Blog, Press Releases

22,000+ hours of service to 4,000+ children, family members, majority satisfied with care

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Among the commitments Family & Children’s Place makes to partners, funders and supporters is to report out regularly on our impact – the numbers of children and families we are helping and the positive changes we are making in their lives. It’s a subject we take seriously, so we have a strategic plan with very specific outcome measures, and rigorous metrics that reveal both quantitative and qualitative progress.

It’s a kind of demonstrated return on investment – because dollars provided and donated to Family & Children’s Place are investments, intended to stop and prevent child violence and abuse, and to help children and families that have been hurt recover; to be the safe place where healing begins.

So, following are some numbers that detail information such as hours of direct service to clients, number of clients (children and families), demographic information such as age and gender, and specific outcomes – results of how clients are achieving against goals. But remember that behind every number is a person, a child or family member, rebuilding their lives one success at a time.

People like Alina, who came to Family & Children’s Place for school-based therapeutic services after getting into trouble at school. She revealed that her father had sexually abused her, so her therapist contacted the Department of Child Services.

Over the next two years, Alina lived in three different foster homes and with one relative, which ended unsuccessfully. But through therapy, she processed trauma from her abuse and got help to cope with the many transitions in her life.  She responded well to her tailored treatments and this year her foster parents adopted her.

Today, Alina loves her adoptive family, has more self-esteem, less anxiety and she has real hope for a healthy, happy future. All because funders and donors believe in healthier tomorrows for children – and see, by demonstrable evidence, the benefits of their investments.

For example, in the first two quarters of our fiscal year, which runs July 1-June 30, staff has provided nearly 22,000 direct service hours to clients – case management, therapy sessions, forensic interviews, medical exams, visitation services, out of school learning, and other specialties.

In counseling and child welfare, a component of Child & Family Services, 86 percent of clients established goals they want to accomplish. Nearly 80 percent are making progress toward goals and more than 90 percent say they are functioning better – dealing better with issues in their lives.

In Family Stabilization, which works with families that are homeless or at risk of being homeless (241 families thus far this year, with 272 children and adults), 99.5 percent are tracking their incomes and expenses. More than half know their credit score, 99.5 percent have a defined plan to improve their situation, 54 percent have reduced debt or expenses and 39 percent are increasing assets. All are critical to achieving a sustainable, secure life.

Family & School Services is working with 132 children and family members, and a majority is engaged in activities to improve the child’s success in school and life, building social competencies and life skills and improving their academic performance – bettering grades. The programs specifically empower students and families to take control of their own outcomes and create their own successes.

HANDS, which works with new parents to give babies birth through age two the best start possible, is working with 510 families comprising 1,136 babies and family members. More than 97 percent of babies are current on immunizations, there’s no evidence of neglect or abuse in 95.5 percent of families, 96.5 percent of babies are achieving developmental milestones and 88 percent are born with healthy birth weight. These all are powerful contributors to giving a child a hand up for a healthy, successful life.

The PAL Coalition has taught 28 people Mental Health First Aid, so they can recognize and help people who may be experiencing mental health challenges, offered community trainings on Implicit Bias – bias or judgment we all display based on stereotypes – on Black Trauma and LGBTQ issues. These are critical conversations for a healthy community. Represented clients and participants are 43 percent African American, 42 percent Caucasian, with the rest representing others, including refugee families from Rwanda, Somalia and elsewhere.

The Child Advocacy Centers (CAC) in Old Louisville and New Albany, Ind., which work with children who allege sexual abuse, helped 655 children between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2016, providing 443 forensic interviews – detailed conversations with children to determine what happened – and 55 medical examinations to check for indications of and injuries from sexual abuse.

More than 90 percent of clients said they felt safe at the CAC, and 93 percent said the center and staff were friendly and pleasant.  In all, 17 percent of children and families were African American, 64 percent were Caucasian, with the remaining clients identifying as Asian, Hispanic or not responding. Nearly 30 percent of child clients were boys, and 70 percent girls.

Average age of children seen at the CACs was 10, and all children and cases were referred to the CAC by law enforcement – local and FBI – and Child Protective Services.

More than 22,000 hours of service to more than 4,000 children and family members, all showing progress or satisfaction with their care and treatment, in the first half of our 2016-2017 fiscal year. It creates a significant and powerful report card, proof that support drives success – for children and families and for the communities through better, stronger, healthier and happier citizens.

It’s a six-month snapshot, but it shows there is no better investment than in the futures of children and families who have endured violence, abuse, and neglect. And it’s a report-out that while we are proud of the positive changes we have been a part of, it affirms our commitment to do more, to recruit more to our cause and to have greater impact until we can achieve our vision of a community of happy, healthy children and families, free from abuse.