After a year-long, all-encompassing renovation, the Children’s Home of Northern Kentucky can now provide a pro-active approach that brings services to at-risk youth never before available in the area.
All four floors of the administration building have been renovated, including the therapeutic day school operated in partnership with Covington Independent Public Schools. The day school marries traditional academic services with behavioral health treatment for at-risk adolescents.
While there are other types of therapeutic day schools in Kentucky, none are similar to this particular model. Presently, alternative programs exist for youth who are in the court/judicial system, such as with the Department of Juvenile Justice, or who have been placed into out-of-home care via the Department for Community-Based Services.
What CHNK now offers is a more proactive approach that services at-risk youth even before there has been such involvement.
“This major renovation accommodates state-of-the-art, medically-assisted treatment that simply can’t be found in other agencies across the region,” said Robert Hawksley, CHNK Board of Trustees President and Chief Executive Officer of Fischer Homes. “Being able to offer healthcare components like Telemedicine, supervised visitation, direct nursing services, and medical exam areas right on our campuses – all overseen by a board-certified psychiatrist who serves as our Chief Medical Officer – is truly a game-changer for CHNK and the youth who come to our door.”
In addition to the administration building, CHNK’s first residential adolescent substance use disorder cottage is also housed on the agency’s Devou Park campus. A $1.5 million grant awarded to CHNK last September by the KY Kids Recovery Grant Program and the Substance Abuse Treatment Advisory Committee (SATAC) is being used by the agency to fund personnel – including clinicians – for substance use disorder treatment throughout all agency program lines.
This residential cottage establishes the first and only treatment beds in the Northern Bluegrass region of Kentucky for adolescents recovering from substance use.
The Home’s newest location – a 5,200 square foot satellite office — is on Fifth Street in downtown Covington. The office space, now the “hub” for CHNK’s Champions community and school-based services, provides an array of private offices and treatment rooms for staff members to conduct assessments, screenings, brief interventions, and referrals to treatment, as well as outpatient and intensive outpatient services, drug testing, case management, and support services for youth with behavioral health needs. Champions staff will also continue to provide onsite support to multiple public schools in Northern Kentucky, as well as meet with families in private residences to provide family-centric treatment.
“We want our team to be as accessible as possible to the youth and families in need of our services,” shares Lisa Wilson, LCSW, CHNK’s Clinical Director of Community-Based Services. “This facility gives us the flexibility to operate a cutting edge adolescent intensive outpatient program for substance use disorders that may need a more substantial setting than a classroom or living room. It gives us ample space to accommodate individual outpatient treatment while simultaneously providing assistance to the adolescent’s family. We can also do onsite drug testing, provide in-house training opportunities, and generally provide greater access to our services for the wider community.”
Founded in 1882, Children’s Home of Northern Kentucky operates three campuses – one in Burlington and two in Covington.
CHNK’s mission is to be a community leader providing children and families with opportunity and hope for better lives by taking a family-centered, holistic approach to behavioral health and substance use treatment services for abused, neglected, and at-risk youth.
Last year, the Home impacted over 700 youth and families in 36 counties across the Commonwealth. CHNK is a member of the Children’s Alliance, Kentucky’s voice for at-risk children and families.
From CHNK