While we are working to accomplish our mission, we are guided by the following principles:

1. While all youths have the capacity to change, the work of helping them to reach their potential is complex and uncertain. Therefore, we have to remain flexible and open to alternative approaches. When we are working with our clients to develop a problem-solving method that works for them, our commitment to them must be unequivocal.

2. We are spending the public's money. We need to spend their money carefully and should always be willing and able to account for how these funds have been expended.

3. The clients we serve are the reason for our existence. We respect their dignity and their right to self-determination. They have an absolute right to our best efforts and our honesty. Our adherence to professional ethics should be beyond reproach.

4. We are committed to upholding the principles of non-discrimination in the course of our agency's work.

5. Our organization and its staff should always model the kind of behavior we are promoting for our clients.

6. The families from which our identified clients come are critical to our clients' progress toward self-sufficiency. Therefore, our clients should always be treated within the context of their family system.

7. When it becomes apparent that one of our clients cannot be reintegrated into his or her birth parents' home, our goal is to find an alternative living setting for him or her, or to train the young person for independent living.

8. We are committed to being a learning organization that evaluates its outcomes, is open to new ideas and works to develop the skills of its staff members.