Children’s Home of Northern Kentucky/CHNK Behavioral Health has recently received several significant grant awards related to its expanding access to mental health services project in the local community.
The lack of affordable access to mental/behavioral healthcare and addiction treatment services is currently at crisis levels across the Commonwealth of Kentucky and throughout the nation. Multiple professional healthcare associations have declared emergencies specific to the lack of services for children and adolescents.
Local public-school districts have been requesting new and expanded treatment services from the healthcare professionals at Children’s Home of Northern Kentucky/CHNK Behavioral Health in record numbers. Additionally, CHNK has experienced a 434% increase in client and family member impacts over the past eight years and continues to serve lower socio-economic clients throughout the region.
The largest grant award came from Bethesda, Inc, or bi3, which is a foundation whose mission is to transform health for all people in Greater Cincinnati by fueling innovation and health equity through grant-making. Bi3 awarded CHNK $1.5 million dollars to support this project.
In addition, CHNK has recently received a $100,000 grant award from PNC Charitable Trusts to support the project.
Rick Wurth
“Bi3 and PNC Charitable Trusts have confronted the lack of access to mental health services head on,” said CHNK’s CEO Rick Wurth. “These major investments will ensure all families in our region will have access to therapists and healthcare providers, especially for those most at risk.”
In May, CHNK received a $100,000 investment from the City of Union. In September, CHNK also received a $500,000 investment from the City of Covington. These funds were awarded through the American Rescue Plan Act, passed in 2021, to speed up the country’s recovery from the economic and health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The nonprofit program is one of 32 general categories of spending that the Covington Board of Commissioners identified for the City’s $36 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds. Five hundred thousand dollars of that was earmarked for agencies that provide mental health services.
“The City Covington and the City of Union have truly set an example for other cities and for local county governments to respond boldly to increasing demands for addiction treatment and mental health services for its citizens. The public-private funding model for CHNK’s expansion is a model that works amazingly well providing positive results with incredible community impact,” said Wurth.
