About Missouri Girls Town

Missouri Girls' Town Mission

After six years of planning and preparation, Girls Town was dedicated at its first Open House on October 20, 1959 in Mountain Grove, Missouri. In 1981, Girls Town relocated to its current site on 23 acres near Kingdom City, Missouri. The new location helped to provide better access to girls and families from across the state, and provided room for growth. The campus was opened with one residential cottage, called Hope House, and an administrative building. Since 1989 Girls Town has quadrupled in size and now serves 56 clients at a time - nearly 100 over the course of each year. The campus is now home to four residential cottages, two administrative buildings, a recreation center, dining hall and school. Girls Town also began off-campus programs in 1990 to assist girls in making the transition to independent life. Off-campus sites now include the Auxvasse Transitional Group Home, scatter-site apartments, and a home for family visits and crisis housing.

Girls Town has achieved far more than just physical growth. Counseling and treatment programs have expanded to fit the needs of today’s children, incorporating everything from education and job-skill training to extensive recreational opportunities. Every effort is made to prepare girls to reunite with their parent(s), relatives, adoptive family or foster care when a viable family exists. If clients do not have the option of returning to their community, Girls Town focuses care and treatment on a successful transition to independent life after high school. After-care and outpatient services have also been added so that Girls Town can continue to provide assistance to girls who have left its care. In all, Girls Town has developed a broad continuum of services while remaining true to its mission to provide individualized, loving care to each one of its residents.

Clients are referred to Missouri Girls Town through the Missouri Division of Family Services, the Department of Mental Health, or the juvenile courts. The typical client has already been through nine failed placements before she comes to Girls Town which can have included foster care, or other residential centers, hospitalization, relatives, and failed adoptions.

Services available to Missouri Girls Town residents include:

A residential cottage program that is divided into age-specific programs for each of the four houses.

Two off-campus programs (A transitional group home for six clients and scatter site apartments for up to four) designed for clients needing services tailored specifically to their transition from residential care to independent life.

Individualized treatment for every client including individual, group, and family counseling.

A comprehensive recreation program coordinated by a full-time recreational therapist.

Age-appropriate job training and after-care preparation through on-campus jobs, off-campus employment, and independent living skills courses.

After-care and outpatient services that can include individual and family counseling, assistance with independent living needs, crisis intervention or even emergency shelter.

Post-secondary education assistance for clients attending college.

Missouri Girls Town is pleased to present our Annual Report for the 2009 fiscal year. This report provides a brief report of where revenues come from and where dollars are spent. In addition, we hope that it will provide you with an update on the numerous great things that are happening at Missouri Girls Town to improve the quality of care we provide our clients. Executive Director, Kathy Becker, states goals that have been set in Girls Town’s strategic plan for the 2010 fiscal year. Missouri Girls Town 2009 Annual Report is now available for download. Download Report (pdf)

Missouri Girls Town makes the following documents available to our stakeholders and supporters: (All are in pdf format)

PQI Stakeholder Packet

Short Term Annual Plan

Annual Performance Scorecard

Missouri Girls Town Board of Directors

President: Ann Kutscher, Jefferson City
1st Vice President: Jo Johnson, Centrailia
2nd Vice President: Carolyn Wyatt, Carthage
3rd Vice President: Isabelle McDonough Bram, Maysville
4th Vice President: Karla Kincaid, Braymer
Recording Secretary: Gay Tar, Raytown
Treasurer: Donna Calvin, Leawood
GFWC of MO President: Carolyn Lovelace,
Corresponding Secretary: Fran Scallorns, California
GFWC of MO. Girls Town Chairman: Shirley Napoli, Kansas City

Board Members
Dr. Susan Gettys, St. Robert
Donna Carter, Chillicothe
Ruth Coffman, Marshall
Mildred Cooke, Columbia
Kim Distefano, Town & Country
Jan Anderton, Wellsville
Alice Goehman, Arcadia
Beverly Lapp, St. Louis
Tamara Miller, Kansas City
Lois Reine, Jefferson City
Jean Marney, Cassville
Bill McClain, Wellsville
Debbie Rankin, Versailles
LaDonne Snavely, Farmington
Naomi White, Plattsburg