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Kansas City Area Youth Agencies Merge Into Single Organization

Photo courtesy of Cornerstones of Care

Five Kansas City area agencies that provide treatment and support services for children and their families have merged.

The five – Gillis, Healthy Families, Marillac, Ozanam and Spofford – already operated under the Cornerstones of Care umbrella. The merger gives them one board of directors instead of five and allows them to consolidate their programs.

“We believe that as one organization we can deliver an even higher quality of consistent care,” says Denise Cross, president and CEO of Cornerstones of Care.

Cross says the merger will allow Cornerstones to respond more quickly to changing and emerging community needs.

“So no matter which door, or how they come to us for help, we can make sure that they have access to the full breadth and scope of services that we provide,” she says. “And hopefully that that will help them on their journey to being healthier and safer.”

The five Cornerstones of Care agencies provide behavioral health services, prevention and treatment services for victims of abuse and neglect, and transitional living services. The agencies operate primarily in Missouri and Kansas but also in Nebraska and Illinois.

Last year they served about 12,000 children and families, Cross says.

In Missouri, Cornerstones has a contract to provide foster care case management for the state.

The various agencies will retain their names but will be known as Cornerstones of Care-Gillis campus, Cornerstones of Care-Marillac campus and the like.

Dan Margolies has been a reporter for the Kansas City Business Journal, The Kansas City Star, and KCUR Public Radio. He retired as a reporter in December 2022 after a 37-year journalism career.
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