Life house youth center will implement a comprehensive program serving violence-exposed children across franklin, crawford, and washington counties in rural missouri

The Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention awarded Life House Center, Inc. $830,000 under the Children Exposed to Violence program on June 1, 2026.

Life House Center will operate a comprehensive violence intervention and prevention program serving 250 youth annually across Franklin, Crawford, and Washington Counties in rural Missouri from facilities in Sullivan and Cuba. The program will screen all participating youth, provide intensive cognitive behavioral therapy-based interventions to 150 violence-exposed youth, deliver prevention education to 400 youth, strengthen 125 families through consultations, and train 30 professionals. Additional activities include age-appropriate support groups, individual services, conflict resolution curricula, monthly multidisciplinary team meetings with partner agencies, peer mentoring through the Breaking Cycles Initiative, and community capacity building reaching 2,000 residents. Collaborative partners include Compass Health, Prevented, Children's Division, Juvenile Offices, Prosecutors, Sullivan and Cuba Schools, BJC Healthcare, and local law enforcement.

Program deliverables include serving 150 youth with 75–85% completion rates, developing a community plan by year 1, conducting 36 multidisciplinary coordination meetings, and producing a replication toolkit. Expected outcomes include 70–80% of youth achieving PTSD symptom reduction, 80% of families demonstrating increased protective factors, 30% reduction in caregiver secondary trauma, and establishment of sustainable coordinated response infrastructure.

The period of performance runs from June 1, 2026 through May 31, 2029. Place of performance is Sullivan, Missouri.

Operating from sullivan and cuba facilities and serving 250 youth annually, the project addresses the GAP in services where 60% of youth have experienced violence. The project will screen all youth, provide intensive interventions to 150 violence-exposed youth using cognitive behavioral therapy principles, deliver prevention education to 400 youth, strengthen 125 families, and train 30 professionals. Activities include universal screening, age-appropriate support groups, individual services, conflict resolution curricula, family consultations, monthly multidisciplinary team meetings coordinating partner response, peer mentoring through the breaking cycles initiative, and community capacity building reaching 2,000 residents. Collaborative partners include compass health, prevented, children's division, juvenile offices, prosecutors, sullivan and cuba schools, BJC healthcare, and local law enforcement. Deliverables include 150 youth served with 7585% completion, a community plan by year 1, 36 multidisciplinary meetings, and a replication toolkit. Outcomes include 7080% of youth achieving post-traumatic stress disorder (ptsd) symptom reduction, 80% of families showing increased protective factors, 30% reduction in caregiver secondary trauma, coordinated response protocols, and sustainable infrastructure.