate opportunities for Latino Islanders to develop connections in the larger Island community.

5) Resilient Vashon: Prompted by data show that a relatively high percentage of Islanders have suffered several adverse childhood experiences — which can negatively impact a person’s physical, emotional, and financial health and that of their family — our Resilient Vashon program is making Vashon a trauma-informed community. Through community events and trainings, we are raising awareness of the causes and effects of trauma and toxic stress, reducing the stigma of those suffering and breaking the cycle of trauma that can be perpetuated through generations.