Dallas, TX – Child & Family Guidance Center (CFGC) has received a $100,000 grant from The Rees-Jones Foundation, to support expansion of the Youth Empowerment Services (YES) Waiver Program and Mental Health Services to children and adolescents, increasing CFGC’s reach beyond the 6,000 children and adolescents it currently serves in Dallas each year.

The funding will enable CFGC to provide an additional 300 youth with comprehensive mental and behavioral health care within the next year. Children and families enrolled in the YES Waiver Program are typically in the program for twelve to eighteen (12-18) months. YES targets children and adolescents with severe and persistent mental illness, the very population most at-risk for substance abuse, suicide, incarceration, and frequent emergency room admissions.

“These children are often truant, defiant, aggressive in their home environments, unmanageable by parents, a threat to siblings, and unsuccessful in traditional treatment settings,” said Andy Wolfskill, CEO of CFGC. “It is intensive and challenging for everyone involved, but the family-centered, wraparound approach ensures the child steadily makes progress toward stability and improved functioning.”

Last year, eighty percent (80%) of children who completed the program showed improvement in at least one or more of the following areas: suicide risk, risk of doing harm to others, and level of family stress. “This grant will enable us to expand our reach to serve more children and adolescents who, too often, fall through the cracks of Dallas’ social safety net,” said Wolfskill.

About The Rees-Jones Foundation
Guided by its mission, The Rees-Jones Foundation provides opportunities for the disadvantaged, relief for the suffering, and encouragement in the growth and well-being of children and families. The Rees-Jones Foundation works to make a positive impact in communities across North Texas. The Foundation is passionate about working to improve quality of life and life circumstances of those in need. To learn more about The Rees-Jones Foundation, visit rees-jonesfoundation.org.

About Child & Family Guidance Center
Child & Family Guidance Center (CFGC) is the most comprehensive outpatient mental and behavioral health treatment provider in North Texas. A community leader in mental health care for over 120 years, CFGC takes a state-of-the-art approach to treating children, adolescents, and adults with complex mental and behavioral health challenges.

At CGFC, NO ONE is turned away regardless of their ability to pay. From diagnosis to therapy and medication management, our doctors and counselors help tens of thousands of North Texans each year recover from trauma caused by abuse, severe neglect, and poverty, empowering them to get their lives on track.

For more information or to donate, visit childrenandfamilies.org. Follow us on Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter. ​