Salina, Kansas · Serving youth and families across Kansas24/7 referral line (785) 833-2473
Forstter house at dusk with the porch light on

Youth care · Salina, Kansas

A safe place tonight. A plan for tomorrow.

Forstter provides trauma-informed residential placements for both boys and girls, offering compassionate care and professional guidance in a structured, supportive environment.

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About Forstter

Forstter is a Kansas youth services provider. We run an emergency shelter for girls, a YRC II home for boys, and a day respite program for families. Our trained sitters stay with young people in hospitals and during crisis transport.

Common room with a teal sofa, reading lamp and window
Home-like.
Not detention.

Where the name comes from

Why “Forstter”?

We spell Forstter our own way on purpose. Say it out loud and you hear three words that describe the work we do every day.

Foster

Care, nurturing, and guiding personal growth.

Fortress

A safe harbor, security, and shelter from the storm.

Forest

Deep roots, lasting stability, and natural development.

Care, safety and roots, in one name.

What We Offer

Four services, one team. Whether a youth needs a bed tonight, a place to grow, a day out, or someone to sit with them, we are here.

Emergency shelter house at night with lights on
Girls · ages 5–18 · 24-hour

Emergency Shelter

A short-term safe place until the next home is found. Same-day intake, awake staff all night.

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Basketball hoop on the YRC II court
Boys · DCF custody · non-secure

YRC II

Group care that teaches the next skill, not the next lock. School, daily living and a path home.

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Kite flying over a park bench on a sunny day
All genders · ages 10–17

Day Respite

A planned day of care so the family can rest. Supervised, structured, home the same day.

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Forstter transport vehicle on an open Kansas road
Hospital sitting · crisis transport

Sitter Services

Trained, background-checked sitters who stay with a young person until the hand-off is done.

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For child placing agencies (CPA’s) and Law Enforcement (PPC)

How a referral works

Every Forstter service starts the same way: one call, a same-day answer, and a plan that follows the youth.

  1. Agency contacts us

    A child placing agency (CPA) or law enforcement (PPC) reaches out about a placement. We confirm age, needs and fit.

  2. Same-day intake

    Medications, allergies, court status and belongings go into one record. The youth eats, rests and meets the team.

  3. Stabilize the day

    School, medical visits, visitation and daily structure, delivered by trauma-informed staff who are awake around the clock.

  4. Next step, together

    We work with the case team on the next home, program or hand-off, and share notes only the way the law allows.

Built for Kansas youth

Licensed care, trained people and one shared record, so every young person gets the same standard on every shift.

  • 24/7Awake staff in our shelter and YRC II homes
  • 5–18Ages served across shelter, YRC II and respite
  • 4Services under one team and one client record
  • 29Kansas counties in our sitter service area
Want to partner? Talk to us today

More than a bed.

Our promise

Structure without the lock.

Our homes are home-like, not detention and not a hospital. Staff are 21 or older, trained in trauma-informed care, and there on every shift. We teach the next skill so each young person can move to a family-like setting.

OUR APPROACH
A young person and a staff member smiling at a table by the window

Trauma-informed

Calm, predictable days and adults who explain every next step.

One team, one record

Shelter, YRC II, respite and sitters share a file, so nothing is lost between shifts.

Built on Kansas standards

DCF Placement Standards and KDADS rules shape how every service runs.

Standards we follow

VIEW ALL
Emergency
Shelter
Kansas DCF · Placement Standards, Ch. 8

24-hour care and a short-term safe place until a longer-term placement is found

Licensed under K.A.R. 28-4-123–132 and 28-4-268–280. Awake staff, trauma-informed care, and placement denied only when safety cannot be assured.

YRC II
DCF · Placement Standards, Ch. 7

Non-secure group care that raises functioning

Day Respite
KDADS · SED Waiver STRC

Relief for unpaid caregivers, home the same day

Sitters
KDADS crisis intervention

Trained, certified and background-checked

Our Staff
KBI/FBI checks · 21 or older

Screened and trained before working alone with youth

Careers

Be the steady adult.

We hire people who show up for young people: on the floor overnight, beside a hospital bed, or on call when a crisis hits.

  • Behavioral Health Technicians
  • Case Coordinators
  • Sitters
  • On Call Crisis Support
  • Facility Manager
See open roles