DYS has been serving youth in the City of Birmingham for over 15 years.  In 1992, a Youth Advisory Commission was formed to address teen pregnancy, education and illiteracy, youth gang violence, drug and alcohol abuse, and unemployment problems affecting Birmingham's youth. From this Commission, the City of Birmingham's Division of Youth Services (DYS) was created. The Division's role was to develop an approach to address these and other issues directly impacting our city's youth population.

In 2002, the SECURE Youth Task Force was created to reinforce Birmingham's commitment to its youngest citizens. SECURE is an acronym for Support, Educate, Council, Understand, Respect and Enrich. The goal of the Task Force was to develop a systemic approach to utilizing the City's resources to: (1) Provide increased access to youth services; (2) Design programs to encourage academic excellence; and, (3) Promote the safety of our city's youth. DYS continues to incorporate recommendations submitted by the Task Force into its program implementation and development.

As Alabama’s largest city, Birmingham is one of the few municipalities in the country with a division or department that specifically serves youth. With a dedicated staff, a strong commitment from the city’s leadership, solid collaborative partnerships, and diverse community relationships, we will continue to work together to provide Birmingham youth with opportunities that allow them to flourish. And, because we are a determined team, our primary goal will always be to put Youth First in the City of Birmingham!

•  DYS Disseminates Youth-Related Information
  To ensure that the public is aware of programs tailored specifically for youth, DYS serves as the City of Birmingham’s clearinghouse of youth-related information.  We use several different mediums to promote youth initiatives, including our Spotlight on Youth TV Show on Bright House Networks, our Youth First Newsletter, the DYS web site, our Olive Branch Project, mass mailings, and more.

• DYS Advocates Youth Inclusion & Participation
  DYS advocates youth inclusion and participation in civic and community initiatives that will give them an opportunity to be heard.  We do this by encouraging and supporting projects that foster the development of youth-represented arms of our city’s Council Districts, Neighborhood Associations, Citizen’s Advisory Boards, and Resident Councils.  

• DYS Creates & Maintains Collaborative Partnerships
  DYS has developed a network of youth advocates from the public, corporate, nonprofit, and faith-based sectors of the community that pool financial and human resources to provide programs, activities, and events for youth in the City of Birmingham.  DYS’ core partnership is its Youth First Dream Team. 

• DYS Assists With Monitoring City-Funded Youth Initiatives
  Each year, the City of Birmingham allocates funds to support local youth initiatives.  To help ensure good stewardship of taxpayer dollars, DYS assists the city’s Internal Audit Division with their contract compliance process, by monitoring youth-related programs and events that are funded by the city.

To help ensure that there are no gaps in services, DYS streamlines its holistic four-pronged approach through programs in eight key areas: 1)Athletics & Recreation,  2)Cultural Arts, 3) Education, 4) Faith-Based Initiatives, 5) Family Services, 6) Health & Wellness, 7) Mentoring, and 8) Workforce Development.

Click on the “programs page” for more information.