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Cornerstones of Care is dedicated to partnering for safe and healthy communities by leveraging decades of expertise and a certification in trauma-informed care to provide an array of quality prevention, treatment and support services to children and families. We strive to affect positive change, give a stronger voice to those in need, raise awareness in our communities and deliver a fully integrated approach to care.

Statement Regarding Ozanam Campus Safety Response

April 30, 2019

The health and wellbeing of children in our community is our top priority. Due to HIPPA regulations, we are not able to confirm nor deny the care of any child. Youth served on our campuses are teens who have complex behaviors due to mental health challenges, cognitive delays and childhood trauma. It’s common for a child to have experienced abuse, neglect, domestic or community violence, multiple placements and psychiatric hospitalization. Thanks to generous support from our community, we’ve been able to improve safety with new technology including motion detector lights and security cameras. More secure entrances and exits with a key-card badging system have been installed. We have on-going communication with law enforcement, community businesses and organizations on ways we can work more closely together to support the youth we serve. We always welcome feedback and ideas from parents on how we can make improvements and would be happy to meet with parents to hear those ideas and work together, in collaboration with them to ensure the best care and treatment for their child.

Statement by Cornerstones of Care CEO Denise Cross Regarding Gov. Kelly's Kansas Child Welfare Grants Announcement

February 14, 2019

We are pleased that the foster care grants have been honored by the State, and appreciate the opportunity to collaborate with DCF to ensure the long-term stability for children and families. A smooth, collaborative transition for children and families is our top priority. It is disappointing to learn that the Family Preservation grants will be rebid as we proposed a high-quality, trauma-informed approach to help children in Atchison, Leavenworth, Wyandotte, Douglas and Johnson counties remain safely in their homes. We plan to pursue every opportunity to help ensure safe and healthy communities for Kansas’ children.

Statement by Cornerstones of Care CEO Denise Cross to KC Star

February 13, 2019

The following statement was provided to the Kansas City Star as a response to an inquiry regarding DCF’s review and scoring process. View the article.

We are committed to partnering with DCF and the broader community to strengthen the service system for Kansas’ children and families. While we have not seen the scoring of the responses, we have appreciated the opportunity to meet with the new DCF administration to offer our support, discuss the array of services we provide in communities across the state of Kansas, and to highlight key components of our service models outlined in our response to the Child Welfare request for proposals. Safety, well-being, and stability for children and families are our priorities. We look forward to partnering with the new administration and stand ready to continue our implementation of family preservation and foster care services.

Statement by Cornerstones of Care CEO Denise Cross on Kansas Child Welfare Grants

January 4, 2019

On November 1, 2018, the Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF) announced its selection of Cornerstones of Care as one of its providers of child welfare services under new grants for Family Preservation & Foster Care services, effective July 1, 2019. We were honored to have the opportunity to build upon our decades of serving Kansas citizens through our delivery of behavioral health, juvenile justice and family services to help improve the state’s current child welfare system and, most importantly, to improve the experiences of children served by the system.

Yesterday, Governor-elect Kelly’s transition team asked that we pause implementation of the Department for Children and Families’ grants.

Partnering for safe and healthy communities is our mission here at Cornerstones of Care, and we look forward to partnering with Governor-elect Kelly, her transition team and the newly appointed DCF Secretary for Kansas children and families. We stand ready to support the new administration and are prepared to work alongside them as they transition into leading our State Government in Kansas.

Governor-elect Kelly has a long career and track record of supporting children and families through her policies and leadership. This has been evident in her tireless commitment to the Kansas Child Welfare System Task Force, which has been working over the last year to improve the existing system for children. The Task Force recommendations were thoughtful and well-informed, and many were consistent with the approaches we outlined in our own proposals submitted as part of the Child Welfare Grants’ Request for Proposals process.

Yesterday we reached out to Governor-elect Kelly’s team to offer our full support and to assist as we can as they move forward. Safety, well-being and stability for Kansas children are our priorities, and we look forward to working with the new Kansas administration and the many other community partners across the state towards these efforts.