(Kingdom City, MO), (February 8, 2016) — Missouri Girls Town is one of 14 nonprofit organizations chosen by the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities to benefit from personalized expert assistance to better position the organization for sustainability as effective providers of child and family behavioral health services.

Missouri Girls Town is a member of the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities, a national organization that works to increase the number of children, adults and families who are able to live healthy and productive lives. Members of the Alliance are nonprofit, human-serving organizations throughout the United States and Canada.  Through a grant from the Annie E. Casey Foundation in 2014, the Alliance established the Residential Transformation Cohort as a learning and change leadership opportunity. Thus far, 22 members of the Alliance have participated in the cohort.

Missouri Girls Town is part of the third group of Alliance members to be connected to a highly experienced executive also from the Alliance member network. This “faculty” member will provide guidance with transitioning Missouri Girls Town’s operating model and making a transformational shift towards more home- and community-based models that include evidence-based models of practice.  “Missouri Girls Town is honored to have been selected for this great learning opportunity” says Kathy Becker, Executive Director of Girls Town.  “Through this initiative, we are confident that we will increase and improve our services to children and families in need.  “
The Alliance faculty member and a project facilitator will help Missouri Girls Town as it transitions from traditional residential care to a new model that emphasizes a child- and family-centered values approach. The new model will be (1) rooted in evidence-based or evidence-informed services; (2) have a child- and family-centered approach and values orientation; and (3) build a community service array that includes residential treatment as a part of the continuum of care.  All 14 participating organizations will take part in group learning opportunities; receive guided support in development of a customized organizational transformation plan; and engage their board leadership to facilitate strategic alignment at the governance level to support organizational change.

Founded in 1953 by the General Federation of Women’s Clubs of Missouri, Missouri Girls Town’s mission is to create a loving and stable environment for the care and treatment of clients, so that each young woman may gain a new start in life.  Please visit www.mogirlstown.org for more information.

The Alliance for Strong Families and Communities is a national organization dedicated to achieving a vision of a healthy society and strong communities for all children, adults, and families. The Alliance works for transformational change by representing and supporting its network of hundreds of nonprofit human serving organizations across North America as they translate knowledge into best practices that improve their communities. Working with and through its member network on leadership and advocacy, the Alliance strives to achieve high impact by reducing the number of people living in poverty; increasing the number of people with opportunities to live healthy lives; and increasing the number of people with access to educational and employment success. Go to www.alliance1.org for more information.