Kids in Crisis Faces Financial Crisis -- State Budget Cuts Impact Region's Only Kids Shelter

Kids in Crisis, the only round-the-clock children’s shelter in Fairfield County, is facing a funding emergency because of state imposed budget cuts.

The agency, based in Cos Cob since 1978, is facing its own financial crisis with the impending cut of $750,000 in state funding, officials said Tuesday.

“Kids in Crisis is the “911” for children and families in Southwestern Connecticut facing a non-medical crisis. This past year, Kids in Crisis responded to more than 900 calls from its round-the-clock hotline, , where more than 80% of those calls were identified as emergency calls,” officials said in a statement Tuesday.

With community support, Kids in Crisis has served more than 132,000 Fairfield County children and families. This year alone, Kids in Crisis provided assistance to more than 6,000 children and adults in Darien, Greater Bridgeport, Greenwich, New Canaan, Norwalk, Ridgefield, Stamford, Weston, Westport and Wilton.

“The State of Connecticut, due to budget constraints, has decided to cancel its contract with Kids in Crisis,” officials said. “This means that Southwestern Connecticut will no longer have State-supported emergency beds for children in need of temporary shelter when home is not safe. This cancelation of the Kids in Crisis contract has effectively eliminated all State-supported beds south of New Haven.”

According to the agency, the state justified its decision with “its sense that the need for those beds no longer exists in this region. However, in the last 12 months, Kids in Crisis provided more than 3,000 bed-nights of emergency shelter for Fairfield County families in need (an increase of 16.5% from last year), and responded to approximately 400 in-person, urgent crisis-counseling meetings (an increase of more than 20% from last year). These numbers affirm that the need has not diminished, but has in fact increased.”

Based on state budget cuts, the responsibility to provide emergency, short-stay beds for children in crisis in Southwestern Connecticut has now been shifted to Kids in Crisis, the only remaining agency providing emergency and respite beds in the community to children from birth to 17 years.

Kids in Crisis said it is committed to continuing its important work, despite the loss of $750,000 in state funding. Since 1978, Kids in Crisis has been providing crisis intervention and emergency shelter services for children and youth of all socio-economic backgrounds, who cannot immediately remain at home. The short-term shelter program is designed to stabilize the crisis, provide emergency respite in a therapeutic environment, conduct a comprehensive assessment, strengthen family capacity and reintegrate and transition the child back home or to family-based setting.

Children of Southwestern Connecticut should not be allowed to fall prey to State budget cuts. Kids in Crisis will continue to respond to the needs of each child with support of the agency from individuals, corporations, foundations and organizations, while actively working to secure additional support from private and corporate donors, as well as community partnerships.

To that end on Thursday it will be Kids in Crisis Day at Caren’s Cos Cobber restaurant, 31 E. Putnam Ave. The Cos Cobber will be donating 20% of all proceeds from breakfast, lunch, and dinner to the shelter. Kids in Crisis staff will be on hand to share information about the agency.

For more information on Kids in Crisis and to donate, visit www.kidsincrisis.org.

The Kids in Crisis hotline is 203-661-1911.

Photo from Kids in Crisis.