Stanford Youth Solutions + Sierra Forever Families is proud to announce our new identity – Stanford Sierra Youth & Families (SSYF). SSYF believes each and every child deserves the love, safety, and unconditional commitment of a family and the opportunity to develop as a healthy and productive adult.

“With this new identity, we are excited to bring a wider continuum of care to the youth and families within our community,” says Laura Heintz, SSYF CEO . “Our main focus is bringing the most comprehensive services to those that we serve, and with more programs and services available, we will be able to significantly increase our impact.”

With a new identity also comes a new mission statement: Transforming lives by nurturing permanent connections and empowering families to solve challenges together, so every child can thrive.

SSYF also created a renewed vision and set of values that further encompass the work that we do for our youth and families. Learn more here.

SSYF provides a continuum of care to empower youth and families to overcome challenges together, as well as connects youth in foster care to the permanent loving families they need and deserve. This includes the following array of comprehensive programs: family advocacy and support, behavioral and mental health services, juvenile justice intervention, mentoring, foster care, adoption services, and pre- and post-adoption support. SSYF supports the entire family with professional treatment and compassionate care, so every youth has the opportunity to thrive at home, in school, and in the community.

Our combined expertise and capacity as an organization also comes at a unique time, as we utilize our full range of services to serve the community during this unprecedented time. Information regarding our response to the pandemic and identified community resources that are directly related to the COVID-19 crisis can be found on our COVID-19 resources page.