Situated in Covington’s scenic Devou Park, overlooking the Ohio River and Cincinnati skyline, Children’s Home of Northern Kentucky/CHNK Behavioral Health has been a critical part of the community for more than 140 years.
As board chair, I’m proud to be part of an organization that has continuously grown and evolved to meet the needs of the community. We’ve come a long way from our founding as an orphanage in the 1880s to where we are today—an inclusive, innovative, and inspiring team committed to creating an easier path to mental health for children, teens, adults, and families.
Our region, state, and country are navigating an unprecedented mental health care crisis, with increasing numbers of mass violence episodes and suicide among the leading causes of death for adolescents. As a licensed mental health and addiction care organization, CHNK is at the forefront in responding to the overwhelming number of people seeking peace and healing. CHNK recently kicked off a five-year campaign, “An Easier Path to Mental Health,” that will help fund additional therapists, service delivery methods, and brick and mortar facilities that empower clients to boldly face their challenges–and live healthier, more fulfilling lives.
Addressing a crisis of this magnitude requires collaboration from many fronts, including individuals, families, the business and nonprofit sectors, and government, and we know the most effective way to achieve big things for our communities is through public-private partnerships that pool resources.
Last year, we began working in earnest with Northern Kentucky’s legislative delegation, most notably Senator Chris McDaniel and Representatives Kim Banta, Stephanie Dietz, and Kim Moser. We were fully aware that our elected officials—while concerned about the same pressing issues as CHNK—have a fiduciary duty to allocate a finite amount of money to many critical initiatives. CHNK’s team worked behind the scenes to secure donations from the private sector that would enable us to match anything the state could provide, dollar for dollar. Thanks to our delegation’s unwavering support of CHNK’s intentions—and additional backing from their colleagues in House and Senate leadership—CHNK is set to receive $6 million from the state toward our game-changing campaign.
We hope you’ll join us in our gratitude for the commitment of our Northern Kentucky Caucus and the entire Kentucky General Assembly, who came through in a big way for the most vulnerable Kentucky youth and families. For our part, CHNK is playing a key role in the movement toward improved public health and wellness with outcomes that elevate the entire community. Our one-stop continuum of care offers services for people at any and every point of their mental health care journey, including prevention, early intervention, and intense therapeutic services. Partnerships with schools and clinical, judicial, and child welfare systems allow CHNK to offer services that meet people where they are, including outpatient services for children, teens, and families; psychiatric medication management; therapeutic academic services; a family preservation program; and a partial hospitalization program. In addition to serving youth in state custody, CHNK is the sole Northern Kentucky provider of psychiatric residential treatment facility (PRTF) care for young people with more severe mental health disorders. Telehealth is also a rapidly growing option as CHNK seeks to break down barriers to receiving care, making treatment more widely and easily available for people in rural areas or with transportation challenges.
Together with all our partners, clients, and supporters, we look forward to investing in healthier children, families, and communities.
Points of pride
- CHNK offers mental and behavioral health care services at three campuses in northern Kentucky: Outpatient services at 525 W. 5th Street, Ste. 219, Covington; residential services for males ages 7-17 at 200 Home Road, Devou Park, Covington; and residential services for females ages 7-17 at 4836 Idlewild Road, Burlington. A fourth outpatient location will open this summer in Grant County.
- CHNK’s 140 staff members—including a chief medical officer, board-certified child psychiatrist, pediatrician, advanced practice registered nurse (APRN), 30 therapists, and 10 case managers—provide more than 30,000 services annually to individuals impacted by mental, behavioral, or substance use disorders.
- CHNK was the first organization in Kentucky to adopt the Sanctuary Model of trauma-informed care and is recognized by the Human Rights Campaign as a leader in LGBTQ+ culturally competent mental health care services.
- CHNK accepts commercial insurance, Medicaid, and private-pay clients.
