Community Project Funding/Congressionally Directed Spending - Construction - Florence Crittenton Programs, Inc., doing business as Crittenton Services, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, established in 1895, to provide trauma-informed behavioral and mental health services to women, children, and families across West Virginia. The agency offers residential behavioral health care for girls and young women on the Wheeling campus, community-based mental health services for residents throughout the state, and trauma-informed educational services within Ohio and Hancock County schools. The mission of the agency is to instill hope and support through a range of services that empower individuals, families, and diverse communities to heal, grow, and thrive. Crittenton is accredited by the Council on Accreditation (COA) for the highest standards of professional practice. Crittenton’s Center for Young Women and Children, the agency’s residential treatment program, serves adolescent females ages 12-21 across the state, with gender-specific, trauma-focused behavioral health treatment. This includes a spectrum of services such as professional counseling, on-ground school and daycare, nursing care, parenting education, and life skills development. Clients are in the custody of the state and placed in our care for behavioral health treatment due to histories of abuse, neglect, abandonment, etc. Crittenton aims to break cycles of intergenerational poverty and abuse by addressing the unique needs of marginalized girls, and young mothers. The agency remains the only facility in West Virginia licensed to meet the specialized behavioral health needs of adolescent maternity and parenting clients. Crittenton Services is fully aligned with West Virginia plan to reform the youth services system, shifting the focus of residential programs to serve youth requiring intensive treatment, and keeping children within the state. Research shows that individuals with an Adverse Childhood Experience score of 4 or greater have a higher risk for depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts and attempts, dropping out of education, unemployment, and various health problems (Merrick et al., 2019). An internal review of intake and assessment data from fiscal year 2020/2021 reveals that the average Crittenton residential client’s ACE score was 7.2, emphasizing the critical need for targeted interventions. Furthermore, a 2023 study conducted by Marshall University found that out of the 909 youth placed within residential care in West Virginia between January 2023 and September 2023, 23% were placed in out-of-state care. In response, Crittenton intends to construct two new ranch-style residential intensive treatment homes on its Wheeling campus to serve adolescent females with a higher level of need, including those who may be pregnant and parenting and their children. These homes will provide secure, therapeutic environments closer to home, reducing the ongoing use of out-of-state adolescent residential services. This construction projects entail the development of two new standalone residential intensive treatment homes on Crittenton Service’s Wheeling campus, each accommodating up to eight adolescent females and four babies. Spanning approximately 3,000 square feet, these residential intensive treatment homes will feature single-story layouts with enhanced safety measures and improved supervision capabilities. This will enable Crittenton’s highly trained staff to provide improved comprehensive trauma-informed care, utilizing the ARC framework, to young girls, mothers, and their children. Each ADA-accessible facility will be equipped with bedrooms, bathrooms, a central dining area, laundry facilities, a centralized office with clear line-of-sight, and sensory spaces for family visits, therapy, and recreation. With these new residential intensive treatment homes, Crittenton Services aims to expand our capacity to serve adolescent female girls, mothers, and infants in small, warm, safe, secure, and therapeutic environments within the state.
