St. Louis Children's Substance Abuse Programs Receive $35 Million in Grants
The St. Louis County Children’s Service Fund announced that it will be awarding $35 million in grants to local nonprofit substance abuse and mental health programs that serve children. The grants are allocated to substance abuse and mental health agencies that provide services to children and adolescents ages 19 and younger as well as their families. Grantees of the service fund will be notified of their awards by mid July.
The St. Louis County Children’s Service Fund was created as the result of a 2008 ballot initiative, known as Proposition 1 or Putting Kids First, under which St. Louis County voters approved a 25 percent sales tax increase to help form a community children’s service fund that solely provides services to county children to protect their wellbeing and safety. In June, the St. Louis County Children’s Service Fund received 162 proposals from 87 different agencies. The funds requested in these proposals totaled more than $72 million—more than double the amount of funds generated from the county’s 2009 fiscal year tax. The Children’s Service Fund, however, was able to secure funds for those service organizations whose focus is on children and adolescents and their family security, fulfilling 90 proposals and 44 agencies. Approved agencies will be gaining their allotted funds from August 2010 to December 2011.
The St. Louis County Children’s Service Fund considers the county voter’s overwhelming approval of the 2008 ballot measure as a resounding communal agreement that area children and their safety are a top priority to the community. The Children’s Service Fund became manifest as the result of the determination of the coalition of voters and the many service organizations throughout the county, who successfully changed public policy for first time in decades. The $35 million in grants will also be funding such support services within the county that have been rather scarce for many years, including outpatient psychiatric treatment and counseling for children and their families, outpatient substance abuse counseling for children, and shelters for children. According to the Children’s Service Fund interim Executive Director Kate Tansey, these services have not existed in St. Louis County for more than 13 years. Tansey and the members of her board hope that these grants will help create the much needed change required to improve and secure the safety of at risk youth as well as the future of their community.
For more information about the St. Louis Children’s Service Fund, visit www.keepingkidsfirst.org.
