CEO: Thompson Child & Family Focus at crossroad

Charlotte-based Thompson Child & Family Focus has raised as much as $1 million during its annual spring luncheon to help fill funding gaps in programs that help low-income and abused children.

But this year’s event, set for Tuesday at the Westin Charlotte, faces the biggest challenge in its history, with a gap that doubled in 2014 from $2 million to $4 million.

As a result, Thompson President Mary Jo Powers says she’ll deliver a sobering message that her agency is facing a transformation, just as it changed in the ’70s when it stopped being an orphanage and started offering psychiatric residential care.

A consulting firm has already been hired to forge a strategy for helping children and families in crisis, and its report is due in August, said Powers.

“We're facing a new future,” Powers said. “Because of changing times in managed care reform, we are at a crossroad. We’re not going to change our mission: We will always be here to protect and heal hurting children. But we are shifting our focus by investing even more into prevention programs that reach vulnerable children and families before something terrible happens.”

Changes started last month with a decrease in size of the psychiatric residential care that has come to define Thompson. The number of residential beds for youths was reduced from 42 to 24.

In place of such care, the agency intends to push for more therapeutic support in homes and community settings.

“Residential care is waiting too late to step in,” said Powers. “We need to catch the cycle of abuse earlier, before the children have those lifelong scars.”

Powers says the $4 million gap this year reflects a decision by the state to change the way it relies on long-term residential programs for treating abused children. Instead of such children staying in care for nine to 12 months, the state is now pushing for them to be out in 90 to 120 days.

The state move is in keeping with a national push to limit the time and decrease the number of children placed in psychiatric residential care facilities such as Thompson. “The longer the child is out of the home, the harder it is to reintegrate them into the home,” Powers said. “So the push is to get them back into the home and the community they’re from in the shortest amount of time.”

Thompson, which has a budget of $21 million, has a tradition of absorbing costs in cases where it thinks a child needs more time in care before leaving, and that also contributed to the latest budget gap, officials said.

Statistics show more than 26,000 children in Mecklenburg County have a mental health diagnosis. Thompson helps such children and their families with a series of clinical and prevention services that are the most comprehensive in the Carolinas. Its seven locations specialize in clinical and behavioral treatment, developmental education and proactive care.

This marks the 13th year of the annual fundraising luncheon, which has raised $7.2 million since its inception. It’s estimated 500 supporters and community leaders will attend.

Steve Hall, a Thompson volunteer and foster parent, will lead the the program Tuesday, which will highlight the story of a 17-year-old who is conquering a history of childhood trauma with the help of intensive clinical treatment at Thompson.

Hall says he considers the story an example of the miracles that occur regularly at Thompson. He also says he doesn’t see the $4 million funding gap as daunting.

“As a matter of fact, I’m excited to give the people an opportunity to respond,” Hall said.

“I truly believe every child can overcome their difficulties. They have that resilience, given time and an opportunity. Some of their stories are pretty rough, but I’m part of a community of people who believes every child should have a chance.”

Powers says one thing she will make clear at the luncheon Tuesday is that Thompson is not moving away from its longtime mission of helping children and families heal.

“Last year, our services impacted the lives of over 12,000 children and families,” said Powers. “My dream is to double that impact.”

This story was originally published April 27, 2015 at 2:00 AM with the headline "CEO: Thompson Child & Family Focus at crossroad."