Press Releases

January 15, 2009

For more information, contact Jay Kiefer at (608) 245-2550 x 307 or jay.kiefer@youthsos.org.

MADISON – Youth Services of Southern Wisconsin announced today that it will merge with another non-profit agency, Project HUGS.

Project HUGS will continue its long-standing mission of providing advocacy and support services for parents with troubled teens. The organization has become a program of Youth Services of Southern Wisconsin.

“We plan to offer the same services of each organization, while maximizing resources, continuity of care, and program accessibility,” said Jay Kiefer, the Program Director of Youth Services of Southern Wisconsin.

During 2009, Project HUGS will begin working with families at Sennett Middle School in Madison and at River Bluff Middle School in Stoughton as part of a new Dane County sponsored initiative to prevent youth from becoming involved in substance use/abuse.

Founded in 1971, Youth Services of Southern Wisconsin offers services to runaway, homeless, and at-risk youth and their families. The agency’s programs include: the Briarpatch Runaway & Homeless Youth Program, Children of Violent Homes Project, Choices, Intensive Supervision Program, Madison Street Team, Project HUGS, Street Outreach Program, Teens Like Us, Youth Job Center, Youth Peer Court, and Youth Restitution Program.

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