Tulsa Family & Children Services is making significant additions to its team as part of its continued efforts to expand services in schools and meet the growing mental health needs of youth.
Officials with FCS and Tulsa’s Daybreak Family Services announced that the latter will become part of FCS through an “acquisitive hire.” This includes incorporating Daybreak employees into the FCS organization under the new name Daybreak@FCS.
Officials said the move will allow both providers to combine their strengths and resources to better meet the growing demand for school-based mental health services.
FCS’ school-based services program is already one of the largest programs out of more than 70, employing more than 100 people. Daybreak will add to his 60-plus employees, including many experts in the mental health field.
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“This essentially doubles our school-based programs,” said Whitney Downey, chief program officer for FCS School-Based Services.
“I’m very excited about this because it allows us to continue our mission of serving children, youth and families and meeting their needs,” Downey said. “This will create more opportunities for the community and help address the growing mental health needs occurring in schools.”
Founded over a century ago, FCS is one of Tulsa’s oldest and largest service organizations. He serves more than 60 schools in the Tulsa, Jenks, Union and Broken Arrow areas.
Founded in 2008, Daybreak serves approximately 38 schools in Broken Arrow, Bixby, Sapulpa, Mumford and Sand Springs.
Officials from both organizations said they expect the integration of the two companies’ workforces to proceed smoothly.
David Peters, Chief Operating Officer at Daybreak, said: “Becoming part of FCS is an exciting chapter in our journey that will allow us to further expand our services and improve the quality of care we provide.” FCS complements our efforts We recognize the potential and this transition will be of great benefit to our valued employees, schools, and customers. ”
As part of the joint effort, Daybreak@FCS will have access to FCS’s accredited community behavioral health clinic services, allowing it to provide comprehensive integrated services across different levels of care.
Daybreak is now able to offer options that the schools it previously served were not able to offer, such as wraparound services.
“Essentially, we’re going to be able to expand service lines that they didn’t have access to,” Downey said. “We could bring in behavioral health aides and case managers to provide even more comprehensive services for children, families and students in our schools. Psychiatry is already built into our system. They were just a small agency. They couldn’t do that.”
FCS has about 1,200 employees across its programs, officials said.
The move comes at a time when FCS is aggressively seeking to expand to more schools.
Downey said 14 schools have been added just since December, offering on-site counseling, support for students and teachers, and the option of wrap-around services if needed.
Officials said the need has only grown since the pandemic.
According to the CDC, suicide accounts for 15% of deaths among youth and young adults ages 10 to 24, making it the second leading cause of death in that age group. It is the third leading cause of death for 15- to 19-year-olds.
Each year, at least one in five students experiences a diagnosable mental health disorder, and around half develop symptoms by the age of 14.
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