South Carolina’s premier provider of foster care and community-based services.
The South Carolina Youth Advocate Program (SCYAP) is a private, nonprofit 501(c)(3) child-placing and family-serving organization that has proudly supported youth and families across South Carolina since 1990.
We specialize in delivering:
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Therapeutic foster care
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Community-based behavioral health services
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Individualized treatment programs for children and adolescents
Our mission is to serve youth with serious emotional, behavioral, psychological, and developmental challenges, helping them heal, grow, and thrive in supportive environments.
A Statewide Leader in Foster Care and Family Services
SCYAP was founded in Charleston to provide specialized foster care for children with complex needs. As the demand for services grew, we expanded across the state—relocating our State Office to Columbia and establishing regional offices to serve families more effectively.
Today, SCYAP is one of South Carolina’s largest providers of foster care and related services. Our programs now include a broad array of non-residential and community-based services that meet children and families where they are, especially during times of crisis.
Our Approach: Child-Focused, Family-Centered Care
At SCYAP, we believe that every child deserves individualized support and a path toward a brighter future. Our approach is built on:
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💙 Individualized care based on each child’s unique strengths and needs
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👨👩👧👦 Family-centered support that encourages reunification and lasting stability
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🏡 Community-based services that promote healing close to home
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🌱 Positive, trauma-informed practices that focus on strengths, not deficits
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🗣️ Cause and case advocacy to ensure every youth’s voice is heard and respected
Whether a child needs a therapeutic foster home, trauma-informed counseling, or wraparound community services, SCYAP is committed to providing compassionate care every step of the way.
Why Choose SCYAP?
✅ Serving youth and families in South Carolina since 1990
✅ Comprehensive, trauma-informed foster care programs
✅ Community-based support for behavioral and emotional challenges
✅ Trusted nonprofit with statewide reach and a proven track record
✅ A strong commitment to advocacy, flexibility, and family unity
Join the Mission
At SCYAP, we believe every child deserves the chance to feel safe, supported, and valued. If you’re interested in becoming a foster parent, partnering with our team, or learning more about how you can help youth in need across South Carolina, we invite you to connect with us today.
Who We Serve
At the South Carolina Youth Advocate Program (SCYAP), we are committed to providing equitable, inclusive, and trauma-informed care to children, youth, and families across South Carolina – regardless of background or need.
A Commitment to Inclusion and Non-Discrimination
SCYAP proudly serves children of all races, genders, gender expressions, religious beliefs, sexual orientations, and national origins. We do not discriminate based on race, color, creed, ancestry, disability, or the complexity of a child’s emotional, medical, or behavioral needs.
Supporting At-Risk and Special Needs Youth
Our primary population includes at-risk and special needs children – many of whom are navigating serious emotional, behavioral, mental health, or medical challenges. These children are often referred to SCYAP for out-of-home therapeutic foster care, community-based behavioral health programs, or in-home family support services.
Serving a Broad Age Range and Diverse Needs
SCYAP offers services to children and youth from birth through age 21, along with their families. Depending on their unique circumstances, the youth we serve may require:
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🏡 Therapeutic foster care placements
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🧠 Emotional and behavioral support
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🩺 Medical and psychological treatment coordination
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🏘️ In-home or community-based interventions
Our goal is always the same: to provide compassionate, individualized care that empowers children to heal, grow, and thrive in safe, supportive environments.
Mission & Philosophy
At the South Carolina Youth Advocate Program (SCYAP), every program we offer is rooted in our mission: to provide children with the care, support, and stability they need to thrive.
Core Beliefs That Guide Our Work
Our treatment philosophy is based on two fundamental beliefs:
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All children deserve a permanent, loving home and family.
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Children should be supported in the most normalized and least restrictive environment possible.
These principles guide everything we do – from therapeutic foster care to community-based interventions – ensuring that each child is met with compassion, dignity, and a sense of belonging.
A Strengths-Based Approach: Positive Youth Development (PYD)
SCYAP’s therapeutic model is built on the framework of Positive Youth Development (PYD)—a nationally recognized, evidence-informed approach that emphasizes:
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Building life and leadership skills
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Promoting resilience and emotional growth
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Encouraging youth involvement in family and community life
Rather than focusing solely on problems or diagnoses, PYD highlights the strengths, talents, and potential of every child. Interventions are designed to equip youth with the tools they need to lead successful, meaningful lives while staying connected to caring adults and their communities.
Why It Matters
When youth are placed in safe, supportive environments and empowered to build skills and confidence, healing begins. SCYAP’s trauma-informed, youth-centered care model ensures that every child is seen not just for who they are – but for who they can become.
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.