Abuse, neglect, infertility or depression doesn’t care about who you vote for. These challenges can affect anybody, anywhere. LFCS offers critical services like pregnancy testing and support, parenting education, counseling for children and families, adoption services, foster care, and child development programs. These services aren’t just important; they are essential in helping children grow up safe, supported, and empowered.

By choosing to support LFCS, you’re casting your vote for a brighter future where every child has the tools, love, and care they need to succeed. Your gift is a direct endorsement of hope and healing for families who rely on LFCS to overcome the hardships they face.

The post LFCS Rallies Around Kids During This Election Season first appeared on Lutheran Family and Children's Services of Missouri.

In 2022, 49,500 people took their own lives in the U.S., the highest number ever*. Suicide is currently the 2^nd leading cause of death for those ages 10-34 in Missouri. 1,177 Missourians died by suicide in 2021
(most current state data)**, while thousands more were treated for self-inflicted injuries.

It is difficult to know if someone is feeling suicidal and even harder to know how to help. LFCS put together a brief youth & teen suicide prevention video designed to give basic information about suicide prevention. One life lost to suicide it too many. Please take 2 minutes to see what you can do to help prevent a tragedy from happening in your community.

Crisis Hotline Resources:

Call 988 to reach the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline
Call 1-800-273-8255 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
Text “MOSAFE” to 988 for the Missouri Crisis Text Line
Text “NAMI” to 741-741 for the NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Crisis Text Line

For information about LFCS counseling services, call 866-326-LFCS (5327) or email help@lfcs.org.

* https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/suicide-data-statistics.html
** https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/suicide-mortality/suicide.htm

The post Resources for National Suicide Prevention Month first appeared on Lutheran Family and Children's Services of Missouri.

Fortunately, Shawn is learning to face the challenges of his environment in new ways through LFCS Community Prevention Services. This program aims to support at-risk youth through evidence-based life skills education and interventions. Areas reviewed include day-to-day challenges, self-esteem, substance abuse, violence, and other risky behaviors. Although new to the program, Shawn is beginning to see the opportunities beyond the familiar. And, for the first time in his life, Shawn has a male role model in his program mentor.

This positive experience has set Shawn on a new path. He is ready to beat the odds – to overcome any challenges that may come his way today so that he may build a better tomorrow.

Did you know poverty, single-parent households, and trauma are factors that impact a child’s success?

• The poverty rate for single-mother households is 31%.
• Poverty reduces a child’s readiness for school because it leads to poor physical health and motor skills, diminishes a child’s ability to concentrate and remember information, and reduces attentiveness, curiosity, and motivation.
• 30% of children raised in poverty do not finish high school.
• People who do not earn a high school diploma by age 20 are seven times more likely to be persistently poor between the ages of 25 and 30. [1]
• When a child experiences a traumatic event, the effects can have a life-long effect. As the number of traumatic events experienced during childhood increases, the risk for the following in adulthood increases: depression, alcoholism, drug abuse, and suicide attempts.[2]

[1] ChildFund. 2015. https://www.childfund.org/Content/NewsDetail/2147489206/

[2] Mental Health Connection. Recognize Trauma. Statistics. http://www.recognizetrauma.org/statistics.php

The post Beating the odds first appeared on Lutheran Family and Children's Services of Missouri.

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. At LFCS, we want to talk about this public health issue and what we can do to address it.

Here are just a few of the staggering statistics:

• One in 4 children experience some form of child abuse or neglect in their lifetimes.
• Thirty-two Missouri children died from abuse or neglect in 2017, 70% of whom were two years old or younger.
• Parents, stepparents or other primary caretakers account for the majority of perpetrators in child abuse and neglect cases.
• Poverty, on-going community violence, and weak connections between neighbors are related to a higher risk for child abuse and neglect
• The estimated average lifetime cost per victim of nonfatal child abuse and neglect was $210,012
• The total lifetime economic burden resulting from new cases of fatal and nonfatal child abuse and neglect is $124 billion

LFCS provides several areas of support to prevent child abuse and neglect as well as manages the social and behavioral ramifications of cases that were not prevented. We do so through our two pillars of service: Foster Care and Family Services & Behavioral Health and Community Prevention Services.

Foster Care and Family Services programs provide education to parents and care for children to decrease the risk of child abuse or neglect. Services include:

• Respite Foster Care
• Foster Care Case Management
• Pregnancy and Parenting Services
• Home Visitation

Behavioral Health and Community Prevention Services programs are available in 15 offices statewide on a sliding fee scale, as well as 60 schools in eight Districts across the St. Louis area. Services include:

• Counseling
• Child Psychiatry
• STEP-UP, a youth development program

If you find yourself in need of any of the above services, please contact LFCS. Together we can save children and families in Missouri.

April 6, 2018 is Wear Blue Day. Show your support and help spread awareness by wearing blue. Take a photo and share it on the social media with #GreatChildhoods and tag @LFCSMO.

The post Child Abuse Prevention Month 2018 first appeared on Lutheran Family and Children's Services of Missouri.