Youth in crisis to have a new alternative from Family & Children's Services

An initiative designed to reduce long-term residential placements for children facing a mental health crisis has resulted in a $250,000 grant to the Kalamazoo Community Foundation for the opening of a new residential alternative offered by Family & Children Services. 

The grant will also support Family & Children Services' Children’s Trauma Treatment program for children in foster care.

Kalamazoo Community Foundation is one of 29 community foundations in Michigan to receive a Michigan Health Endowment Fund (MHEF) grant during the 2015/2016 funding cycle.

Funding will support two, six-bedroom facilities on Family & Children Services' campus at 1608 Lake Street where children will receive temporary, overnight care. Psychiatric evaluation, nursing care, and coordination of community-based treatments will be available for those from across an eight-county region.

"Families whose child or teen is suffering a mental health crisis will now have a continuum of care from immediate crisis response, through the Mobile Crisis Response program, to short-term crisis residential support focused on stabilization – close to home," says Rosemary Gardiner, CEO of Family & Children Services.

Gardiner says the new residential option is something that has been needed for some time.  "Our human services and medical partners have needed this resource for many years. They encouraged Family & Children Services to step forward and create a local crisis residential solution. Children and youth with more acute needs simply do better in a smaller, home-like setting that can provide psychiatric evaluation, nursing care, and an individualized program for stabilization."

Carrie Pickett-Erway, president/CEO of the Community Foundation, says, "This is a powerful example of collaboration toward a common goal, with creative alignment among state, community foundation and local nonprofit agency resources."


Source: Kalamazoo Community Foundation