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Northern Oklahoma Youth Services (NOYS) is most widely known as our area’s temporary youth shelter, but the organization does so much more than that. NOYS was incorporated in 1971 and has been providing a youth shelter and preventative programs to our area for over 50 years. Their mission is “to empower and advocate for children, adolescents and families at-risk in North Central Oklahoma through home, agency and school-based programs offering temporary shelter for children and adolescents, integrated behavioral health outpatient counseling, prevention and intervention services.” NOYS serves Kay, Noble, (part of) Osage and Pawnee counties. There are no fees for any of the services offered by Northern Oklahoma Youth Services.
The Emergency Youth Shelter is one of the most important components of the work done at NOYS. The shelter is a 12-bed facility located at 2203 N. Ash Street in Ponca City. NOYS Executive Director James Carter says the shelter hosts an average of 7-8 kids per day. The shelter will accept youths ages 7-17, but James says they are mostly housing teens. The average length of stay is around three weeks, though the shelter sees a lot of kids who are only there for a few days.
While the shelter primarily houses runaway and homeless youth populations, there is a myriad of reasons why a young person might seek shelter. It can be used as a temporary cooling-off location for teens who are going through a rough patch with their families. In this situation, NOYS staff can make moves to help prevent potentially violent behavior or even a future runaway. The shelter also occasionally helps youth in need who are traveling through our area for one reason or another. Staff work around the clock, are specially trained and have all gone through extensive background checks. Shelter staff are certified in CPR and managing aggressive behavior. The shelter is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Counseling is also a big component of the work happening at NOYS. It is one of the ways they can help youth and their families gain the skills needed to interact well as a family unit. Short-term and long-term counseling is available. All NOYS counselors have a master’s degree &/or extensive experience and are supervised by a Licensed Professional Counselor. NOYS counselors primarily use the Cognitive Behavioral Model for their services, as literature supports this model being best for the type of services they are offering.
According to the American Psychological Association, The Cognitive Behavioral Model of therapy proposes that one’s thoughts, feelings and behaviors are interconnected and influence each other. It suggests that by changing negative or unhelpful thought patterns, individuals can improve their emotional and behavioral responses.
NOYS also offers a wide range of educational services. Educational services can stop problems before they start and head off potential issues between youths and their families. NOYS offers school-based services that educate children in topics such as bullying, substance abuse, peer pressure and the dangers of vaping. They also offer programs regarding juvenile delinquency prevention and child abuse prevention.
NOYS also acts as a Family Resource Center (FRC). Through the FRC, they offer a free program called Parents as Teachers to expectant caregivers and families with children ages 0 to kindergarten. This service offers families home visits, video visits or phone visits where an educator works with them to help them make the best parenting decisions. This is ideal for new and first-time parents. Parents as Teachers is a nationally accredited curriculum. It focuses on parent-child interaction, development-centered parenting, developmental screenings and family well-being. Through this program, they can bring fun activities into your home like a reading hour for kids with an entertaining book that teaches an important life lesson.
Through NOYS’ participation as an FRC, they also have a grant that helps them offer more concrete support to families with young children. To this end. NOYS maintains a supply closet with items like diapers, wipes, formula, household cleaning supplies, child locks and other similar items.
NOYS is a 501(c)(3) governed by a local Board of Directors. If you have a passion for helping the youth in our community, the NOYS Board is a great place to give back. The Board is made up of local volunteers and meets monthly. Board members review relevant business matters at meetings and assist with fundraising, community awareness and education activities.
For many of their program, NOYS gets referrals from various partner agencies like DHS, Child Welfare, Juvenile Affairs, the local municipal court and local school systems. They also receive referrals from private individuals. If you or someone you know could use the services NOYS offers, feel free to reach out to them. Director James Carter says, “It’s a wonderful thing if you haven’t had to use our services, but it is critical and important to those that do. If you have a way to give back or support NOYS, it would be a great thing.”
All NOYS services are provided at no cost to clients and their families. NOYS staff work hard to obtain grants and contracts to help cover services. They are also very grateful to the community partners that help fund their efforts: United Way of North Central Oklahoma, United Way of Blackwell, Perry United Fund and Newkirk Community Chest.
For more information, contact NOYS at (580) 762-8342. You can also visit the Northern Oklahoma Youth Services website at
www.noysok.org. You can find both Northern Oklahoma Youth Services and their Family Resource Program pages on Facebook for more information. If you are in need of help, you can call NOYS directly or reach out through their website or Facebook page to request services.
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