Where the Youth Services Field Comes Together
Focus is National Safe Place Network’s biennial national conference, bringing together youth-serving professionals, community leaders, advocates, and partners from across the country to strengthen systems of response for youth and families in crisis. It serves as a shared space for the field to come together—exchange ideas, reflect on challenges, and focus collectively on keeping youth safe.
Held every other year, Focus is designed to respond to the evolving realities facing youth and the professionals who serve them. While each conference features a distinct theme and location, the purpose remains the same: to support learning, collaboration, and meaningful progress across the youth services field.
About CYC Certification
Youth-serving professionals operate in a complex and rapidly changing environment, where rising mental health needs, housing instability, and safety concerns demand coordinated responses.
Focus brings the field together to:
Share Real World Strategies and Emerging Best Practices
Strengthen Professional Skills and Organizational Capacity
Foster Collaboration Across Systems and Sectors
Build Relationships and Continue Long After the Conference Ends
Each Focus conference is shaped by national trends, field input, and lived experience—ensuring relevance, practicality, and impact.
Who Attends Focus
Focus welcomes professionals and partners across disciplines, including:
- Youth-serving nonprofit leaders and staff
- Runaway and Homeless Youth (RHY) providers
- Social workers, counselors, and advocates
- Educators and school-based professionals
- Community and faith-based leaders
- Funders, policymakers, and corporate partners
From frontline practitioners to executive leadership, Focus offers meaningful engagement for individuals at every stage of their career.
The Focus Experience
Each Focus conference offers a thoughtfully designed experience that brings the field together for learning, connection, and collaboration.
Participants can expect:
- Expert-led keynote and breakout sessions
- Facilitated discussions and peer learning opportunities
- Interactive and creative engagement formats
- Dedicated time for networking and relationship building
The environment balances professionalism with warmth—creating space for honest conversation, reflection, and shared problem-solving.
Looking Ahead: Focus 2027
The next Focus conference will take place in 2027. Focus is held every other year and brings the youth services field together to reflect, learn, and strengthen systems of response for youth and families in crisis. Planning for Focus 2027 is underway, with details to be announced as they are confirmed.
Information on Focus 2027—including theme, location, and registration—will be shared on this page and through NSPN communications.
Check back for Focus 2027 updates.
