Agency History
Our story started in 1911, when The Right Reverend Monsignor H. C. Wienker and the Sisters of St. Joseph founded the Catholic Boys Protectory to provide a safe haven for boys too old to remain at St. Joseph’s Children’s Home of Erie.
Three years later, Monsignor Wienker began accepting youth from the Erie County Juvenile Court.
Over the next fifty years, the campus grew to include an administration building, school and recreation center, and home-like residential quarters with a chapel, garage, workshop, and swimming pool. The Catholic Boys Protectory was known at various times in its history as the Catholic Training School for Boys, the Harborcreek Home for Boys, and the Harborcreek School for Boys.
The 1970’s brought a progressive change in the treatment of troubled juveniles. The new philosophy prompted the school to purchase several community living facilities or “group homes” throughout Erie County. These facilities gave small groups of clients the opportunity to live off-campus with experienced counselors and guidance directors. With this radical departure from its traditional provision of childcare, the institution flourished.
The Harborcreek School for Boys underwent another transition in the late 1980’s when a shift toward an intensive treatment concept spurred the addition of intensive treatment units throughout the community. In May 1985, the Harborcreek School for Boys became Harborcreek Youth Services to more accurately reflect these changes in philosophy, programs, and services, while emphasizing treatment and education.
In 1998, the main campus experienced its first major construction in more than thirty-five years. A residential treatment facility, a unit designed to house and treat young men with mental health problems, was constructed. Additionally, a residential wing was added to the main building.
In 2005, Harborcreek Youth Services implemented changes in its residential program to become a Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility. The agency developed a Community Programs division that currently consists of Multisystemic Therapy (MST).
HYS began a process to study the impact of trauma on children in 2007 and later became certified as a Sanctuary® Agency. In response to this need, Harborcreek implemented its current Developmental Trauma Model to include multisensory therapies such as Music and Art Therapy, TRE and Movement Therapy, Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR), Therapeutic Writing, our Barton Method Enhanced Reading Program, and others. We proudly opened a new home for these services, the Father Jim Fahey Therapeutic Arts Center, in 2017, complete with an Art Therapy Studio, Music Therapy Studio, gymnasium, an indoor walking track, and fitness facilities.
In 2021, the HYS Board of Directors finalized steps for the agency to become independent and self-governing, ending a 36-year affiliation with Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Erie. With the support of Bishop Persico, this transition to self-governance was made with the idea that the agency has evolved to a point where it can continue to grow and thrive on its own.
For over a century, Harborcreek Youth Services has had great success with children who require treatment and support. Today, the agency is a model comprehensive behavioral health provider for kids suffering the effects of complex trauma. Our goal is now, as it has been throughout our history, to establish routine, healthy behavior patterns in the lives of at-risk youth, and to encourage them to trust and respect themselves and others as they heal.
In 2024, HYS celebrates its 113th year of service.
We’re proud to be a fully-accredited child and family social agency with programs designed to meet or exceed national standards and hold all applicable public licenses necessary to deliver child behavioral health services. Today, our organization currently has an operating budget of approximately $10 million and employs a full-time professional and support staff of 145.