THE MISSISSIPPI CHILDREN’S HOME SERVICES

HISTORICAL SUMMARY

1910 The National Children's Home Society met in Columbus, Ohio, where Dr. J. R. Carter, superintendent of the Mississippi Baptist Orphan's Home in Jackson expressed a strong need for a children's home society in Mississippi for neglected and dependent children who were not served by orphanages.

1911 Dr. Hastings H. Hart, General Secretary of the national organization, came to Mississippi at the expense of the Russell Sage Foundation to make a survey of conditions of neglected, dependent children, and convinced the Rev. J. L. Green of Fort Worth , Texas , to visit Mississippi .

1912 The Rev. Green accepted the position of superintendent, and with his wife, organized the Children's Home Society in Meridian . He was told all that was needed was "a worker, an office, and a desk;" when he began work, he had it all but a desk.

1913 The Society relocated to Jackson and the late Governor Earl Brewer became president of the Board of Directors. The Society was incorporated under the name Mississippi Children's Home Society.

1916 Dr. Richard V. Powers donated the use of the 1801 North West Street block of land and provided funds of $75,000 to build the Kate McWillie Powers Receiving Home for Children.

1919 The Rev. Green died. Mrs. Green and later Dr. Carter served as acting superintendent.

1920 Dr. J. L. Sutton accepts superintendent’s the position. Dr. Sutton, "a promoter of modern standards in philanthropy and education, a wise and devoted friend of neglected and dependent children, a big hearted and thoroughly experienced and practical man in child welfare work," was superintendent of a boys home in New Orleans , LA. It is further reported that Dr. Sutton took up the work with such vigor, courage, devotion, and singleness of purpose that he not only retained the confidence of friends already won for the Society, but reorganized the Society on standards set by the Child Welfare League of America. He expanded the work and widened the reputation and usefulness of the Society, and to the day of his death, he maintained the standards set by his friend and yearly visitor and advisor, Dr. C. C. Carstens, president of CWLA.

1925 Thomas Gale deeded 240 acres of land adjoining the City of Jackson to MCHS, and William Alfred Dockery of Dockery, MS, gave the Dockery Baby Cottage to MCHS in memory of his son, Bill.

1942 The Society's charter was amended to include services to unwed mothers.

1945 When Dr. Sutton died in August, Miss Rose Davis, who served as the Finance Secretary for the Society for 37 years, became acting superintendent.

1946 Mr. J. O. Snowden is appointed superintendent.

1957 Crestview Maternity Home was founded. The home utilized a renovated residence with a capacity of 12, "serving white, unmarried mothers. It was called Crestview because it was located on a small crest with a view below." It was the only maternity home in Mississippi licensed by the Department of Public Welfare and approved by the Mississippi Medical Assn.

1959 MCHS applies for and is accepted by United Givers Fund of Jackson, Inc., for an allocation beginning March 1, 1959 .

1961 There are only two maternity homes in Mississippi with a combined capacity of 26 beds. "There were almost 400 white illegimate births reported last year for Mississippi ." "At present, Mr. J. O. Snowden is carrying responsibility as executive director of both MCHS and Crestview." A building committee is appointed to formulate plans and costs of a new building for Crestview and present information to the MCHS Board for their approval.

1962 Mr. Snowden retires and Mr. Harry C. Raymond is promoted from assistant director to executive director.

1963 All property of Crestview is conveyed to MCHS, the corporate structure of Crestview is dissolved, and all direction and responsibility for operation and upkeep is turned over to MCHS, with Crestview operated by the Auxiliary Board (under administration of MCHS Board).

1965 Crestview becomes a member of the National Crittenton Association and the name changes.

1966 The Crestview-Crittenton home loan is paid in full.

1968 Junior League of Jackson's annual Carnival Ball benefits the Crestview-Crittenton Home. Friends of H. E. "Slim" Allen donate a piano for Crestview chapel in Mr. Allen's memory. Mr. Carter Brown, landscape architect, draws plans for landscaping the chapel and recreation areas.

1970 Mrs. Fannie K. Wadlington, A.C.S.W., retires after many years as director of Crestview-Crittenton.

1975 The administration/services center facilities are built on the east side of the property, adjacent to North West Street .

1978 Christopher M. Cherney, national consultant and assistant to the executive director of the Child Welfare League of America, comes from New York to become executive director of MCHS. Mr. Raymond stays on for a year to assist Mr. Cherney.

1981 The Mother/Child Center program begins, providing specialized, residential care to high risk single mothers with infants, partially funded by Department of Welfare.

1983 The Mother/Child Center and Crestview-Crittenton maternity services are combined to become the Crestview-Crittenton Center for Mothers and Children. In the fall, the Kate McWillie Powers Group Home for Adolescent Girls opens adjacent to the Administrative/Services Center with eight beds to serve troubled girls. At the end of the year, the Martha Stennis Maternity Home opens a few blocks from the center, with six beds. The agency receives notice of accreditation by the Council on Accreditation of Services for Families and Children.

1984 The agency becomes a fully accredited member of the Child Welfare League of America ... the only agency in the state to hold such distinction. Time Out & Company, a program to provide counseling for runaway youth and their families begins with federal funding, and a new adoption project, Black Ministers for Adoption, is started to help locate families for special needs children.

1985 MCHS receives Dept. Of Mental Health funds for the ARK (Addicted - Rehabilitated Kids), a residential treatment center for chemically dependent youth. Revenue - sharing funds from the City of Jackson help provide educational needs, Federal discretionary funds enable MCHS to start Speak Out, Speak Up, a program to educate the public about child sexual abuse and prevent/reduce the exploitation of children. MCHS co-sponsors a statewide conference, “Teen Pregnancy-- Mississippi ’s Epidemic?” with the Governor’s Commission on Children and Youth. Stennis Maternity Home and Crestview-Crittenton Center for Mothers and Children are closed due to lack of substantial financial support.

1986 With the merger of MCHS and Family Service of Greater Jackson (MCHS/FSA) , April 1, the agency expands its mission statement, “... to meet the needs of children and families, whatever those needs may be, through a comprehensive child and family welfare organization that provides quality professional services.” From its original “home finding” services, the agency becomes a highly professional, multi-service, child and family agency, “committed to developing, implementing and evaluating programs that respond to actual service needs in the community,” and “being an advocate and leader in the broader community.” The merger provides a more comprehensive counseling program for individuals and families alike, and also brings Life and Lifestyles, a VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America ) program targeted at improving living conditions of troubled youth, low-income, elderly, and disabled or handicapped. In addition, the Employee Assistance Centers program, comprehensive reemployment centers providing a wide range of services to dislocated workers, comes under agency sponsorship with funding from the Governor’s Office of Federal-State Programs.

1987 Funding from the Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention allows continuation and program expansion of Speak Out, Speak Up to include prevention of missing/exploited children. The R.A.P. (Responsibility, Awareness, Prevention) Team program is started with Social Service Block Grant funds from the Governor’s Office of Federal-State Programs and the Junior League of Jackson, to address teen pregnancy in a teen peer program. Funding from the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA), acquired through Federal-State Programs, allows MCHS/FSA to open Opportunities Unlimited, a program to provide pre-employment/work maturity skills for youth in MCHS/FSA and other networking agencies. Additional funds from Dept of Mental Health enable MCHS/FSA to provide additional aftercare services to the ARK , and add a full, outpatient program for chemically dependent youth and their families.

1988 MCHS/FSA received the BEST MANAGED AGENCY AWARD from the United Way . With local community support, we become involved in developing a new group home facility in Jackson County , on the Mississippi Gulf Coast , our first program outside the Jackson area.

1989 The Gulf Coast Boys Home completes its first year and we receive a Mississippi Department of Mental Health grant and a Department of Human Services per diem to fund its operation. MCHS/FSA also secured funds to expand the Ark and Powers through additional grants from Mental Health.

1990 Area Banks and credit grantors ask MCHS/FSA to open Consumer Credit Counseling Service. The Mississippi State Health Department granted a Certificate of Need to establish a 20 bed child/adolescent psychiatric residential treatment facility. The ARK moved to a larger and safer location. Our re-accreditation process included the successful site visit and national re- accreditation by the Council on Accreditation of Services for Families and Children and certification from the National Foundation of Consumer Credit, Inc. The ARK Intervention/Intercept Program and the Time Out and Company’s Transitional Intervention and Prevention Service (TRIPS) seek to correct a multitude of adolescent problems and situations by working through the public school system.

1991 Consumer Credit Counseling Service opens for business and the Warren County Children’s Shelter becomes a reality with a grant from the Warren County Board of Supervisors. MCHS/FSA has its first major fund-raiser “Fais-Do-Do”. MCHS/FSA gets “fenced in”. We added a wrought iron and chain link fence around the entire Jackson campus.

1992 In December we had the ribbon cutting for CARES Center, Inc. The Gulf Coast Boys Home became the Bacot Home for Youth adding six additional beds for girls. Mrs. Bertha Bacot’s generosity made this merger possible. GREAT BALLS OF FIRE was our special event fundraiser.

1993 MCHS/FSA received a $100,000 planning grant from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation as the lead agency in a coalition of other agencies concerned about children who are in long-term foster care and their need for permanent homes. The Forrest County Children’s Shelter opened in March with a grant from the Mississippi Department of Human Services. The ARK worked with Jackson State University on a multi-year federally funded research grant for the study of HIV prevention among substance abusers. The RAP Team received a grant from the Mississippi Health Department for HIV prevention. SUNDOWN BLUES was our annual special event fund-raiser.

1994 Families for Kids Initiative received a 2.86 million dollar W. K. Kellogg grant for a three year project to increase permanency for children in the child welfare system who are not returning to their birth families. We received re-accreditation by the Council on Accreditation of Services for Families and Children. We were granted accreditation for fifteen different services for a four year period. We purchased the 1900 North West Street office complex. This purchase was made possible by a charitable property contribution from the prior owners. SIZZLIN’ COUNTRY was our special event fundraiser at Rodeo’s.

1995 We received funding for three regional Therapeutic Foster Care programs, in Tupelo , Meridian and Pascagoula , and for a Family Preservation and Support program in Warren County . We had our first “Wine in the Country” and our first “Shoot for Kids” special event. Signal Hill Home in Vicksburg and the Joseph Dixon Rowland Home in Grenada are in the planning stages.

1996 We opened Signal Hill, a group home for girls, in Vicksburg with a grant from the Warren County Board of Supervisors and the City of Vicksburg . Our children’s psychiatric residential treatment center, CARES Center , received re-accreditation with commendation from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. The ARK moved into our renovated 1801 North West Street campus. Our W. K. Kellogg Initiative, Mississippi Families for Kids, mobilized community support for system changes that promote permanency for children. Our fund-raising special events were wine tastings in Jackson , Gautier and Hattiesburg , our sporting clay “Shoot for Kids” and the holiday model train exhibition at MetroCenter, sponsored by the Jackson Society of Model Engineers.

1997 MCHS celebrated 85 years of service on November 7. An historical marker was placed on the 1801 North West Street property designating it the “Kate McWillie Powers’ Campus”. Completed an 8 bed addition to CARES Residential Treatment Center , merged the CARES and MCHS/FSA Boards. We provided services to over 100,000 individuals. Our successful fund raising events were our “Shoot for Kids”, “Metro Station”, our model train exhibit provided by the Jackson Society of Model Engineers and our annual wine tasting.

1998 Our Board voted to proceed with our first Capital Funds Campaign, Building Foundations for Families. This will raise the funds to build a Youth Development Center on our 1801 North West Street campus, in Jackson( one million) and increase our endowment(one and a half million). The Joseph Dixon Rowland Home for Boys opened in Grenada . 1998 was our most successful fund raising year in the history of MCHS.

1999 Our Capital Campaign moved closer to completion. The Council On Accreditation of Services for Families and Children notified us of our successful re-accreditation. Our adoption staff placed more children in permanent loving homes than we have for many years. Consumer Credit Counseling broke all past records in number of clients served and amount of money returned to the community. CARES Center maintained the highest average daily censes since its inception in 1993. CARES School ’s student enrollment increased significantly. South Mississippi Children’s Center sheltered more children and youth than ever before. In December we received notification of re-accreditation with commendation from the Joint Commission on Accreditation on Healthcare Organizations.

2000 We reached and exceeded our capital campaign goal by raising over $3 million. Construction began on the Elsie Meadows Hood Youth Development Center . Because of an anonymous philanthropist, we were able to purchase a Certificate of Need on the Mississippi Gulf Coast for a 30 bed psychiatric residential treatment facility. Our first annual fund campaign, Fulfilling Dreams, helped provide critical support of our current programs. Four new programs were added - The TANF pre and post employment program in the capital area, the intensive in-home treatment services on the Gulf Coast , the therapeutic foster care services on the Gulf Coast , and expanding of the RAP Team to the northern and southern regions of the state.

2001 We dedicated the Elsie Meadows Hood Youth Development Center on our CARES campus, in Jackson , as well as the addition to our South Mississippi Children’s Center in Hattiesburg . New programs added were the Therapeutic Foster Care Program and the Intensive In-Home Services and Day School on the Mississippi Gulf Coast . A partnership with North Midtown Community development Corporation resulted in the implementation of a tutoring program that benefits children in the Midtown area of Jackson . Our fund raising events were our annual wine tasting, our “Shoot for Kids” and our train display at MetroCenter.

2002 “90YEARS OF CARING”- MCHS celebrated 90 years of service to children and families. Our CARES behavioral health services were re-accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. To strengthen our corporate organizational structure, a management service corporation was established as parent company of the two service corporations – MCHS and CARES. With the help of the GodwinGroup, we developed a comprehensive marketing communication plan. We began the process of purchasing property on the Mississippi Gulf Coast , in the northeastern part of Harrison County , to expand our Gulf Coast services. In addition to our regular fund raising events, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mississippi gave the proceeds from “Kid Zone” ($40,000) to MCHS.

2003 We completed the purchase of an eighty-acre children’s campus and facilities in rural Harrison County . We relocated our Gulf Coast Day School , Therapeutic Foster Care and Intensive In-Home Services to this campus. We proceeded with implementation of our marketing communication plan with new marketing materials, a new logo, a unified corporate brand name and service mark that has been copyrighted. We completed a number of critically important remodeling projects on the 1801 North West Street campus.

2004 We successfully relocated our 30-bed Certificate of Need from the Gulf Coast to our Jackson campus.  We completed over 90% of the remodeling of a 10-bed latency age unit in our CARES PRTF.  We added four additional adolescent beds to our existing CARES PRTF.  We expanded our Gulf Coast Therapeutic Foster Care by adding offices in Hattiesburg and Jackson.  We successfully transferred ownership of our Consumer Credit Counseling Services to the Consumer Credit Counseling Services, Atlanta, GA.  We expanded our real estate holdings on Keener Street by purchasing the house adjacent to our 1900 North West Street Administrative Complex.  We raised funds in excess of $570,000 and we conducted a highly visible, marketing and financially successful, car giveaway fundraising event.   We received the Mississippi Center for Nonprofits’ 2004 Large Agency Award for Excellence in Nonprofit Management.  We constructed a climbing tower/ropes course on our 1801 North West Street Campus.

2005 We completed Phase I of the PRTF construction (14-bed Children’s unit, welcome center and chapel, remodeled kitchen).  We developed an architectural master site plan for 1801 North West Street campus.   We closed our Gulf Coast Day School.  We won the Large Non-Profit Agency Award at the 2005 Salute to Business and Industry.  We successfully organized a committed, active and vibrant Auxiliary.  We defined a new organizational focus – (1) Family Centered, (2) Community-Based, (3) Youth Guided and (4) Employee Engaged. 

2006 For future program expansion, a generous donor gifted us with 21 acres located at the corner of North West Street and Woodrow Wilson.  We were successfully re-accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.  We implemented a system of therapeutic care that is trauma informed, client directed, relationally based and permanency directed.

2007 We developed a regional community-based service system in Jackson, Hattiesburg, Gulfport and Tupelo with satellite offices in Batesville, Greenville, Meridian and McComb.  We were awarded contracts, through competitive requests for proposals (RFP) to provide state-wide community-based services (i.e., Family Preservation and Medicaid Community Alternative to Psychiatric Residential Treatment demonstration project – MYPAC). We obtained Mississippi Department of Health approval for our CARES Center to become a state immunization site.  We began the silent phase of a $6,000,000 Capital Campaign towards our projected $7,000,000 construction project for three cottages and a arts and education facility on our North Campus.  We worked with architects (Canizaro, Cawthon, Davis), to develop the site plan and schematics for three 10-bed cottages and a 2-story school facility for 50 children on the North Campus.