The state has cut $750,000 in funding for Kids in Crisis, which runs a shelter in Greenwich for children from Darien and other Fairfield County communities, the agency announced on Tuesday as it issued a plea for donations.
“The State of Connecticut, due to budget constraints, has decided to cancel its contract with Kids in Crisis,” the organization’s executive director, Shari Shapiro, said in an announcement titled “A Special Note from the Executive Director” posted on the Home page of the group’s website.
“This means that Southwestern Connecticut will no longer have State-supported emergency beds for children in need of temporary shelter when home is not safe. This cancelation of the Kids in Crisis contract has effectively eliminated all State-supported beds south of New Haven.”
Kids in Crisis
Kids in Crisis logo
In the past year, Shapiro said in the announcement, the organization responded to 900 calls on its hotline, served more than 132,000 children in the county and provided assistance to 6,000 children and adults from Greenwich to the Bridgeport area.
“This decision made by the State was justified by its sense that the need for those beds no longer exists in this region,” Shapiro said in the announcement. “However, in the last 12 months, Kids in Crisis provided more than 3,000 bed-nights of emergency shelter for Fairfield County families in need (an increase of 16.5% from last year), and responded to approximately 400 in-person, urgent crisis-counseling meetings (an increase of more than 20% from last year). These numbers affirm that the need has not diminished, but has in fact increased.”
Here’s the full announcement:
A Special Note from the Executive Director
What would you do if you called 911, and found out the service has been shut down – only in your community? Kids in Crisis is the “911” for children and families in Southwestern Connecticut facing a non-medical crisis. This past year, Kids in Crisis responded to more than 900 calls from our 24/7 hotline, (203) 661-1911, where more than 80% of those calls were identified as emergency calls. With the vast support of the community, Kids in Crisis has served more than 132,000 Fairfield County children and families. This year alone, Kids in Crisis provided assistance to more than 6,000 children and adults in Darien, Greater Bridgeport, Greenwich, New Canaan, Norwalk, Ridgefield, Stamford, Weston, Westport, and Wilton.
The State of Connecticut, due to budget constraints, has decided to cancel its contract with Kids in Crisis. This means that Southwestern Connecticut will no longer have State-supported emergency beds for children in need of temporary shelter when home is not safe. This cancelation of the Kids in Crisis contract has effectively eliminated all State-supported beds south of New Haven.
This decision made by the State was justified by its sense that the need for those beds no longer exists in this region. However, in the last 12 months, Kids in Crisis provided more than 3,000 bed-nights of emergency shelter for Fairfield County families in need (an increase of 16.5% from last year), and responded to approximately 400 in-person, urgent crisis-counseling meetings (an increase of more than 20% from last year). These numbers affirm that the need has not diminished, but has in fact increased.
Based on State budget cuts, the responsibility to provide emergency, short-stay beds for children in crisis in Southwestern Connecticut has now been shifted to Kids in Crisis, the ONLY remaining agency providing emergency and respite beds in the community to children birth to 17.
Kids in Crisis is committed to continuing its important work, despite the loss of $750,000 in funding from the State. Since 1978, Kids in Crisis has been providing crisis intervention and emergency shelter services for children and youth of all socio-economic backgrounds, who cannot immediately remain at home. The short-term shelter program is designed to stabilize the crisis, provide emergency respite in a therapeutic environment that is trauma informed, conduct a comprehensive assessment, strengthen family capacity and reintegrate and transition the child back home or to family-based setting.
Children of Southwestern Connecticut should not be allowed to fall prey to State budget cuts. Kids in Crisis will continue to respond to the needs of each child with support of the agency from individuals, corporations, foundations and organizations, while actively working to secure additional support from private and corporate donors, as well as community partnerships.
To donate, please click here.
Thank you for fighting for Connecticut’s children,
Shari Shapiro, Executive Director
November 10, 2015