UPDATE: The timeline for this transaction has been extended through Spring 2023. The organizations’ boards and leaders are eager to bring their shared vision to life, and are working on an agreement to define details.

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We’re thrilled to announce that KVC Missouri and Great Circle, two nonprofits with a shared mission to serve Missouri children and families with high-quality children’s behavioral health and family services, have signed a letter of intent relating to a potential transaction. The parties intend for Great Circle to be restructured to come under control of KVC Missouri by July 1, 2022.

Hooper

“Bringing KVC Missouri and Great Circle together will elevate the quality of care across a wide range of services, from family strengthening prevention, to foster care, to children’s psychiatric treatment,” said Jason Hooper, President and CEO of KVC Health Systems, parent organization of KVC Missouri. “It will also rapidly expand the state’s capacity to care for youth with acute mental and behavioral health needs. At KVC, the heart of our work is helping people. Whether that means helping families in crisis with personalized support or helping state leaders solve complex problems in innovative ways, we’re eager to bring forward solutions.”

The restructuring will integrate two like-minded organizations whose approach to care is rooted in trauma-informed principles and a culture of continuous improvement. Together, the organizations can become the best point of care for child welfare, mental and behavioral health, and education services. Both KVC Missouri and Great Circle are fully accredited and partner closely with many state, regional and national coalitions to advance child and family wellbeing.

See map of combined KVC Missouri and Great Circle locations:

Fleming

“We have complementary missions and share a passion for strengthening families and helping children tackle life’s toughest challenges,” said Paula Fleming, CEO and President of Great Circle. “Together, we have a transformational opportunity to create a comprehensive prevention infrastructure that truly improves the safety, permanency and well-being of children, youth and families across our state.”

Like the rest of the nation, Missouri is in a period of rapid change with the implementation of federal Family First Preservation Services Act that is increasingly focused on strengthening families and safely reducing the need for foster care and residential treatment services. The entire country is shifting from child welfare to child and family wellbeing at a time when the acuity of need among children and families is greater than ever.

Stephenson

“From coast to coast, the U.S. is reimagining child welfare into child and family wellbeing systems,” said Lindsey Stephenson, President of KVC Missouri. “That’s because it’s much better for children and families, as well as for taxpayers, if we invest in prevention and strengthening families long before a mental health need or child maltreatment arises. I’m excited to continue to help the state of Missouri expedite its capability to be a leader in prevention strategies.”

More About the Organizations

KVC Missouri is a private, nonprofit organization that strengthens families, prevents child abuse and neglect, and helps people achieve mental health wellness. Its flagship location, KVC Niles in Kansas City, has a strong 139-year legacy as it was founded when Samuel Eason began caring for homeless children in 1883. The organization became Niles Home for Children and then joined KVC Health Systems in 2017. KVC Missouri’s services include family strengthening prevention, day treatment (K-12 school), children’s behavioral health services ranging from intensive outpatient to psychiatric residential treatment, treatment foster care, foster parent training and other community-based services for families. Learn more about KVC Missouri.

KVC Missouri’s parent organization, KVC Health Systems, is a family of private, nonprofit 501(c)3 organizations that strengthen families, prevent child abuse and neglect, and help people achieve mental health wellness. The organization has about 1,500 professionals nationwide across 35 locations in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Kentucky, and West Virginia. KVC has positively impacted the lives of over 300,000 people in its 50+ year history of providing heart-centered service. To learn more, visit www.kvc.org.

A behavioral health nonprofit, Great Circle provides a wide variety of behavioral health services to give a brighter future to children and youth and to strengthen families through its multiple campuses and community offices located across Missouri and in eastern Kansas. Great Circle was formed in 2009 by the merger of Boys & Girls Town of Missouri and Edgewood Children’s Center with the goal to help those struggling with difficult circumstances and to be a partner in our communities to provide that resource. Our organization has 900 highly trained employees dedicated to serving children and families across seven regions. We reached the lives of over 27,000 children, youth and families in 2021. To learn more about Great Circle, visit www.greatcircle.org.

Contact:

Jenny Kutz, KVC Health Systems
Media Relations for KVC Missouri
(913) 322-4994
jkutz@kvc.org