Missouri Girls' Town Mission

Founded in 1953 by the General Federation of Women’s Clubs of Missouri, Missouri Girls Town is a residential treatment facility for girls, ages 8-21, who have been sexually abused, physically abused, or severely neglected. Our mission is to create a loving, stable environment for the girls’ care and treatment and, in the process, help them develop the life skills they will need as adults. The young women at Girls Town resolve personal and emotional trauma with assistance from professional counselors and therapists on staff. Just as important, these girls live in an environment that emphasizes the normal process of growing up through group living, education, wholesome activities, and work.

After six years of planning and preparation, Girls Town was dedicated at the first Open House on October 20, 1959 at its original location in southern Missouri. In 1981, Girls Town relocated to its current site on 23 acres near Kingdom City, MO. 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, recreation center, dining hall and school. Girls Town 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.

Girls Town provides care year-round for over 50 girls, ages 8-21, from across the state of Missouri, who have suffered from sexual abuse, physical abuse, or severe neglect. 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.

Over the last ten years, Girls Town has greatly expanded its programming to better provide for clients. Today, services 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 as many as 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.