As the Vice President of Marketing and Development for Mentally Ill Kids in Distress (M.I.K.I.D.) I get to see firsthand the impact that our programs and services make in the communities we serve. More importantly as part of my job, I am often times offered the opportunity to take part in these programs and events like our M.I.K.I.D. Reunification event held on Friday June 9th, 2023, at one of our Northern Arizona Sites.
M.I.K.I.D. is a 501(c)3 Non-Profit who provides behavioral health services to children and families in Arizona and in Colorado. Our Mission is to improve the behavioral health and wellness of children and youth through a family centered approach. In Fact, M.I.K.I.D. is the largest family run organization in the State of Arizona. This means that 51% of our Board of Directors and over 90% of our staff have lived experience in personally dealing with mental and behavioral health challenges within their own families.
One of the services that we provide is a program called Parent Support Now or (PSN). This program helps reunite parents and kiddo’s that have been separated by the Arizona Department of Child Safety by walking them through the processes of reunification. M.I.K.I.D. helps these families create safe and loving homes where children can thrive and therefore ensuring that our families can stay together.
The program has shown great success in reducing the length of time that children and families are separated from one another. As a matter of fact, M.I.K.I.D. is now serving 323 families via the PSN program, with 59 percent of those families reuniting in less than six months. This is incredible considering the National Average of Reunification is currently only 18% according to the 2023 Department of Health Services Fact Sheet. (https://www.dhs.gov/news/2023/02/02/fact-sheet)
This year, those involved in the PSN Program have decided to celebrate the success of reunited families by hosting a Reunification Celebration. This provided an opportunity for those families to be recognized for their diligent efforts and celebrate the reunification of their families. Additionally, Superior Court Dependency Judges spoke about the importance of reunifying families and even handed out awards to families who were reunited throughout the year.
Events like this are only one of the reasons why I love working at M.I.K.I.D. To see families together, to see lives improved, and to see healthy communities strive, are a few other reasons.
