Rick Velasquez

Mr. Rick Velasquez has served Chicago area youth and families on behalf of Youth Outreach Services (YOS) since 1975 and has been its Executive Director since 1999. Trained as a social worker, he has focused his career in the areas of juvenile justice, adolescent behavioral health, child welfare services and public policy.

In addition to his work with YOS, Velasquez is a gubernatorial appointee to the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice Advisory Board the Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission. He is a member of the Redeploy Illinois Oversight Board to develop alternatives to incarceration of minors.

Mr. Velasquez holds a Masters of Social Work from the Jane Addams College of Social Work at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Northeastern Illinois University.