News

Extended family, friends and neighbors, teachers, children, even foster parents can sometimes find it difficult to know what to say to a foster child in some situations. It’s important to realize your approach can impact how a child thinks and feels. These hints and tips are designed to give guidance on things you should and shouldn’t say to foster children, based on feedback from kids who [...]

Melinda Stutler does not consider herself an artist, but she couldn’t resist the urge to let her inner artist out when she walked into a room at The Village Network’s Uhrichsville office used for meetings and programming that involved foster children. The room was kind of drab, and she wanted something better for the kids.

Sometimes from deep personal loss comes something beautiful and unexpected. Just ask Patty Carroll … or the more than 70 foster youth who have brightened her door over the past 18 years. Carroll finished college later than most. She earned a degree in accounting at age 36, after having studied at Franklin University and the […]

A goal on The Village Network’s 2016-2018 Strategic plan was to create a Trauma-Informed Foster Parent Certification Training Program. The Uhrichsville and Mansfield locations were the first to pilot the program, and right away, foster parents began to have a different perspective about the foster children in their homes. Staff noticed that not only did the foster parents seem to have more [...]

WOOSTER — The Village Network is hoping to score big with this year’s sports-themed Sweet Jubilation fundraiser scheduled to kick off 5:30 p.m. Oct. 12 at the Greystone Event Center, 50 Riffel Road. Sweet Jubilation is the premier fundraiser for The Village Network, an experienced, multi-discipline behavioral health organization helping youth and families become resilient, […]

WOOSTER, OH – The Village Network is pleased to announce the appointment of Tammy Leaver as its Vice President of Human Resources. The appointment is a key part of the organization’s ongoing drive to support its mission to help youth and families achieve brighter futures. Ms. Leaver joins The Village Network with more than 25 years […]

Thanks in part to a grant from The Youngstown Foundation, local youth were able to access to the vital mental health services they needed this summer at The Village Network Youngstown’s Summer Programs.

It’s a short walk from J.T. Karaffa Elementary School to Toronto Junior and Senior High School, but it seemed like an insurmountable journey to Parker Williamson. Parker would have to make the trip because he was completing fifth grade and heading into sixth grade. For many students, the short walk between the two buildings on […]

Children can develop all of the same mental health conditions as adults, but because they’re still learning how to identify and talk about thoughts and emotions, they typically express them differently than adults. For example, depressed children will often show more irritability than depressed adults, who more typically show sadness. Children suffering from anxiety will […]

You are now 18.  You are on your own.  Now foster care is over and you’ve been couch-surfing for awhile and recently you’ve had a little trouble with the law.  No family.  No job.  No transportation. No bank account, not even a social security card.  No hope.