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KVC Health Systems

KVC Health Systems Releases 2016 Annual Report and Honors Alliance CEO Susan Dreyfus

2016 KVC Annual Celebration on Oct. 19

Editor’s Note: See photos from the event on Facebook.

KVC Health Systems, a national leader in behavioral healthcare and child welfare, will unveil its impact in the lives of children and families over the past year during its 2016 Annual Celebration taking place October 19 at the Kauffman Foundation Conference Center in Kansas City, Missouri. During the program, KVC will thank donors and partners and present its 46th KVC Hero Award to Susan Dreyfus, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities.

KVC touches the lives of over 60,000 children, adults and families each year through its diverse continuum of services including in-home family support, foster care, adoption, behavioral healthcare, substance abuse treatment, and psychiatric hospitals. In the 2016 fiscal year, KVC achieved these national results:

  • Directly touched 61,004 people’s lives
  • Helped 6,184 families remain together or safely reunite after foster care
  • Matched 442 children with adoptive families
  • Supported 6,319 children in relative, kinship or foster families
  • Provided 21,674 children and adults with in-home therapy and other critical support
  • Treated 3,492 youth and adults at its psychiatric hospitals

The full 2016 Annual Report will be online starting October 19 at www.kvc.org/2016report.

Susan Dreyfus, KVC's 46th Hero Award recipientEach year, KVC presents its Hero Award to an individual, couple or company that has made a significant difference in KVC’s evolution and in the lives of children and families. Susan Dreyfus will be the recipient of the 46th KVC Hero Award. The Washington, D.C.-based Alliance for Strong Families and Communities has more than 450 member agencies that are private, nonprofit child- and family-serving organizations. Collectively, Alliance agencies serve more than 4.6 million people across the U.S. each year, operate with more than $6 billion in budget, and employ nearly 140,000 full-time professionals.

KVC selected Susan Dreyfus for the award for her inspiring leadership of the Alliance and particularly its initiative called, “Change in Mind: Applying Neurosciences to Revitalize Communities.” It is a three-year initiative conducted in partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Palix Foundation’s Alberta Family Wellness Initiative.

The primary purpose of Change in Mind is to demonstrate the larger impactful role of the nonprofit sector as educator, convener, advocate and true influencer of getting appropriate systems aligned to science. KVC Health Systems is one of just 15 nonprofit organizations selected through an independent, competitive process to participate in Change in Mind. These agencies were chosen to infuse, align, and accelerate established neuroscience discoveries about the effects of life-altering toxic stress into their community-based work. The goal is that their work will determine if this groundbreaking science can transform policies to move the needle on some of the most difficult social issues facing our communities. KVC Health Systems built its neuroscience initiative and created innovative brain strengthening tools after a multiyear effort to integrate trauma-informed care into child welfare and related systems.

Prior to joining the Alliance in 2012, Dreyfus was secretary for the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services. She is a member of Leadership 18, a coalition of CEOs from the largest and most respected nonprofit organizations in America. She also serves on the governing boards of several groups including the American Public Human Services Association.

The 2016 Annual Celebration will include a program beginning at 4:00 p.m. and a reception beginning at 5:00 p.m. Learn more at www.kvc.org/celebrate.

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About KVC Health Systems, Inc.

KVC Health Systems, headquartered in the greater Kansas City area, is a private, nonprofit 501(c)3 organization committed to enriching and enhancing the lives of children and families by providing medical and behavioral healthcare, social services, and education. KVC’s diverse continuum of services includes in-home family support, foster care, adoption, behavioral healthcare, and children’s psychiatric hospitals. In its 46-year history, KVC has grown from a single Kansas home for boys to a national organization serving tens of thousands of children in five states and providing training and consultation internationally. KVC is accredited by The Joint Commission, considered the gold standard in healthcare. Learn more at www.kvc.org