- Services
At KVC, we want every child and adult to be safe & connected to a strong family and a healthy community. We’re proud to be a leader in innovative, effective and compassionate care.
Services Near You
Kansas
Nebraska
We also provide consultation and training through the KVC Institute. Learn more about our software and technology.
- Expertise
The Heart of Our Work
KVC helps health and human service agencies excel at caring for families with the most complex needs through a proven model that improves people’s health, their experience of care, and costs.
Focus Areas
- Overview of KVC’s Expertise
- Keeping Children Safe
- Keeping Families Safely Together
- Right-Sizing Congregate Care in Foster Care
- Preventing & Treating Childhood Trauma
- Suicide Prevention Expertise
- KVC’s Partnership with Sesame Street
- KVC Institute Overview
- Free Parenting Tips & Mental Health eBooks
- Consulting for Managed Care & Primary Health
- Consulting on Child Welfare & Behavioral Health
- Impact
- Events
- Get Involved
Children & Families Need You
Through KVC, you can strengthen families, prevent child abuse and neglect, and help create a bright future where every person is safe and connected to a strong family and a healthy community. Please join us today!
- About Us
About KVC
KVC Health Systems is a national leader in mental health and child welfare. Our network of local nonprofits are driven by a common mission, vision and values to strengthen families, prevent child abuse and neglect, and help children and adults achieve mental wellness.
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About KVC Health Systems
KVC Health Systems is a family of private, nonprofit organizations that strengthen families, prevent child abuse and neglect, and help people achieve mental health wellness. Through our broad continuum of care, we are proud to be a national leader in mental health and child welfare.
We Are KVC:
Check out our “We Are KVC” video above to get to know us. For nearly 200 years, we have provided heart-centered service to children and families in need. While KVC was founded in 1970, we stand on the shoulders of pioneering children’s charities from the early 1800s that integrated over time to become today’s KVC.
Today our team is 2,500 professionals strong across Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, West Virginia, and beyond. We’re among the top 1% of employers in the U.S. who have achieved an ultra-rare Work Wellbeing score of 81 on Indeed, showing KVC is an exceptional place to work.
Thanks to our team and supporters, KVC positively impacts nearly 80,000 people’s lives every year through in-home family strengthening services, foster care, adoption, mental health treatment, and inpatient children’s psychiatric treatment. Whether you are looking to connect to mental health or family services, or want to connect to a meaningful purpose by supporting our mission, we’re so glad you’re here.
What Does KVC Do?
At KVC, we help families in crisis with personalized plans that give them the support, skills and resources to be strong and happy. We help people experiencing mental health needs or even a mental health crisis with caring treatment so they can embrace their worth, build resilience and thrive.
We provide 24/7 support to children who have experienced abuse and neglect, and partner with caring relatives and foster families so they can heal from unimaginable trauma. We work to find children forever families through adoption. We help people who long for more in life by giving them a path to experience the joy of parenthood and helping children.
We also help health and human service agencies excel at caring for families with the most complex needs through a proven model that improves health, outcomes and costs. Learn about our consulting on child welfare and behavioral health, or consulting for managed care organizations and primary health.
Where Does KVC Work?
KVC has over 60 locations in Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, and West Virginia. See our locations here or contact us. Our headquarters is in Olathe, Kansas in the greater Kansas City area. We also provide training and consultation around the world.
Learn more about our local community teams:
- Camber Children’s Mental Health
- KVC Kansas
- KVC Kentucky
- KVC Missouri
- KVC Nebraska
- KVC West Virginia
- KVC Foundation
- KVC Institute
Watch a short video about our impact in people’s lives and check out our latest 2024 KVC Impact Report.
We also partner with many national and local organizations. See KVC’s partners and affiliations. We also recently announced we’ve partnered with Children’s Mercy Kansas City to build a million mental wellness campus in Olathe, Kansas. We’ve also partnered with St. Louis Children’s Hospital to build a children’s mental wellness campus in the St. Louis region.
What is KVC’s Vision, Mission & Values?
Our Vision: A world in which every person is safe and connected to a strong family and a healthy community.
Our Mission: To enrich and enhance the lives of children and families by providing medical and behavioral healthcare, social services and education.
What We Value:
- The heart of our work is helping people.
- Our character is built on authenticity and compassion.
- Family connection drives our culture.
- Collaboration fuels our improvement.
- Urgency and innovation mark our approach.
- Diverse perspectives are key to our progress.
- Always asking ourselves, “What would you want for your child?”
Our Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion
As a child and family serving organization, KVC commits to treating every person with compassion and respect. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender expression, age, national origin, disability, marital status, sexual orientation or military status.
We recognize the profound impact racism and other biases have on the health and wellbeing of children, families and communities. We commit to creating a positive, supportive culture where all are welcome and to providing the highest quality services to all children, adults and families.
By embracing an empathetic, pro-people, anti-racist, inclusive approach, we put our whole hearts into achieving our vision: a world in which every person is safe and connected to a strong family and a healthy community.
Learn more about DEI+B at KVC Health Systems.
What does KVC stand for?
“KVC” originally stood for Kaw Valley Center and was a single home founded by volunteers to help at-risk boys in downtown Kansas City, Kansas. Since 1970, the organization has expanded thousands of miles beyond the Kaw Valley region, serving children and families in five states (Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Kentucky and West Virginia) and even beyond U.S. borders. Today, the letters are no longer an acronym, but a way to think about what drives the organization forward as an international leader in behavioral healthcare, child welfare, and community health and wellness: Knowledge, Values and Connections. Read this article to learn more.
Services
KVC provides a broad, diverse continuum of services. While services vary by state, they include:
- Family strengthening & foster care prevention
- Mental and behavioral healthcare
- Family reunification services
- Foster care
- Adoption
- K-12 therapeutic education
- Intellectual and developmental disability services
- Youth substance use treatment
- Middle college for youth emerging from foster care
- Residential children’s mental health treatment
- Inpatient children’s mental health hospitals
Learn more about our continuum of care:
KVC is recognized for its use of evidence-based practices to achieve strong outcomes and is accredited by the Joint Commission, a seal which is considered the gold standard in healthcare. KVC also offers consultation and training, conducts research and more through its KVC Institute for Health Systems Innovation.
Ball Event Center in Olathe, Kansas
KVC Health Systems owns and operates the Ball Event Center in Olathe, Kansas, part of the greater Kansas City area. This venue is available to the public to host elegant wedding receptions, memorable social events and life celebrations, professional business meetings and all sizes and styles of corporate events. Learn more about the Ball Event Center here. The proceeds from Ball Event Center bookings benefit KVC’s charitable mission with children and families.
Learn More
- Meet our Leadership Team
- Learn about our history
- View our annual Impact Report
- See KVC’s partners and affiliations
- See KVC Hero and Partner Award winners
- Read our latest news in Thriving magazine
- Follow our blog for stories, tips and articles
- Learn about our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion & belonging
- Connect with KVC on social media
- Check out videos including success stories
- Learn more about our mission, vision and values
- Join our innovative team