South Carolina’s premier provider of foster care and community-based services.
We are a private, non-profit, 501(c)3 child-placing and family-serving organization. SCYAP has served children and families in South Carolina since 1990.
SCYAP programs promote individualized treatment, flexible programming, case and cause advocacy, community-based services, and a positive approach to treating children and working with families. We have a comprehensive array of programs and services to children and families dealing with serious emotional, behavioral, psychological and/or development issues.
SCYAP was established in 1990 to provide out of home, specialized foster care for youth with special needs. Services began in Charleston, SC and quickly spread up the state’s coastline. As the number of foster homes and youth and families being served by SCYAP continued to increase, the State Office was relocated to Columbia and regional offices were opened throughout the state.
Since our inception, SCYAP has grown in our scope of work and service spectrum. While our largest program continues to be foster care services, a significant part of our array of services now includes non-residential, community-based services.
Today, SCYAP offers a comprehensive array of programs and services to youth and families dealing with difficult issues and crises. Creativity and flexibility in our programming and service delivery are the mainstays of our approach to working with youth and families, placing their needs at the forefront of everything we do.
Who We Serve
SCYAP serves both males and females and does not discriminate by race, color, religious creed, ancestry, gender, gender expression, national origin, sexual orientation, or the seriousness or complexity of disability or need.
The primary target population served by SCYAP is considered to be at-risk or special needs children. We serve children with a broad spectrum of emotional, behavioral, mental, and medical needs and their families.
Typically these children are in need of out-of-home therapeutic care, community-based programming, and/or in-home intervention services. Depending on the service(s) provided, SCYAP is able to serve children ages birth to twenty-one and their families.
Mission & Philosophy
The treatment philosophy behind all SCYAP programs is grounded in the mission of the organization.
The basic beliefs that drive our programs are (1) all children deserve a permanent home and family and (2) children should be served in the most normalized and least restrictive environment possible.
As the framework for therapeutic interventions, SCYAP works under the tenets of Positive Youth Development. Interventions centered with the concepts of Positive Youth Development focus on giving children the chance to build skills, leadership and to be involved in their community.
Our Mission and Ideals
WE BELIEVE:
SCYAP believes that every child has the right to a permanent home and family; that a child’s family and community are valuable resources for promoting positive growth and overall development.
WE SERVE:
SCYAP promotes the use of community-based alternatives to institutional care, provided within the least restrictive environment appropriate for meeting the needs of every individual and family member receiving company services.
WE DO:
SCYAP develops and provides a wide range of therapeutic services to meet the needs of children and their families. SCYAP collaborates with the family, community and other agencies to provide individualized care and family services that promote stability. SCYAP strives to help children and their families reach their potential.
IDEALS
In dealing with very troubled youth and their families, SCYAP has established strong ideals to keep our mission at the forefront of our operations. These ideals include:
Our commitment to our youth and families is steadfast and never ending. We will persevere with them, even when the barriers appear insurmountable and solutions obscure.
Our success as an organization is intrinsically tied to the success of our youth and their families.
We will provide flexible, adaptable, and innovative programming to best meet the needs of our youth and families and we will advocate for the creation of modified and/or new programming when the available service array is inadequate for meeting their needs.
We will be open-minded and inclusive in our approach to working with children and families and be respectful of the culture and heritage of our youth and families.
We are committed to the growth and development of our staff and foster parents. Only through their continued learning and increased abilities are we best able to meet our mission.
Openness and Transparency
SCYAP recognizes that building an organization committed to the highest ethical standards demands more than just following rules, regulations and law; it also requires fostering practices that create an environment of transparency, accountability, and integrity. SCYAP is committed to providing our services and business practices in an open and transparent manner that earns and sustains trust through honest, truthful, and responsible transactions, partnerships, and relationships with individuals, communities, providers, businesses, donors, funders, and government entities.
Non-profit (501(c)(3) Status Confirmation
Council on Accreditation Confirmation
Charitable Organization Registration
Organizational Structure
SCYAP is incorporated as the South Carolina Youth Advocate Program, Inc. within the State of South Carolina. The general management of the company is vested in the authority of the company’s Board of Directors. The Board assigns responsibility for the day to day operations of SCYAP to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
We believe that quality staff is essential to the quality of services. Managerial, administrative, program and support staff positions are identified to meet the company needs. Front-line or direct care positions are assigned to programs/services according to staff to client ratio requirements and needs, contractual or other regulatory requirements, and educational and experience requirements.
Positions that form the Executive Team of the company include the CEO, the Chief Operating Officer (COO), the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), and Associate Executive Director. Other key management positions include the Human Resources Director, the Director of Community-Based Services, the Special Projects Director, Regional Directors, Program Directors, Director of Admissions, and the Director of Governmental Relations. Vital direct care positions at SCYAP include (but are not limited to): Treatment Coordinators, Independent Living Coordinators, Licensing Coordinators, Therapists, and Wrap Advocates.
SCYAP provides services on a statewide basis, unless geography limited by contractual standards. The SCYAP State Office is located in Columbia, South Carolina. Regional offices are strategically placed throughout the State in Columbia, Charleston, Florence, Greenville, and Myrtle Beach, and a satellite office of the Charleston Region is maintained in Beaufort. Having regional and satellite offices throughout the state allows us to become intricately involved in the local communities that we serve and to maintain youth as close to their home community as possible, when out-of-home placement is necessary.