Mountain-Plains Youth Services Coalition

Mountain-Plains Youth Services Coalition, doing business as Youthworks, is a tax-exempt nonprofit based in Bismarck, North Dakota, that serves as a federal grant recipient providing youth homelessness prevention, emergency shelter, crisis intervention, and human trafficking victim services across the Northern Great Plains. Youthworks operates predominantly as a prime grant recipient (76% of recent awards) and secondarily as a sub-recipient of federal funding passed through state and local entities; the organization has no federal contract prime awards but maintains an active grant portfolio across HUD, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Justice.

Youthworks' capability portfolio centers on four concrete service categories funded through federal grants. The largest is youth homelessness prevention and intervention under HUD's Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (CFDA 14.276) and the Continuum of Care Program (CFDA 14.267), which together account for sixteen of the organization's top customer awards. Representative prime recipients include a $460,847 HUD YHDP grant awarded March 1, 2026, supporting coordinated community prevention for unaccompanied and pregnant or parenting youth aged 24 and younger in Bismarck through June 30, 2028; a $299,370 CoC award (December 1, 2025–November 30, 2026) providing permanent supportive housing, rapid rehousing, transitional housing, and supportive services; and a $129,034 CoC grant (January 1, 2026–December 31, 2026) for youth homelessness intervention. The second capability stream is emergency shelter and crisis services for runaway youth under the Administration for Children and Families' Basic Center Program (CFDA 93.623), exemplified by a $630,400 three-year award (September 30, 2025–September 29, 2028) for the Youthworks Bismarck Basic Center Program, which delivers up to twenty-one days of emergency shelter, food, clothing, counseling, and family reunification services to youth under eighteen. The third stream is transitional housing and independent-living support for ages sixteen to under twenty-two through the ACF Transitional Living Program (a multi-year award through September 29, 2029) and maternity group home services for pregnant and parenting youth through the ACF Maternity Group Home program (September 30, 2024–September 29, 2029). The fourth capability is specialized anti-trafficking services for female-identified and all-gender youth aged eleven to twenty-four. Youthworks holds a $1,266,518 Department of Justice Services for Trafficking Victims grant (CFDA 16.320, October 1, 2023–September 30, 2026) serving one hundred trafficking survivors annually with case management, therapy, and survivor leadership initiatives, and a $666,195 DOJ Girls in the Juvenile Justice System grant (CFDA 16.830, October 1, 2023–September 30, 2026) implementing gender-responsive prevention for female youth vulnerable to trafficking. Earlier, Youthworks received a $799,998 Services for Trafficking Victims housing grant (October 1, 2022–September 30, 2025) operating transitional and rapid-rehousing units in Bismarck and Fargo.

Customer concentration is moderately distributed across HUD, HHS, and DOJ operating offices. The top five customer organizations account for 91% of recent awards. HUD's Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development leads with sixteen awards totaling HUD-specific potential value; the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) accounts for two separate lines of fifteen and thirteen awards reflecting the dual ACF operations (Child Welfare and Youth Services); the Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention holds nine awards; and DOJ's Victims of Crime office holds eight awards. The concentration reflects Youthworks' specialization in youth-focused homelessness and trafficking interventions rather than diversification across civilian agencies.

On the sub-recipient side, Youthworks receives federal funding flow-through from state and local prime grantees. Sub-award activity reflects Youthworks' role in implementing federally-funded programs on behalf of state agencies. Recent sub-awards include shelter provision under a Legal Services of North Dakota pass-through (July 1, 2025); school-based interventions and juvenile-delinquency programs via the North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (multiple awards, most recent August 1, 2025); mental health services for children with serious emotional disturbances through the North Dakota Department of Human Services (CFDA 93.104, most recent April 8, 2024); and facility rehabilitation funded through a June 24, 2025 sub-award for roof and flooring replacement at Youthworks' STCAC shelter facility.

Activity has remained steady at seven to eleven awards per year over the past five years, with sixty-seven total awards across both prime and sub roles obligating $24.7 million combined. Five awards reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, presenting recompete exposure for the organization. Youthworks has operated continuously in the federal youth services space since at least 2006 and maintains a thirty-six-year operational history in North Dakota youth services delivery, anchoring its federal work in deep state and local partnerships and established expertise in runaway, homeless, trafficked, and street youth intervention.