Sheffield Place, the only treatment and transitional living center in Kansas City focused on homeless mothers with mental health, substance abuse, and domestic violence issues and their children in our community, serves fourteen families (up to 56 individuals) at the facility at any one time; 50 families (up to 120 individuals) on average call Sheffield Place home over the course of a year. Ninety percent of families that complete the program become self-sufficient by healing from trauma, acquiring permanent housing, increasing education and employment skills, and reducing welfare dependency. Sheffield Place also serves families that have made the transition to permanent housing (20 families) and homeless mothers and their children who need supportive services, but not residential services (75 homeless women and their children).

With a mission “To empower homeless mothers and their children to heal from their trauma and help them become self-sufficient,” Sheffield Place offers a path from homelessness to self-sufficiency through five fully integrated programs: Adult Clinical Services, Children’s Clinical Services, Residential Services, 7-Step Empowerment/Strengths-Based Case Management, and Residential Services.

What sets Sheffield Place apart is the commitment to trauma-informed, evidence-based therapeutic interventions, the exclusive focus on homeless mothers and their children, the length of stay (up to two years), and the delivery of all services onsite. Sheffield Place is a national leader in homeless services. Sheffield Place was the first homeless shelter in the nation to provide the three best evidence-based therapies for traumatized children (2007); was one of 20 organizations nationwide to participate in a learning community to implement the Integrated Treatment of Complex Trauma model (2008); was a national best practice in working with homeless children (2009); and was named a best practice in homeless services by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (2011).

The average family at Sheffield Place is headed by a 22-year old mother. She left school in the 11th grade and has few or no job skills. Her family has been homeless before and depends on TANF (Temporary Aid for Needy Families). Her family is covered either by MC+ or Medicaid. This mother has two children under five years of age. In all, 49 percent of the mothers are African American, 33 percent are Caucasian, 14 percent are Hispanic/Latina, and 4 percent have not designated a race/ethnicity. Some have timed out of TANF and receive only food stamps. All of the mothers have a mental health diagnosis, most commonly depression, anxiety, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and bi-polar disorder. Half of the mothers struggle with addiction and 66% have experienced domestic violence. All of the families are below the Federal Poverty Level.

The typical child at Sheffield Place child is a six year old boy, let’s call him Jadon. Jadon has been exposed to severe trauma caused by abuse – whether physical, sexual, or substance abuse – as well as the trauma of homelessness itself. Jadon’s father is not involved in his life due to incarceration, addiction, or by simply a lack of interest. Jadon has had a period of separation from his mother perhaps in the custody of the Division of Family Services or while living with relatives while his mother when through inpatient addiction treatment.