Lehigh County announces support for KidsPeace “walk-in assessments” program – will fund the assessments as well as case management for follow-up services for children and families who receive assessments.

Volunteers send Valentine’s Day messages of Hope, Help and Healing to kids in PA residential treatment programs.

KidsPeace education programs at Orchard Hills mark Black History Month; older students studying Black leaders fighting against historic and ongoing racism, while younger students learn about inventor Garrett Morgan, creator of the first traffic light (patented 100 years ago).

KidsPeace serves as a service site in Volunteer Center of the Lehigh Valley’s Volunteer Challenge; 15 Emmaus High School students work on redesign and planting of the Mary Stever Memorial Garden on the Orchard Hills Campus.

KidsPeace highlights ongoing medical education partnerships for psychiatry – medical school residency with St. Luke’s University Health Network, and fellowships with Lehigh Valley Health Network.

KidsPeace CEO Mike Slack publishes guest column in Morning Call newspaper in response to news of expansion of mental health services by locally based health networks – noting that the development is welcome but does not address the fundamental issue of workforce shortages at service providers.

The Web-based version of the 2021 KidsPeace Annual Report wins a Gold Award for Online/Interactive Media at the Lehigh Valley ADDY Awards – a competition featuring entries of marketing efforts across ALL industries.

Trey Carter named to KidsPeace National Board of Directors.

For the second year, KidsPeace sponsors a “Mental Health Break” promotion at the Lehigh Valley IronPigs Triple A baseball games.

KidsPeace’s foster care operations in Indiana and Virginia diversified into supervising visits between children and parents as referred by courts, child welfare services, private attorneys and by parents themselves who are involved in custody disputes.  This service is growing as the offices’ approach to and feedback from the visits are appreciated by all parties – strengthening our relationship with local referring courts and child welfare agencies.

The second annual KidsPeace Foster Care National Virtual Conference is held as part of observing National Foster Care Month.  During the event, Monique (Mo) Shoemaker of Muncy, PA is named the KidsPeace National Foster Parent of the Year.

KidsPeace dedicates public mural at Green Street Outpatient Clinic as part of hosting Community Day for the east Allentown neighborhood around the clinic.

Hope Center for Youth and Family Crisis opens “behavioral health urgent care” (BHUC) facility in Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina.  Several hundred guests tour the facility and hear keynote remarks from North Carolina Secretary of Health and Human Services Kody Kinsley.  Leaders from KidsPeace and partner Alliance Health present a vision for the operation that includes mobile crisis de-escalation and facility-based crisis services along with the BHUC concept. 

Building on experience at the FCCP level, KidsPeace launches an organization-wide Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) Committee.

3^rd annual “Sunset Social” event kicks off fundraising for new sensory-sensitive playground at Orchard Hills.

KidsPeace Foster Care in Chalfont (PA) receives Bucks Innovation and Improvement Grant (BIIG) to fund community engagement and social activities for foster youth and families.

KidsPeace celebrates National Ice Cream Month with “Ice Cream Days” at all locations.

Foster care operations in New York and Indiana receive major state workforce developments grants for staff recruitment, retention and training, along with new program development and facility upgrades.

Hope Center unveils new promotional video, showcasing the facility and explaining its purpose for the community.

KidsPeace supporters Scott and Tricia Reines donate 26 ukuleles to music program for children in PA residential treatment.

KidsPeace Central Region Board of Associates formed to support activities of KidsPeace Foster Care offices in Williamsport and Bloomsburg (PA).

Programs at PA Residential officially designated as “trauma-sensitive” by state health authorities; recognition comes as programs meet ten distinct standards of care.

Four associates join KidsPeace Lifetime Achievement group for those with more than 35 years of service to the organization.

KidsPeace Marketing and Customer Relations named “Best Exhibitors” at annual Probation Association of New Jersey conference. 

Jennifer Udvardi-Morris, program manager at KidsPeace Foster Care in Kingston (NY), authors guest column for Albany Times-Union newspaper on impact of staff turnover on the wellbeing of kids in child welfare programs; she calls on state legislators to do more in support of care workers.

The KidsPeace internal newsletter Week in Review publishes its 200^th edition to close the year; it includes a reprint of the very first “life hack” included in WiR, as a summing up of the lessons we seek to share to clients in care:

You cannot command the wind; you can only adjust your sails.