A new $3 million grant from the Valour Foundation will allow DePelchin Children’s Center to significantly expand access to counseling services for children and adults in the Greater Houston area.

The grant, which will be distributed over three years, will further DePelchin’s goal of providing more counseling services in schools, community centers and other Houston locations, with a focus on reaching under-resourced populations, serving at least 1,000 individuals who would otherwise be unable to access help for mental health challenges.

The Valour Foundation grant will support DePelchin’s three-pronged approach to reaching under-resourced children and families suffering with untreated mental health conditions:

• School-based counseling. DePelchin will expand its program embedding professional counselors in schools that have high proportions of under-resourced students. Since 2012, DePelchin has provided mental health clinicians to elementary, middle and high schools throughout Harris County. DePelchin currently has clinicians placed in 18 schools. The Valour Foundation grant will allow the program to expand to several new schools, serving a projected 120 additional students each calendar year.

• Office-based and virtual counseling. DePelchin will place more professional counselors in communities with high levels of unmet need, while also making counselors more widely available through virtual appointments. The Valour Foundation grant will fund new clinical staff, which will allow DePelchin to serve 200 new families in the first year and 230 families in years two and three of the project.

• Crisis counseling and triage. The demand for DePelchin’s no-cost, high-quality counseling services is high. Oftentimes this means that families must wait before being connected to needed services. With support from the Valour Foundation, DePelchin will implement a call-in assessment center that will expand their capacity to quickly connect families with needed services. With more available counselors, DePelchin hopes to offer same day or next day appointments.  Callers will be directed toward the most appropriate DePelchin program for their needs, or DePelchin may connect them with another organization. This expansion is expected to result in a 50% reduction in wait times from receipt of a referral to the first contact made with a clinician.

“In Greater Houston, DePelchin’s name is synonymous with high-quality mental health services, especially for children who have experienced the trauma of abuse or neglect, and for families whose mental health issues threaten their ability to stay together,” said DePelchin President and CEO Jenifer Jarriel. “Our vision is that of a world in which every child is safe and healthy, and this generous investment from the Valour Foundation will help us realize that vision by working with children and families who are under-resourced in regard to addressing mental health.”

The funding comes at a moment of tremendous need. Nationally, Texas ranks last in access to mental health services. As recently as 2021, more than 50% of Texas’ children diagnosed with mental illness received no treatment, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Beth Yudofksy, Director at The Valour Foundation, said “We are delighted to grant $3 million to DePelchin Children’s Center, empowering them to significantly expand access to counselling services for children and adults in the Greater Houston area. This three-year commitment aligns with our mission to enhance the mental wellness of individuals and communities, and support under-resourced populations in their pursuit of mental health services. Together, we aim to impact the lives of at least 1,000 individuals who would otherwise struggle to access the help they need. Our investment will support DePelchin’s comprehensive approach, spanning school-based counselling, office-based and virtual counselling, and crisis counselling and triage, all designed to reduce wait times and provide essential care. We are honored to partner with DePelchin Children’s Center in this vital endeavour.’’

Further, in November 2022, the Kinder Institute at Rice University published a comprehensive needs assessment of Houston ISD’s students, parents, and teachers to determine what types of services and supports should be prioritized to help students succeed. The authors’ top recommendation was to improve access to mental health services. School staff ranked mental health supports as the #1 priority for their campuses. Parents listed cost and knowledge about where to find services as primary barriers to accessing help.

One way to ensure that children are in safe and loving homes is to meet their mental health needs and those of their family members. With the start of National Emotional Wellness Month on October 1, we want to highlight the many ways that our programs support emotional wellness in children and families.

In fact, emotional wellness is a common thread throughout our work. For example, when we work with children in foster care, we work to make sure that they are receiving the counseling they need. We also provide counseling and parenting guidance for parents in our prevention programs, which aim to keep families safe and healthy so that foster care does not become necessary. At our Family Resource Center, we point families toward a variety of services that can help them, including mental health services. Finally, we provide school-based counseling at 18 campuses in four school districts in order to help the educators at those schools meet students’ needs.

All told, in 2022, DePelchin provided 19,000 hours of counseling and therapy services. 

Fortunately, we are building on these services. DePelchin recently announced a $5.9 million gift from Project Shine, Inc., a nonprofit organization supported by Houston philanthropists Lara and Bill Perkins. Some of that funding will allow us to decrease wait times for families who are served by DePelchin’s counseling programs. We will enhance its intake, assessment, and crisis response teams, while also hiring more clinical staff to increase the number of families who can access services. 

The gift from Project Shine will also help enhance the quality and scope of our residential programs, which serve youth including those who cannot safely reside in a foster home, those who are pregnant or parenting, and those who are about to age out of foster care.  

While we offer a wide variety of programs at DePelchin, they all work to support the mental well-being of children and families. We are grateful to the supporters who make it possible for us to address emotional wellness in children and families.

DePelchin Children’s Center, with generous support from two Houston donors, is launching a pilot program focused on preventing repeated instances of child abuse and neglect.

DePelchin’s three-year Together and SAFE pilot will team DePelchin staff with Child Protective Services investigators in Harris County. Investigators are tasked with responding to reports of child abuse and neglect but are often limited in the ongoing support they can provide.

In investigations where the risk for ongoing child abuse and neglect is high, DePelchin’s Together and SAFE team will partner with local investigative units to provide support to families immediately before, and for several months after, an investigation is closed. The services that DePelchin and its community partners will offer include trauma-focused mental health services, family-based therapy, fatherhood engagement, parenting education classes, basic needs, financial literacy, and referrals to additional services as needed. All services provided by DePelchin will be free of charge.

“Families in which child maltreatment has occurred are at the highest risk for repeated harm, which places them at the highest priority for intervention and help,” said DePelchin President and CEO Jenifer Jarriel. “Many families in this situation lack access to the resources they need to improve their mental health, decrease their stress, and learn effective parenting techniques. DePelchin is excited about partnering with CPS investigations to provide these services and reduce the risk of future child maltreatment.” 

The pilot is supported by an $860,000 grant from Project Shine, Inc., which is backed by Houston philanthropists Lara and Bill Perkins, as well as a $750,000 grant from The Brown Foundation, Inc. of Houston.  

“Our aim is to reduce the risk for ongoing child maltreatment and address family needs so that we positively impact the well-being of our community as a whole,” Jarriel said. “We are grateful to Lara and Bill Perkins, The Brown Foundation, and other supporters for making this work possible. And we cannot say enough about the enthusiasm and support from CPS leadership for engaging in this innovative partnership.”

“We’re excited for this partnership and eager to work with DePelchin to get families the support they need,” said Monica Sanders, the Regional Director overseeing CPS investigations. “Oftentimes we know families need more support than we can offer. Having DePelchin staff embedded within our units will help ensure a seamless transition from an investigation into services and support.”

A full-time DePelchin staff member will work arm-in-arm within selected investigative units to serve as the primary case manager for eligible families. The DePelchin staff member will accompany investigators to closing visits for cases and will immediately initiate services for families agreeing to participate. 

DePelchin has dedicated one case manager and two full time clinicians to addressing the individualized challenges of Together and SAFE families. Clinicians will use tools and strategies consistent with the successful evidence-based practices that DePelchin uses in other programs, while individualizing and supplementing services to best meet each family’s needs.

DePelchin and CPS will pilot and evaluate the Together and SAFE project over three years, with the possibility of expanding the program statewide after the pilot is complete and if it proves to be effective.

DePelchin Children’s Center will expand the reach and impact of its services for children and families with a $5.9 million gift from Project Shine, Inc., a nonprofit organization supported by Houston philanthropists Lara and Bill Perkins.

The gift, to be distributed over two years, is one of the most significant in the 131-year history of DePelchin, which works to support and sustain children and the families who care for them.

“In partnership with DePelchin Children’s Center, we seamlessly blend heartfelt compassion with data-driven outcomes,” Lara and Bill Perkins said. “By aligning our charitable efforts with tangible results, we guarantee that our donation catalyzes enduring improvements in the lives of children.”

The gift from Project Shine will impact five focus areas:

• Decreasing the time families wait to receive DePelchin’s free counseling programs. DePelchin will enhance its intake, assessment, and crisis response teams. DePelchin also will be hiring more clinical staff to increase the number of families who can access services.

• Establishing an innovative and unique partnership with the Harris County Child Protective Investigation team. DePelchin’s “Together and Safe” team will partner with local investigative units in cases where there is a high risk to children to provide ongoing support to families experiencing child maltreatment immediately before, and for several months after, an investigation is closed. Additionally, the team will be tracking long-term outcomes to measure efficacy and scalability.

• Investing in outreach and training support that is necessary to increase the number of families who can serve foster youth who are older, have higher clinical needs, are part of large sibling groups, or are living with relatives.

• Enhancing the quality and scope of DePelchin’s residential programs that serve youth who cannot safely reside in a foster home or with relatives, youth in foster care who are pregnant and/or parenting, older youth in foster care who are preparing to “age out,” and young adults who recently “aged out” of foster care and are learning to live independently.

• Expanding the work of DePelchin’s Data, Analytics, and Program Evaluation team. Lara and Bill’s generous gift also includes the funds necessary to advance DePelchin’s use of data to drive strategic decision-making, assess the impact of the above focus areas, and explore the utilization of advanced analytics and machine learning to improve service delivery and program evaluation.

“The overarching principle of every program we provide is to create safe, loving homes as well as opportunities for children and families to heal, grow and thrive,” said DePelchin President and CEO Jenifer Jarriel. “This incredible gift will enable us to reach more families with existing services while also creating new ways for us to serve vulnerable populations. We are profoundly grateful for the generosity of Project Shine and Lara and Bill Perkins.”

Texas children who are removed from their parents are increasingly finding temporary care with members of their extended families, such as grandparents, aunts, or uncles. These relatives often care for children who are difficult to place with traditional foster families, either because of their age or their unique needs.

Care provided by extended family members and close family friends is known as kinship care, and September is National Kinship Care Month. Across Texas, kinship caregivers fill an invaluable role in the lives of children and youth. When children are removed from their homes, Child Protective Services (CPS) seeks first to place them with a relative. In 2021, 45% of Texas children taken into CPS custody were placed with kin. Placement with a relative can allow children to remain connected to their families, cultures, schools, and communities. It also increases the likelihood that they will achieve “permanency” – adoption or a reliable relationship with the same family – before reaching adulthood.

DePelchin supports kinship caregivers in multiple ways. For example, if kinship caregivers are interested in becoming licensed foster families, DePelchin can help them through that process to ensure they receive the benefits that other foster parents receive — from support services from a case manager to the daily reimbursement rate to Medicaid health care for the children.

Kendra Burton, a mother of five who works full time as a nurse practitioner, became a foster parent through kinship care.

“When life presented this opportunity to offer my family more love, we connected with DePelchin,” Ms. Burton said. “They have been a great asset and liaison for our family.

Kinship care is one of the most rewarding things I have ever done in my life. To him that much is given, much is expected. This was our plan and I’m thankful and grateful to the organizations that assisted to make this process as seamless as possible.”

Most kinship caregivers do not seek to become licensed foster parents. While other foster parents are required to become licensed through the state, kin caregivers are not. They may not want to go through the lengthy application process, the more intensive monitoring by social workers, the 40 hours of training and many of the other requirements of becoming licensed. In addition, some families providing informal kinship care would appreciate the option to enter into more formalized foster care services and could benefit from the additional financial assistance. However, they do not qualify for those services.

DePelchin supports these caregivers through a program known as Big Hearts Raising Kids. Through this program, DePelchin staff help families find assistance with basic needs, provide guidance and coaching on parenting strategies, and connect kin caregivers with other families and DePelchin support staff.

“Our kinship caregivers often come to us needing support, guidance, and education, and we are here to help,” said Jody Chandler, DePelchin’s Program Manager for Prevention. “We are also here to show them the many strengths that they already have and the power of their decision to try.”

DePelchin is grateful for the families who provide kinship care and for the supporters who allow us to serve them.

Please click here to learn more about our kinship programs.

You may also support our kinship programs and other DePelchin services by making a donation.

Supporters of DePelchin Children’s Center have made it possible for more than 1,000 children to have new backpacks full of school supplies for the start of the academic year.

Through our annual School Supply Drive, DePelchin provides stuffed backpacks to children in foster care, counseling and other DePelchin programs in Houston, Austin, Lubbock, and San Antonio. Volunteers spend many hours sorting donations and filling backpacks to ensure that the children we serve have the materials they need to start school on the right foot and excel throughout the year.

The work behind our School Supply Drive begins well before backpacks are distributed. In the months leading up to the start of school, our generous supporters host donation drives, send supplies through our Amazon Wish List and make the financial contributions possible for us to distribute supplies to so many students. We are profoundly grateful to all who contributed to this year’s School Supply Drive as a donor or a volunteer. At a time when rising costs for everyday items weigh heavily on families, the generosity shown through our School Supply Drive makes a real difference.

As our children step into their classrooms with smiles on their faces and excitement in their hearts, they carry not just backpacks, but also the spirit of a community that believes in them and their potential. And because of our community of supporters, when children return home from school, they are going home to a loving, supportive environment. DePelchin is honored to work with children and their families in Texas and we look forward to supporting them in other ways during the year ahead!