As Chief Program Officer at the Children’s Services Fund of Jackson County (CSF), I see the commitment our community partners bring to supporting children and families every day. They help young people build healthy coping skills, support families through difficult circumstances, and provide care and safety when challenges become overwhelming.
Our latest investment strengthens that work. Through our 2027–2028 Calendar Year Core Funding round, CSF is committing $42.1 million to 81 projects across 71 organizations. Together with the Academic Year funding announced in April, CSF has committed $70 million in Core Funding through 2028 in services for Jackson County children, youth, and families.
These awards support services throughout the county, connecting families with help in the communities where they live, learn, and grow. They include prevention programs that build resilience and strengthen relationships, counseling that helps young people navigate challenges, and crisis care, shelter, and family support that provide stability during difficult times.
Making these funding decisions carries significant responsibility. We received more than $65 million in requests through the Letter of Intent process—far more than the funding available. Each request reflected a commitment to children and families, and difficult decisions were necessary.
During a challenging financial time, we placed a strong priority on sustaining existing services across Jackson County. Maintaining these services helps preserve trusted relationships and access to care that children and families depend on. We also made investments in programs focused on prevention, recognizing the value of helping young people develop skills and support systems before challenges escalate.
For me, these awards represent both a commitment to families and a responsibility to the community that makes this work possible. Behind every investment are public dollars entrusted to CSF, partners putting those resources to work, and children whose futures matter.
I am grateful to the organizations that share this responsibility with us. Their work brings these investments to life, helping children and families across Jackson County find support, build resilience, and thrive.
By Jovanna Rohs, Ph.D., Chief Program Officer
How CSF Funded Partners Support Children and Families
The following awards, which will span the 2027-2028 calendar years, were made during the October 22nd Board of Directors meeting:
| Program Org Name | Project Title | 2-Year Award Amount |
| Ability KC | Foundations of Wellness: Integrated Mental Health for Children with Disabilities | $420,250.00 |
| Provides accessible mental health support, education, and assessment for children and adolescents ages 6 months through 19 years residing in Jackson County. The program prioritizes early identification, integrated care, and equitable access to disability informed mental health services that support healthy development and family stability. | ||
| Amethyst Place, Inc. | Amethyst Place: Where Families Come Home to Heal | $1,399,930.00 |
| Provides a two-generation, holistic model of care within its supportive housing community to improve resilience and strengthen protective factors among Jackson County women and children recovering from poverty, substance use, and trauma. | ||
| Avenue of Life, Inc | Impact KCMO: Trauma-Informed Family Support Initiative | $780,650.00 |
| Provides trauma-informed family support interventions through Impact KCMO to strengthen mental health, emotional well-being, and resilience for children and families experiencing housing instability and other significant stressors in Jackson County. | ||
| Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Kansas City | One-on-one mentoring to support children who have experienced trauma | $256,250.00 |
| Provides trauma-informed mentorship support, behavioral health guidance, and community-based resource coordination to Littles who have experienced trauma in order to improve mental health outcomes, strengthen social-emotional well-being, and increase family stability. | ||
| Bridge Leadership Academy | Bridge Power to Thrive: Youth Leadership, Mental Health & Family Initiative | $223,245.00 |
| Supports children, youth, and families in South Kansas City to strengthen emotional wellbeing, improve school engagement, and build greater stability at home. Through coaching, counseling, family support, leadership development, academic assistance, and strong community partnerships, Bridge will help young people build the confidence, skills, and support systems needed to thrive. | ||
| Calvary Community Outreach Network | Healthy Faith and Youth Wellness | $323,520.00 |
| The Healthy Faith Program and youth wellness services build resilience, improve social engagement and increase school success for youth ages 14 – 19. Healthy Faith incorporates curriculum from the evidence-based, Teen Outreach Program developed by the Lyman Center in St. Louis, and adds safe community spaces for growth, healing, and empowerment that are supported by the strengths of faith-based organizations as leaders and problem solvers. | ||
| Camp Encourage | Camper Support Specialists | $28,126.00 |
| With the assistance of Camper Support Specialists, provides youth on the autism spectrum a specialized camp experience in which they build the knowledge, courage, and skills to be empowered participants in the community. This experience gives them practice to gain self-sufficiency and feel empowered when they return home and back to school. | ||
| Child Abuse Prevention Association | CAPACares Clinical Services | $1,093,675.00 |
| Offers trauma-informed, client-centered counseling services to empower children and families, equipping them with the resilience, skills, and resources necessary to reach their full potential. | ||
| Child Protection Center, Inc. | Trauma Treatment Program for Families and Children | $574,750.00 |
| Provides the Child and Family Trauma Treatment Program to achieve a reduction in trauma-related symptomatology by providing immediate access to trauma-focused and evidence-based mental health services to children/teens from Jackson County, ages 3-17, who are experiencing trauma reactions and who have received a forensic interview due to being physically/sexually abused or witnessing violent crimes. | ||
| Child Protection Center, Inc. | Prevention on Demand: A Comprehensive Offering of Child Abuse Trainings | $437,872.00 |
| Provides trainings for parents to achieve increased skills and knowledge around personal safety and social emotional well-being, both in-person and online, leading to safer, healthier, and more fulfilling lives for families in Jackson County. Through positive parenting training and prevention training that brings awareness to sexual abuse and by providing community prevention training, this project establishes a multitiered safety network that provides a comprehensive approach to safety in Jackson County reinforcing. | ||
| Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired | Building Opportunities for Our Students and Teachers (BOOST) | $400,208.00 |
| Provides early developmental screenings, behavioral intervention support, and family case management through BOOST to increase skills and knowledge around social-emotional well-being, ensuring young children in Kansas City’s most underserved communities enter kindergarten identified, supported, and positioned for lifelong success. | ||
| Children’s Mercy Hospital | TIES Program | $750,000.00 |
| Provides intensive, home-based family support, early childhood intervention, and care coordination to strengthen parent-child relationships, improve family stability, and promote healthy development for vulnerable families with young children at risk of or involved in child welfare. | ||
| Children’s Mercy Hospital | Healthy Families Children’s Mercy | $750,000.00 |
| Provides evidence-based home visiting and family support services to promote infant mental health, positive parenting practices, and family stability for at-risk families with young children (prenatal to age three). Through individualized assessments, parent coaching, and connection to community resources, the program aims to strengthen parent-child relationships and improve developmental and long-term wellbeing outcomes. | ||
| Community Assistance Council | Community-Based Family Stabilization and Behavioral Health Support Services | $69,700.00 |
| Provides comprehensive independence, stabilization, and integrated behavioral health services through the Empower and Next Steps programs. | ||
| Community Network for Behavioral Health, Inc. | Children’s Enhancement Program | $328,000.00 |
| Delivers comprehensive behavioral health and social and emotional services, including ABA and experiential therapies, to children and youth under 18 years of age. These services will improve emotional regulation, reduce behavioral challenges, and strengthen overall functioning, leading to positive outcomes at home, in school, and in the community. | ||
| Community Services League | Family Stability Initiative | $975,000.00 |
| Provides relationship-based support, resulting in more than 90% of children remaining stably housed and enrolled in school, with significant improvements in mental health, social-emotional wellness, and family resiliency. | ||
| Community Services League | Childhood Specialist Case Manager | $205,000.00 |
| Offered in Eastern Jackson County, this program strengthens youth mental health by ensuring children experiencing housing instability are connected early to trauma-informed care, counseling, and supportive resources that promote emotional well-being. | ||
| Cornerstones of Care | Functional Family Therapy | $750,000.00 |
| Implements a clinical model that empowers the whole family, to address personal and family risk factors that influence youths’ (ages 11-17) negative choices and reduce risk of further involvement in the justice system or use of drugs and alcohol. | ||
| Della Lamb Community Services | Culturally Responsive Mental Health for Refugee, Immigrant, and Low-Income Youth | $369,000.00 |
| Provides culturally responsive, preferred-language mental health services to children and youth among refugee, immigrant, and low-income populations. These counseling services are designed to create safe and supportive environments in which children and youth can explore their emotions and develop coping strategies for managing stress and adversity. | ||
| Down Syndrome Innovations | IDD-Specialized Mental Health Services | $410,000.00 |
| Provides specialized mental health and therapy services to cultivate sustainable community integration and drive measurable, individualized daily life outcomes for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Jackson County. | ||
| Drumm Center for Children | Drumm Farm Clinical Programming | $838,765.00 |
| Provides children in foster care and youth overcoming homelessness significant improvements in mental and emotional well-being and daily life functioning, reduction in high-risk behaviors, and stability needed to become successful and independent. Mitigating the long-term impacts of foster care and homelessness will prepare youth to be productive individuals. | ||
| Drumm Center for Children | COMPASS Transitional Living Program | $548,120.00 |
| Provides youth experiencing homelessness housing and intensive support services and skill building opportunities that allow them to gain emotional stability, educational success, career and life skills development, and the skills and resources necessary to transition to successful and sustainable independent adulthood. | ||
| Empowering Parents Kansas City | EPKC Community First | $430,500.00 |
| Delivers prevention-focused outpatient mental health services that strengthen mental health, reduce maladaptive symptoms and behaviors, and improve family functioning for children ages 5–19 and their families throughout Jackson County experiencing trauma, family instability, and behavioral health challenges. | ||
| Evangelical Children’s Home | Comprehensive Transitional Living at Steppingstone | $1,500,000.00 |
| Provides comprehensive transitional living and temporary shelter services to achieve less homeless youth in Jackson County by providing knowledge of skills related to personal safety and social emotional well-being for youth who are runaway, homeless, or at risk for homelessness between 16 and 19 years old. | ||
| First Call Alcohol/Drug Prevention & Recovery | First Call’s Family Services Programming | $488,300.00 |
| Provides prevention and family support services for Jackson County children, caregivers, and supportive adults impacted by substance use disorder. Through evidence-based education and skill-building programs, participants will strengthen coping skills, emotional resilience, family stability, and supportive relationships that contribute to healthier long-term outcomes for children ages 6–19. | ||
| Foster Adopt Connect, Inc. | Kinship and Bio-Parent Support Services | $570,000.00 |
| Provides intensive in-home services through community based family prevention services, aiming to prevent children in Jackson County from entering foster care, thereby promoting stable family environments and reducing the risk of trauma for the target population. | ||
| Foster Adopt Connect, Inc. | Family Stabilization and Intervention Services | $930,000.00 |
| Provides family stabilization and intervention services to achieve greater placement stability, mental/behavioral health, and caregiver satisfaction for children and families involved in the local child welfare system. Includes direct services to children that cannot be accessed through other providers and will improve the mental health outcomes experienced by foster/adoptive youth in Jackson county. | ||
| Foster Light | Foster Family Stabilization Program | $135,870.00 |
| The family stabilization program seeks provide respite care in order to strengthen protective factors, reduce caregiver burnout, and promote placement stability and social-emotional well-being for foster, adoptive, and kinship families caring for children impacted by trauma in Jackson County. | ||
| Front Porch Alliance-Kansas City, Inc. | Neighborhood Families—Early Childhood Education | $710,325.00 |
| Provides an intensive early childhood home-visiting and family support program, to strengthen social-emotional well-being, parenting skills, family stability, and healthy child development for children ages birth to five and families living in Kansas City’s Eastside. Through long-term, relationship-based support, families will build protective factors, strengthen resilience, and increase access to resources that promote safer, healthier, and more stable home environments. | ||
| Futures First | Childhood Mental Health | $1,230,000.00 |
| Provides childhood mental health consultation, play therapy, family counseling, and case management services to young children ages birth to five and their caregivers in Jackson County. Through trauma-informed, relationship-based services delivered in early learning settings and outpatient clinical environments, the project strengthens children’s social-emotional development, improve family stability and caregiver well-being. | ||
| Gilda’s Club Kansas City | Strengthening Mental Health for Youth & Families Facing Cancer | $94,500.00 |
| Provides evidence-based psychosocial support, family-centered counseling, opportunities for supportive social interaction and referral partner outreach to build protective factors, create pathways to safe, healthy, and fulfilling lives, and strengthen the mental health ecosystem for Jackson County children and families impacted by cancer. | ||
| Girls on the Run Serving Greater Kansas City | Girls on the Run Serving Greater KC Program | $92,000.00 |
| Provides a prevention-focused program that equips girls in grades 3–8 with coping strategies, strong connections to positive adult mentors, and lifelong social-emotional and personal safety skills, reducing risk factors, and promoting mental health and resilience | ||
| Grandview Assistance Program | Putting Students First | $177,000.00 |
| Provides up to one year of one-on-one case management and trauma prevention services to students and families of the Grandview School District facing adversity in order to achieve and maintain a more stable living environment for students. | ||
| Great Jobs KC, Inc | Supporting the Mental Health Needs of KC Scholars | $256,250.00 |
| Provides mental health support to high school KC Scholars in Jackson County, to increase skills and knowledge around personal safety and social-emotional well-being, leading to safer, healthier, and more fulfilling lives. | ||
| Greater Impact | Crisis Support and Intervention for children and families | $130,000.00 |
| Provides crisis intervention for children and families impacted by trauma and violence to support a robust crisis response system that ensures timely and effective support for children and families ages 5 to 19. | ||
| Hillcrest Ministries of MidAmerica, Inc. | Building Mental Health for Jackson County Children and Youth through Housing Sustainability | $567,412.00 |
| Provides on-site mental health and supportive services to improve mental health, mitigate childhood trauma, and build resiliency for formerly homeless children and youth living in Hillcrest Transitional Housing apartments in Jackson County. | ||
| Hope House, Inc. | Hope House Guardian Program | $545,911.00 |
| Provides supervised visitations and monitored exchanges of custody to families impacted by domestic violence in order to ensure the safety of children and their parents, both custodial and noncustodial. Seeks to reduce post-separation violence and protects the mental health and emotional-social well-being of children and families, ultimately breaking the intergenerational cycle of violence. | ||
| Hope House, Inc. | Hope House’s Children’s Services Program | $440,750.00 |
| Provides clinical services to children impacted by domestic violence in order to ensure their and their family’s continued safety and stability, as well as offer domestic violence prevention activities to youth in the community. Seeks to ensure that children have an opportunity to heal from the trauma they have experienced, grow into healthy and safe adults, and break the intergenerational cycle of violence. | ||
| HorsePower Experiential Learning Program | HorsePower Experiential Learning Program | $215,000.00 |
| HorsePower will enhance their infrastructure in providing trauma-informed equine-assisted group programming designed to strengthen emotional regulation, confidence, and coping skills in order to meet the needs of at-risk youth in Jackson County who seek services. By doing so, they will equip these youth with essential life skills to navigate challenges and build a brighter future. | ||
| Jackson County CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) | Advocacy and Intervention for Children Experiencing Abuse or Neglect | $900,000.00 |
| Provides legal representation and victim advocacy through its core model of a three-person team (Staff Attorney, Advocate Supervisor, and Volunteer Advocate) to achieve positive outcomes for children in foster care including family preservation, expedited permanency, and connections to consistent, caring adults to increase protective factors and social-emotional well-being. | ||
| Jackson County CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) | Volunteer Guardian ad Litem Advocacy & Intervention (CASA Pro Bono Program) | $594,500.00 |
| The Volunteer Guardian ad Litem Advocacy & Intervention Program achieves expanded capacity to serve children in foster care who are under the jurisdiction of family court due to abuse or neglect. Through this program, children will experience stronger protective factors and improved resilience, leading to greater social-emotional well-being and safety. | ||
| Jewish Family Services | Child and Family Counseling | $224,950.00 |
| Provides individual and family counseling to support children and families to improve their wellness and well-being and connect them with resources and supports that not only improve their lives now but build a stronger, more vibrant community in Jackson County. Also provides parents with education and positive parenting practices to help reduce parent stress and prevent abuse and neglect. | ||
| Jewish Vocational Service Bureau of Kansas City (JVS) | JVS Social Work – Youth (JVS Youth) | $1,230,000.00 |
| Provides comprehensive therapeutic case management, crisis intervention, case consultation, and social-emotional wellness groups for refugee and immigrant youth to strengthen mental health, build resilience and coping skills, and foster deeper connections to school, family, and community. Includes linguistically and culturally responsive mental health support for refugee and immigrant youth whose needs are often unmet by traditional service systems. | ||
| Kansas City Autism Training Center | Treatment Services for Jackson County Kids on the Autism Spectrum | $755,520.00 |
| Provides comprehensive and necessary treatment not covered by insurance for children with ASD. Treatments will help children achieve socially significant changes, such as transitioning to a typical educational setting, increasing family involvement, establishing greater independence, and building functional skills. | ||
| Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey | Mental Well-Being Support During AileyCamp 2027 and 2028 | $50,000.00 |
| Provides daily youth development sessions and individual counseling during AileyCamp Missouri, a six-week summer camp, to help youth ages 11–14 develop the social, emotional, and other life skills they need to live healthier and more fulfilling lives. | ||
| Kansas City Hospice & Palliative Care | School Based, Grief Group, and Individual Counseling Services | $434,288.00 |
| Provides grief support and mental health services to support children to develop skills in order to achieve recovery from the emotional and mental effects of loss and prevent complicated grief from negatively affecting the lifetime health of children and their families in Jackson County. | ||
| KVC Behavioral Healthcare Missouri, Inc. | Strong and Connected Families | $369,000.00 |
| Builds resilient caregivers and safer home environments for families and children in Jackson County. Through the evidence-based Strengthening Families curriculum, this project will increase parental capacity and social-emotional literacy to ensure children remain safely connected to their families and diverted from the child welfare system. | ||
| Leading Hearts | MERGE | $205,000.00 |
| Delivers transitional housing, trauma-informed mental health services, workforce development, and life-skills coaching for youth ages 16 to 19 aging out of foster care in Jackson County. | ||
| Lutheran Family and Children’s Services of Missouri | Mental Health Counseling | $338,250.00 |
| Provides counseling services to help minimize mental health symptoms for Jackson County children and youth, ages 3-19. | ||
| Metropolitan Lutheran Ministry | Family Stability Initiative | $410,000.00 |
| Provides the Family Stability Initiative, to support children and their families that are at-risk for and homeless in Jackson County in achieving housing and personal stability. | ||
| Metropolitan Organization Countering Sexual Assault | Sexual Violence Counseling for Children in Jackson County | $750,000.00 |
| Provides individual and group counseling and assessment services for child sexual abuse victims and their families to achieve increased resiliency, strengthened mental health, and reduce maladaptive symptoms and behaviors stemming from sexual trauma for hundreds of Jackson County youth and their families. | ||
| Mid-America Regional Council Community Services Corporation | Infant and Early Childhood Mental Wellness Initiative | $615,000.00 |
| Provides mental health prevention and early intervention services to children and families enrolled in Jackson County Head Start programs. | ||
| Mother’s Refuge | Transitional Living for Homeless, Young Moms and Their Children | $865,800.00 |
| Provides safe apartment-style housing, trauma-informed mental health services, and intensive case management through our Transitional Living Program to achieve permanent housing stability and family self-sufficiency for homeless mothers (ages 18–19) and their children in Jackson County. | ||
| Mother’s Refuge | Shelter and Services for Homeless, Young Moms and Their Babies | $242,052.00 |
| Provides 24/7 state-licensed residential care, trauma-informed mental health services, and intensive parenting coaching for homeless pregnant and parenting youth in Jackson County. | ||
| Newhouse | Therapeutic Support for Youth Survivors of Domestic Violence at Newhouse | $620,125.00 |
| Provides counseling and assessment via educational enrichment, therapeutic services, and pre-K through 12 programming to child and youth survivors of domestic violence and their families to foster stability, support resiliency, and strengthen mental health. | ||
| NURTURE KC | Promise 1000 – Collective Impact Home Visiting/Moving Beyond Depression Services | $1,300,316.00 |
| Promise 1000 agencies will provide home visitation and Moving Beyond Depression services, which help to strengthen parenting skills, reduce parental stress, reduce child maltreatment, improve overall health and social emotional well-being and promote child development and school readiness through strengths based in-home supports provided to vulnerable families parenting young children (prenatal-3 years of age). | ||
| Our Spot KC | Lion House | $683,200.00 |
| Provides transitional housing and identity-affirming wrap-around services to achieve stable, independent housing and strengthened mental health for LGBTQ+ youth and families experiencing homelessness in the Kansas City metro. | ||
| Paws & Pals | K.I.N.D. Therapy | $495,000.00 |
| Paws & Pals will provide K.I.N.D. (Kids In Need of Dogs) therapy to achieve improved mental health and emotional resilience for children and youth ages 5–19 and their families in Jackson County communities. CSF funding will enable the delivery of accessible, animal-assisted counseling that empowers participants to build coping skills, strengthen relationships, and thrive. | ||
| Peace Partnership | Empowering Children Through Low-Cost Behavioral Health Counseling | $293,150.00 |
| Peace Partnership’s Empowering Disadvantaged Children Through Low-Cost Behavioral Health Counseling program will provide affordable, office-based behavioral health counseling services that strengthen mental health, build resilience, and improve emotional well-being for disadvantaged children and youth throughout Jackson County. Funding from the Children’s Services Fund will increase access to counseling services for children and families who might otherwise go without care. | ||
| Police Athletic League of Kansas City Inc. | PAL Wellness & Resiliency Program | $293,150.00 |
| PAL will provide preventative, relationship-based programming during critical after-school and evening hours to strengthen social-emotional skills and support safe, healthy outcomes for youth ages 8–18 in high-need areas of Jackson County. | ||
| reStart, Inc. | reStart Youth Emergency Shelter | $1,000,000.00 |
| In partnership with Drumm Farm and Synergy, provides emergency shelter and counseling services to homeless, at-risk youth, with the ultimate goal of family reunification (when possible) and safe, stable housing. | ||
| reStart, Inc. | reStart Youth Street Outreach Program | $500,000.00 |
| In partnership with Drumm Farm and Synergy, seeks out and connects homeless, runaway, and at-risk youth with essential needs, community resources and assist them finding safer and more stable housing options in their journey out of homelessness. | ||
| River of Refuge | River of Refuge Transitional Housing Program | $120,000.00 |
| Integrates mental health counseling into a stable housing environment. The program strengthens both child well-being and family functioning through targeted therapeutic interventions, youth will build coping skills, resilience, and the capacity to overcome past trauma. | ||
| Saint Luke’s Hospital dba Crittenton Children’s Center | Smart Connections Intensive In-Home | $768,750.00 |
| Provides Smart Connections In-Home Services to ensure that Jackson County children battling mental health symptoms and the urge to self-harm continue to heal and that their families have the tools to help them successfully integrate back into their home, school, and community after they leave the hospital. | ||
| Serve the World Charities, Inc. | Impact Center & Impact Raytown Schools | $645,750.00 |
| Delivers trauma-informed family support interventions that strengthen protective factors, improve family stability, and support the mental health and social-emotional well-being of children, youth, and families experiencing homelessness or housing instability in Jackson County. | ||
| Seton Center, Inc. | Children’s Advocacy, Resilience, and Emotional Support (CARES) skill-building program | $307,500.00 |
| CARES skill-building will provide SEL, suicide prevention education, and referrals to individual and family therapy. CARES increases skills and knowledge around personal safety and social-emotional well-being for Jackson County youth with above-average exposure to adverse childhood experiences, particularly poverty. | ||
| Seton Center, Inc. | Children’s Advocacy, Resilience, and Emotional Support (CARES) therapy services | $615,000.00 |
| CARES therapy services will provide individual and family therapy to achieve strengthened mental health for Jackson County youth with well-above-average exposure to adverse childhood experiences, particularly poverty. The program will provide screenings, awareness, and collaborative meetings with other child development leaders in partnering nonprofits, schools, public health and regional government. | ||
| Sheffield Place | Crisis Intervention Services | $493,900.00 |
| Provides immediate crisis intervention therapy and case management for children impacted by significant trauma. | ||
| Sherwood Center for the Exceptional Child | Pathways to Independence: Social-Emotional Skill Building for Youth with Autism and Developmental Disabilities | $192,240.00 |
| Supports children and youth, ages 5 to 18, with autism and developmental disabilities build social-emotional, coping, personal safety, communication, adaptive movement, and independence skills. Seeks to provide interventions earlier, engaging caregivers, and coordinating with school partners so youth receive consistent support across home, school, Sherwood, and community settings. | ||
| Sisters in Christ | Safe Zone Neighborhood Hub | $235,750.00 |
| Provides access to case management services, a licensed professional counselor, a behavioral specialist, and summer/after-school youth programming to achieve resiliency and positive mental health for children in Raytown. | ||
| Swope Health Services | Nurturing Connections | $256,967.50 |
| Provides trauma-informed, developmentally responsive, and family-centered prevention and early intervention services that strengthen the emotional wellness, behavioral health, developmental functioning, and overall stability of children, youth, and families. Nurturing Connections will build resilient children, empowered caregivers, and stronger family systems by creating accessible prevention-focused supports that improve emotional wellness, developmental outcomes, school and community functioning, and long-term family stability. | ||
| Synergy Services, Inc. | Emergency Shelter and wrap-around services for Jackson County Youth | $717,500.00 |
| Provides emergency shelter and wrap around services for Jackson County homeless and runaway youth. Through shelter, mental health services, advocacy, recreational opportunities and wrap-around care, Synergy House Emergency Shelter will increase skills and knowledge around personal safety and social emotional well-being, leading to safer, healthier, and more fulfilling lives. | ||
| The Children’s Place, Inc. | Access to Early Intervention for Young Children in Jackson County | $1,500,000.00 |
| Provides a continuum of developmentally targeted therapeutic interventions based on thorough assessments in order to strengthen mental health, improve emotional regulation, and build resilience among children exposed to traumatic experiences early in life. | ||
| The Mattie Rhodes Memorial Society | Youth Violence Intervention and Prevention Program | $466,785.00 |
| Supports the social-emotional development, resiliency, and mental wellness of Jackson County youth ages 3–19 through arts-based programming, soccer, and evidence-based youth development activities. Programming serves primarily low-income youth in the Historic Northeast and Westside neighborhoods, reducing barriers to participation and promoting positive youth engagement and violence prevention. | ||
| Transformation Visitation Home | Supervised Parent-Child Bonding and Parenting Skills and Education Program | $153,750.00 |
| Provides safe, nurturing, trauma‑responsive visitation and family‑healing services to help children and caregivers rebuild trust, strengthen emotional bonds, and restore hope as they work toward reunification and long‑term stability. | ||
| True Light Family Resource Center | Mental Health Support for Children & Mothers in True Light’s Low-barrier Shelter | $100,000.00 |
| Provides mental health support through the services of a qualified provider to achieve improved mental and emotional well-being for the homeless children and mothers that reside in the True Light shelter. | ||
| Truman Medical Centers – Behavioral Health | UHBH Connections to Care | $772,900.00 |
| Offers (1) mental health outreach, coaching, and education and (2) outpatient youth and family therapy services, early crisis intervention, family support, medication services, and enrichment programs. Through these efforts, families, educators, youth-serving organizations, and young people will be better equipped with trauma-informed strategies and evidence-based practices that support healthy coping, emotional wellness, and long-term positive outcomes. | ||
| Urban Ranger Corps | Urban Ranger Program | $313,000.00 |
| Supports youth mental health, resilience, and emotional well-being through consistent relationships with trained Success Coaches who serve as trusted mentors and male role models. Weekly school visits and summer leadership, workforce development, service, and enrichment activities help youth build coping skills, strengthen decision-making, and connect with additional supports. | ||
| Wildwood Outdoor Education Center, Inc. | Respite & Recreation (R&R) Expansion to Jackson County Youth-Serving Organizations | $382,048.00 |
| Provides respite services through its R&R Program to enhance social-emotional skills, protective factors, and/or caregiver relief for Jackson County youth in foster care, mental health treatment, or partnering human service agencies. | ||
| Wonderscope Children’s Museum | Learning to Parent with Play (aka Parenting with Play) | $200,000.00 |
| Supports children and their caregivers to lower instances of future involvement with CPS by equipping families with the tools and resources needed to create building blocks for continued healing and growth. This program uses a play-based learning, research-informed curriculum rooted in mental health and social-emotional development to help families work to mitigate the long-term impacts of neglect or abuse and build and strengthen healthy caregiver-child relationships. | ||
| Youth Ambassadors, Inc. | Youth Ambassadors – Learning, Growth and Development | $235,750.00 |
| Youth Ambassadors supports underserved youth ages 14-18 with programs that promote social emotional health and wellbeing, while helping youth prepare for future career and educational opportunities. | ||
Read our announcement about CSF’s historic $42.1 million investment.
