Youth Services of Tulsa executive director to retire after 40 years in the field - Tulsa World
six programs and 43 staff members to 15 programs and a staff of more than 100 that assists more than 18,000 youths and their families each year. Walker will retire from the agency, which provides crisis intervention, shelter and counseling programs for troubled youths and their families, on July 2. “When I applied, I told them I had to be the only applicant that had waited 25 years to... When Walker discovered Youth Services, he was drawn to the agency’s innovation: “They were always looking at trying something new and kind of cutting edge. During his career, at OU and Youth Services of Tulsa, he helped implement independent living programs, particularly for kids transitioning out of foster care. At Youth Services, he also brought attention to the plight of homeless youths — a population that, when he started, was barely recognized. “Every now and then we’d have kids come to the shelter and we’d ask where they lived and they’d say ‘I’m not living anywhere,’ ” Walker said. “It wasn’t until we sent some staff out to see if they could find some kids that we began to see the scope of the issue and the number of kids who truly are, for a thousand different reasons, out there on their own. Source: www.tulsaworld.com
