MHB Annual Report | FY22

Community Children’s Services Fund

Established in 2004, the Community Children’s Services Fund (CCSF) is dedicated to improving the well-being of St. Louis City children and youth from birth to age 18. Through three-year competitive grants and participation in community collaborations supporting the development of a coordinated system of care for children, the fund supports a wide variety of programs and services that address children’s emotional health and social connectedness by focusing on their behavioral health, addressing trauma, and providing family support.

FY22 marked the close of a four-year grant cycle for CCSF partners who received an additional year of funding in response to programmatic disruptions that everyone experienced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the transition to telehealth, limitations on in-person services, workforce shortages, and overall instability in the service sector, CCSF partners maintained a strong commitment to serving children and their families. Their flexibility and ingenuity has been remarkable. While almost all programs experienced a dip in enrollment and participation as a result of the pandemic, none of the 43 funded partners ceased program delivery.

Outcome Data/Number of Children and Youth Served

In FY22, 43 funded projects served 8,430 children and youth representing an increase of 49% or an additional 2,772 children and youth served compared to FY21. Additionally, 297 parents and caregivers were served through programs focused on helping them to have the knowledge, skills, and support for positive parenting. Demographic data for children and youth served in FY22 may be found in the following charts and graphs.

Additionally, 5.11 % of all children and youth served in FY22 reported experiencing homelessness and/or housing instability in FY22.

CCSF has Two Outcome Areas: Emotionally Healthy and Socially Connected

Emotionally Healthy

4,020 children and youth or 73% (5,477) of those served through MHB-funded programs, improved their emotional health as demonstrated by the following outcome indicator achievement displayed in the chart.

Socially Connected

2,759 children and youth or 85% (3,250) of those served through MHB-funded programs, strengthened social connections as demonstrated by the following outcome indicator achievement displayed in the chart.

Prevention Programming

In FY22, 3,570 or 41% (8,727) of children and youth served through MHB-funded programs participated in prevention-focused programming for whom we have demographic data and performance metrics.

An additional 1,473 children and youth in grades K-8 participated in universal, school-based prevention programming focused on violence prevention and substance use prevention, offered at 11 city schools.

Where do children and youth served by MHB-funded programs receive services?

Community Children’s Services Funding Dedicated for Early Childhood Programs & Services

Through the Community Children’s Services Fund (CCSF), MHB has been funding early childhood programs and services, such as onsite mental health therapists, home visiting programs, and parenting group prevention programming since 2006. In November 2020, voters approved a $0.06 increase in the CCSF property tax rate dedicated to expanding early childhood programming for children birth to age 5. During the spring of fiscal year 2022, MHB completed its CCSF grant application cycle and allocated funding from the new early childhood fund to award $2,031,336 to eleven childcare programs for the FY23 – 25 grant cycle.

The early childhood programs funded will 1) increase caregiver social emotional knowledge, tools, and resources, 2) increase family access to community resources, referrals, and support and/or 3) increase the availability of behavioral health prevention and early intervention services to ensure that young children are socially and emotionally healthy and ready for kindergarten.

Outcome Data