Intercept
strengthens families to prevent or limit the need for foster care
Youth Villages Intercept program model receives well-supported designation from Family First Clearinghouse
Youth Villages offers Intercept through direct services and certified organizations that are licensed to implement the program model. For more information on bringing Intercept to your jurisdiction, email: strategic.partnerships@youthvillages.org
Circumstances can overwhelm any family
Problems can come when a child acts out continually at school, causing school suspensions… Opioids prescribed for an injury lead to parental substance use and child neglect… A layoff brings mounting bills and possible eviction… domestic violence… incarceration… hundreds of different issues can throw a family into crisis.
When children are at high risk of entering foster care or have been taken into state custody, Youth Villages Intercept can step in to change a family’s trajectory with intensive support, new parenting and communication skills, and evidence- and strengths-based mental health intervention services.
- Youth Villages Intercept serves children of any age (infant to age 18) who have serious emotional and behavioral problems or have experienced trauma, including abuse and/or neglect.
- Prevention services last four to six months.
- Family reunification services are six to nine months in duration.
Overview
“Well-Supported” by IV-E Clearinghouse
Program Model
Rigorous Clinical Studies
How Intercept Works
Clinical Process
We Are A Force For Families®
Intercept is an integrated approach to in-home parent skill development that offers a variety of evidence-based practices to meet the individualized needs of a family and child. Intercept is appropriate for families with children of all ages who have serious emotional and behavioral problems or who have experienced abuse and/or neglect. The program specializes in working with children who are at high risk of entry or re-entry into foster care by helping families retain children in their custody (prevention and reunification).
How does Intercept Work?
Family intervention specialists work intensely with only four to five families at a time, allowing them to focus on meeting a child and family’s individual needs.
- Family intervention specialists meet with families two to three times each week for sessions in the home that are built around the family’s schedule and convenience. They are on-call 24/7 in case of family emergency.
- Family intervention specialists address issues with schools, courts and children’s services that can seem overwhelming. They stand with parents at school or legal meetings and advocate for them as multiple expectations and requirements are met.
- Family intervention specialists work with licensed clinicians to build treatment plans and work step-by-step with the family and child as new parenting techniques are learned and interventions change behavior.
Why is Youth Villages Intercept successful?
Intercept does “whatever it takes” to help children and parents succeed. Specialists bring intensity and focus to a family’s individual challenges.
- It’s a comprehensive program that includes a therapeutic approach to parenting skills education, school interventions, development of positive peer groups, and extensive help for families and children in accessing community resources and long-term, ongoing support.
- Family intervention specialists work with both the child and the parents or caregivers to address issues that are impacting the stability of the family.
- Intercept includes GuideTree, a comprehensive online database of evidence-based interventions and tools that specialists use to identify drivers of behavior and family issues. They consult with licensed clinicians to develop treatment plans that are continually updated as the family’s skills develop and their needs change.
- Specialists work in teams with a supportive supervision and consultation process.
- Outcomes are continually tracked and results analyzed to enhance the program model.
Stories of Hope
Helping children and families live successfully
Healing at home: Intercept strengthens mother and daughter relationship
Shavonda’s daughter, Amiyah, had been in and out of residential facilities since she was 13 years old. Amiyah faced serious challenges like running away and getting into unsafe situations that eventually led to involvement with the juvenile justice system
Intercept helps a family tackle life’s stress together
For many families, balancing excessive stress and maintaining a stable home environment for children may require extra support. Intercept, a program of Youth Villages.
A place to call home: Jeremy and Patricia’s journey to reunification
Life challenges might cause a bump in the road for most families. But for others, trials can result in major upheavals in their lives. Jeremy and his grandmother, Patricia, faced the latter when they were involved in a life-changing situation — one that led to their living apart from one another.
Youth Villages Georgia expands in-home program to Douglas, Paulding and Rockdale Counties
ATLANTA (April 1, 2025) – Youth Villages, a national nonprofit leader in children’s mental and behavioral health services, today announced a pilot contract with the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Development Disabilities to expand its evidenced-based Intercept program to Douglas, Paulding and Rockdale counties, bringing access to in-home prevention care to more Georgia families.
The Leon Levine Foundation awards $1.1 million grant to Youth Villages for expansion of community-based services
Charlotte, NC – (April 1, 2025) – Youth Villages, a nonprofit organization providing services to address children’s mental and behavioral health needs, today announced it was awarded a $1.1 million grant to expand its evidence-based Intercept program in South Carolina.
Program in Greenville helps at-risk youth in the community
The Youth Villages Intercept Program here in Greenville impacts at-risk youth in our community and across the state. The idea of “Intercept” is to reach kids who are at risk of being placed outside of the home, coming home from a foster care placement or mental health hospital and keeping them with their families in a healthy, successful living space.
Right help at the right time: Jasmin and Kayden reunited with Intercept
Every year in the United States, only half of the number of children who enter the child welfare system are reunified with family. The goal of foster care is for families to be reunited after the necessary steps have been taken to ensure the well-being of the household.
Intercept helps Victoria identify, work through her feelings
In 2023, Theresa began seeking support for her 8-year-old granddaughter, Victoria. Her family was under a lot of stress from financial hardship, physical health problems and emotional and behavioral aggression from Victoria. She knew they needed additional support, but wanted to make sure she and her husband remained the primary caregivers for Victoria.
Intercept Helps Keep Families Together
At the beginning of their journey with Youth Villages, Donna felt she had reached the very end of the road and didn’t know what else to do. “I was on I-85 and thinking to myself, I could end it all right now,” Donna said.
Josiah’s Story
When the Department of Children and Families introduced Kallie and her children, 6-year-old Josiah and 1-year-old Jazmine, to the Intercept program.
Mobile mental health program brings care to Tennessee’s youth in need
Tennessee has been ranked 40th in the nation for access to mental health care, according to Mental Health America. One state-funded program is working to expand access for Tennessee’s youngest patients by meeting them where they are.
Healing from Within, Blake’s Path to Finding Self Control
Blake struggled with anger for most of his childhood, and as he got older, he became more physical. He attended weekly therapy, but it didn’t have much of an impact on his ability to cope.
Lack of suitable housing shouldn’t destroy a family
Stable housing can make – or break – a family. Due to the state of their single mom’s home, 10 children were at risk of being removed and experiencing the trauma that comes with it.
Jay gets a voice
For a long time, Stacy was worried her 12-year-old son, Jay, would be removed from her home. Despite Jay being very social, active among his peer group and good at engaging with other kids his age, he was often physically aggressive at home, struggled with substance use, general delinquency and was destroying items in his home.
Getting creative with therapeutic interventions
Creativity is important. Simply engaging in creative activities can boost your mental health and a new survey from APA finds about 46% of Americans use creative activities to relieve stress or anxiety, such as playing the piano, crocheting a blanket, dancing with friends or solving crossword puzzles.
Intercept transforms family’s trajectory, keeps them together
Teenagers can create challenging moments for many parents. Those trying moments can be even greater for a single parent who loves and provides for their children but is stretched by work and other demands.
Massachusetts program keeps kids out of group homes, juvenile detention centers
Her 13-year-old daughter was already involved in the juvenile court system, was skipping school and the single-mother from Peabody feared her daughter could end up in prison. But she didn’t know where to turn.
Intercept brings help and hope to families in Maine
Youth Villages has offered services in Massachusetts since 2007 and in 2010, expanded into New Hampshire. I’ve worked for Youth Villages for six years and, in that time, I’ve held multiple roles. I started as a family intervention specialist and transitioned to a regional supervisor.
Focusing on mental health to mend a family
Having children is a life-changing experience, and most parents will admit you’re never ready until you become one. There is certainly not a universal manual on how to parent, and at the end of the day, most parents want to raise their children the best way they know how.
Through hardships, Jayden and Carina get the support they need
At Youth Villages, we believe children are raised best at home. However, some families need extra support to unload those extra stressors off their shoulders and learn tools to ease some of that weight.
