Boys & Girls Town South Central Missouri Campus in St. James
Served 1,790 Children and Family Members in 2006
St. James, Mo. (April 30, 2007) – The Boys & Girls Town South Central Missouri Region Campus in St. James served 1615 children and family members in 2006 through a variety of programs. The St. James campus total comprised of 34 percent of the 5,200 children and families Boys & Girls Town served statewide, making it the largest provider of treatment services among all of the agency’s four campuses.
Of those served, 355 children were treated in residential programs, 43 participated in community treatment home programs, 22 were treated through outreach services, and four youth were involved in the independent living program, which guides youth between ages 17 and 21 in developing skills for living on their own. Six youth received day treatment education through the state certified campus school. Auxiliary treatment services, including family therapy and other programs geared toward family members, helped 1,185 siblings and family members.
“The safety and well being of children from our community is our top priority,” said Fred Simmens, regional vice president. “Providing innovative treatment programs for children who are troubled or have suffered from abuse and neglect to help them create news lives and reunite with their families is our mission.”
Figures from the Citizens for Missouri’s Children’s 2005 Missouri Kids Count Data Book Online indicate 1,879 children in counties contiguous to and including Phelps County were identified as abused or neglected – an average of 48 children per 1,000 population. The average for Missouri is 41. Numbers are likely much higher than this as not all abuse or neglect is reported.
Child abuse affects the entire community.
Children who are abused or neglected are damaged physically, mentally, socially and emotionally, and are at higher risk for problems later in life such as adolescent pregnancy, substance abuse, juvenile delinquency and academic failure, according to Citizens for Missouri’s Children.† One study found that rates of arrest for violent crime were 21 percent for physically abused kids and 20 percent for neglected children by adulthood. Twenty-three percent of children who experience multiple types of child maltreatment had an arrest for a violent crime.
Where do Boys & Girls Town children come from?
Phelps County was the seventh largest county of origin for children in Boys & Girls Town treatment programs. With the advent of private agency foster care case management in 2005, Greene County continues to be the primary county of origin for children in Boys & Girls Town treatment programs, followed by St. Louis County and St. Louis City, St. Charles, Jefferson and Boone counties.
Children in Boys & Girls Town programs are referred by Missouri Children’s Division (55 percent), private insurance companies (15 percent), Missouri Alliance for Children and Families (8.4 percent) the Department of Mental Health (7 percent), the Division of Youth Services (6 percent), school districts (3.8 percent) and a few others.
In 2006, Boys & Girls Town helped children from 87 of Missouri’s 114 counties plus the City of St. Louis representing 80 percent of the state, and other states. Forty-three percent of the children at Boys & Girls Town are treated in residential programs. Foster care case management comprises 29 percent of the children served.
Where do Boys & Girls Town children go?
Ninety percent of the youth leaving Boys & Girls Town residential care in 2006 returned to live with a parent or family member, or transitioned into foster care or independent living services, or other less restrictive environment.
Boys & Girls Town expands program due to community need.
In 2006, the St. James campus expanded an already existing program to fit the needs of the community. The Creative Play Child Care Center relocated to Morgan’s Mountain across from the main campus and reopened in August. This center served 60 children from the local community as well as Boys & Girls Town employees.
New long term residential program focuses on children with attachment issues.
Woodland Spring Lodge, a newly developed program, is a behavioral health residential program for boys and girls eight to 17 years with emotional and behavioral problems whose behaviors may include: depression, substance abuse, impulsivity, anxieties and traumas that interfere with attachment and the development of trusting healthy relationships.
The 24-bed residential program of Boys and Girls Town of Missouri specializes in long term residential placements
Innovative therapeutic programs help troubled children.
Boys & Girls Town also serves hundreds of children through recreational treatment programs at the Meramec Adventure Learning Ranch in Steelville, Mo. The ranch provides the opportunity for children to experience the wilderness. Therapeutic treatment programs offered through canoeing, orienteering, rappelling and horseback riding activities help children build confidence, self-esteem and relationships with others.
A new learning center currently at the ranch site offers opportunities for children in Boys & Girls Town treatment programs throughout the state to experience outdoor therapy programming year-round. |
Columbia Region
