Northwest Arkansas Childrens Shelter

Who We Are

About NWACS

How We Help

The Northwest Arkansas Children’s Shelter is a private, non-profit organization that provides 24-hour residential, emergency triage care for children throughout Arkansas who are victims of abandonment, abuse or neglect. Our mission is to provide these children in crisis with a safe haven, high-quality care and hope for the future.

Our Values

Compassion

We will recognize and meet the needs of children with respect, sensitivity and unconditional love.

Excellence

We will set the standards for high-quality service to children by performing above the expected.

Integrity

We will strive with our words and actions to be worthy of the trust placed in us.

Our History

In the late 1980s, Juvenile Court Judge Terry Crabtree learned that Benton County children were sleeping overnight in DHS offices because there was a shortage of foster homes in Northwest Arkansas.

He rallied a group of community leaders to the cause, and the Northwest Arkansas Children’s Shelter was incorporated in July 1991. Through an outpouring of community support, including hundreds of volunteer hours, the funds were raised to hire a staff and secure a location. The Northwest Arkansas Children’s Shelter officially opened its doors on December 6, 1993, with five girls in residence.

Throughout our 26 year history, we have served more than 11,000 children in need of a safe haven and loving care – providing each of them hope for a brighter future.

  • NWACS long ago
  • NWACS now

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Northwest Arkansas Children’s Shelter only serve kids from Northwest Arkansas?

In spite of its geographically specific name, Northwest Arkansas Children’s Shelter serves children from throughout the state of Arkansas. The majority of its residents come from Benton, Washington, Carroll and Madison counties, but many come from the River Valley and Central Arkansas, as well.

How many children can Northwest Arkansas Children’s Shelter accommodate?

Northwest Arkansas Children’s Shelter currently has a total 48 beds, divided into four residence wings of 12 beds each. Residence wings are defined by age and gender.

Why and how are children placed at Northwest Arkansas Children’s Shelter?

The overwhelming majority of Northwest Arkansas Children’s Shelter residents are placed there by the Arkansas Department of Human Services’ (DHS) Division of Children & Family Services (DCFS), in response to a report or allegation of child abuse or neglect or an intervention by law enforcement. A few children are placed by their foster families for “respite care.” An example of respite care would be a situation in which a foster family has a need to travel out-of-state during a time when the child has a scheduled court appearance, etc. The three major incident/report types that result in a child coming to the Children’s Shelter break down roughly as follows:

  • Neglect – 80 percent
  • Physical abuse – 15 percent
  • Sexual abuse – 5 percent

Austin

by Paulette Nesbitt, Title I Aide, Bentonville Public Schools The effects of childhood trauma are vast and unique to each child. In the case of Austin*, an 11-year-old attending the on-site school at the Northwest Arkansas Children’s Shelter, the physical, emotional, and social effects of trauma exposure impacted every aspect of his academic day. Initial […]

Read more about AustinImpact stories

Meet Austin

by Paulette Nesbitt, Title I Aide, Bentonville Public Schools

The effects of childhood trauma are vast and unique to each child. In the case of Austin*, an 11-year-old attending the on-site school at the Northwest Arkansas Children’s Shelter, the physical, emotional, and social effects of trauma exposure impacted every aspect of his academic day. Initial reading and math assessments placed him two years below his fifth grade level. As our Education staff worked with Austin, evidence of an undiagnosed learning disability began to reveal itself. He shared with staff that he hated to read and that it triggered his fears. A great deal of his written work was illegible, with misspelled words that were constructed by a mixture of upper and lower case letters of various sizes floating across the page. Writing struggles flowed into math accuracy. Reading struggles flowed across the academic curriculum. As our staff uncovered his academic struggles, the polite, quiet and friendly Austin began to retreat under his ever-present red hoodie and sit with his head on his desk. He would fly into angry outbursts and refused to complete his school work.

Our amazing Education team was not deterred. They recognized Austin’s unlimited potential and let him know with each word and action that he was safe and cared for here at the Shelter. Through the tenets of trauma-informed education, Austin began to believe in himself make progress. When working with a child who has experienced trauma, all the lesson plans, diagnostics, intervention tools and targeted materials of the world are useless if the teacher cannot reach the student. Through the collaborative efforts of our education team, working together with our Youth Care Specialists, Austin has emerged from the hoodie and is actively participating in school activities.

We recognize his small and big successes.
We help him recognize the traumas of his childhood may have placed him where he is today but we hold a caring expectation that giving up, quitting, or hiding is not an option.
We listen to his conversations and discover his interests.
We design and construct targeted learning materials pertaining to his interests.
We helped him overcome his reading fears by providing time for him to listen to teachers read stories of interest. Then we gave him space to independently listen to audio books. He now readily comes to the resource room for reading and writing interventions.

These are just a few of the numerous trauma-informed techniques that have placed Austin on a learning path of success. He has improved his reading assessment to an average fourth grader at the beginning of the year and his math assessment to an average mid-year fourth grade student. More important than test scores, however, he ditched the hoodie, participates in classroom coursework and his handwriting is legible with the accommodation of Redi-Space transitional notebook paper. He is improving his decoding, fluency and comprehension skills as he reads aloud daily. Currently, he is reading and learning elements of real friendship through the book Bridge to Terabithia. Now, if he comes across a word he doesn’t know, his hand automatically reaches for the dictionary. He recognizes his own improvement in his written work as he confidently pointed out, “See how all my letters are on the line and all the letters are the same size?” We are so proud of Austin and his achievements. His next book of choice is Moby Dick!

*name and image changed to protect privacy

I learned that love is better than hate.

Tonya, age 17

I rode on a tire swing for the first time!

Mitchell, age 10

Due to a rough childhood, I had lost all hope in life. The Shelter changed my life for the better. I’ve been given opportunities I never, ever thought I could get in life.”

Rhiannon, age 17