KINGDOM CITY - For the next two years, Missouri Girls Town Foundation will receive $164,669 in tax credits through the Missouri Department of Economic Development's Neighborhood Assistance Program.
The department will issue 70 percent tax credits to eligible taxpayers - including businesses and individuals who operate a sole proprietorship or farm or have rental property or royalty income, as well as shareholders in S-corporations, partners in a partnership or members of limited liability corporations - who make a qualified contribution to the Kingdom City non-profit.
Missouri Girls Town provides care and treatment for girls aged 8-21 in its residential facility, working to address trauma and teach coping skills.
Through the tax credits program, the foundation will work to reduce the number of children taken out of the home, reduce the number of moves for children in foster care and children re-entering foster care, increase graduation rates for at-risk teens in Audrain, Callaway, Cole, Montgomery and Osage counties and increase the accessibility of mental health care for individuals who cannot afford it.
When new clients arrive at Missouri Girls Town, they have typically been through nine failed placements which may have included foster care or other residential centers, hospitalization, relatives, and failed adoptions.
The non-profit offers counseling and treatment programs, education and job-skills training and recreational opportunities, working to prepare girls to reunite with family if possible or successfully transition to independent life after high school.
In 2017, Missouri Girls Town expanded therapeutic services for boys and girls through partnerships with community health departments and schools.