KVC Missouri offers a comprehensive and compassionate Substance Use Treatment Program tailored for children and teens ages 6 to 18, as well as their families. The program is designed to support youth who struggle with substance abuse, violence, and the complex trauma that often triggers these behaviors. By addressing both substance use and its underlying causes, KVC Missouri helps build stronger, healthier families and communities.

A Trauma-Informed, Wraparound Approach

Understanding that substance use is often a coping mechanism for deep-rooted trauma, KVC Missouri embraces a whole-person, trauma-informed approach. This means looking beyond symptoms to address the multiple layers of trauma impacting each child or teen. Treatment doesn’t just focus on the youth’s substance use but also includes care for family members affected by these challenges.

Services are delivered through a wraparound model—providing an interconnected network of supports, including substance use counseling, drug testing, intensive in-home interventions, and group therapy. The program also incorporates telemedicine options to ensure accessible care.

Evidence-Based & Expressive Therapies

KVC Missouri utilizes a range of proven, evidence-based therapies to meet the unique needs of each youth:

• Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT): Helps youth identify and change negative thought patterns related to trauma.

• Trauma Systems Therapy (TST): Focuses on creating environments that fit the needs of youth to foster resilience and healing.

• Motivational Interviewing (MI): A client-centered approach that encourages youth to find their own motivation to change harmful behaviors.

• Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR): A therapy that safely helps youth reprocess traumatic memories and reduce their emotional impact.

• Expressive Therapies: Including art, music, recreational, and horticultural therapies, these creative approaches help youth explore emotions and develop coping skills.

• Trauma-Informed Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (TI-PBIS): A program designed to create safe, supportive environments while teaching positive behaviors.

These therapies are integrated into residential treatment, day treatment at schools, outpatient therapy, and family interventions.

Substance Use Counseling & Drug Testing

KVC Missouri provides substance use assessments, evaluations, and counseling in environments that are convenient and comfortable for families, including in-home visits. Counseling sessions cover a range of topics such as health, mental health, education, peer relationships, and legal issues.

Regular and mandatory drug testing is conducted to monitor progress and support accountability in recovery, ensuring that youth and families remain focused on treatment goals.

Intensive Family Services (IFS)

The Intensive Family Services program supports youth who are struggling at home, school, or in the community and are at risk of needing residential treatment. IFS aims to stabilize families by delivering comprehensive care within the home and community to prevent the need for hospitalization or residential care.

Services include:

•  Individual and family therapy

• Psychiatric services, including telepsychiatry

• Customized treatment plans based on thorough biopsychosocial evaluations

• Case management and crisis support available 24/7

• Psychoeducational groups and skills training, including emotion regulation and healthy relationship building

• Assistance with school enrollment and academic support

• Safety planning and respite care during crises

This home-based model reduces barriers to treatment by eliminating travel needs and scheduling challenges, creating opportunities to build family strengths and lasting change.

Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP)

KVC Missouri’s IOP offers a structured group therapy environment designed for youth who experience significant psychiatric symptoms affecting their daily lives. This program serves as a crucial step between residential treatment and traditional outpatient care.

IOP runs three to four days per week for several hours each session, typically over five to eight weeks. It focuses on:

• Teaching coping and distress tolerance skills

• Enhancing communication and interpersonal interactions

• Providing trauma-specific treatment

• Offering parent education and support

• Involving family therapy and case management

This program provides the intensive support needed to help youth remain in or successfully transition back to their communities.

Group & Individual Therapy

Group therapy helps youth navigate complex challenges such as bullying, poverty, trauma, and behavioral health issues. Through group sessions, youth learn coping and resiliency skills, build positive social connections, and access behavioral health treatment in a supportive setting.

Individual therapy offers personalized care to help youth work through emotional struggles and behavioral challenges. Licensed therapists provide compassionate, child-centered, and family-driven treatment both at the facility and in-home when possible, maximizing the chances for meaningful progress.

Community Support & Family Strengthening

KVC Missouri recognizes the importance of involving families and communities in the healing process. The program offers family therapy, parenting skills training, communication coaching, and restorative interventions to stabilize and strengthen families. By delivering many services in the home, KVC helps families remove barriers such as transportation or childcare and provides care where it matters most.

Addressing A Critical Need

Substance abuse and trauma-related issues among youth in Jackson County, Missouri, present ongoing challenges. Many children served by KVC Missouri have experienced abuse, neglect, homelessness, domestic violence, and other traumatic events. These adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) place them at heightened risk for poor academic performance, behavioral problems, involvement in the juvenile justice system, and mental health disorders.

In 2023 alone, thousands of children in the region were reported as victims of abuse or neglect. The social and economic risk factors in the community—such as poverty, single-parent households, mental health challenges, and exposure to violence—further complicate these youth’s lives.

KVC Missouri’s program aims to interrupt this cycle by providing trauma-informed, evidence-based care that fosters healing, resiliency, and hope.

Mission & Vision

KVC Missouri is committed to enriching the lives of children, teens, and families by providing high-quality medical, behavioral, and social services that promote safety, healing, and success. Their mission is grounded in delivering trauma-informed care that respects the whole person and strengthens families to thrive within their communities.

Through a collaborative team approach that involves families, schools, community partners, and health providers, KVC Missouri works tirelessly to create a future where youth are free from the harms of substance abuse and trauma, and equipped with the tools to lead healthier, happier lives.

Locations

Click on the window icon (upper right corner) of the map below to expand. List of all program locations is included with expanded view of map. Locations are also listed on this page below the map.