By: Mat Cloak
The Parsons Advocate
The Genesis Youth Crisis Center will open its third residential location in Parsons on January 1, 2018. The center is categorized as an emergency shelter for youth from 10 to 17 years old. There are two other locations in Clarksburg.
Almost all of the youth that are served at the centers are in the custody of the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources. According to their services policy, The Department of Health and Human Resources provides services to children “Who are handicapped by dependency, neglect, single parent status, mental or physical disability, or who for other reasons are in need of public service.”
David Cooper will run the facility in Parsons. Prior to working for Genesis, Cooper was the camp director at Camp Horseshoe. Matt Rudder is the CEO of the company.
Comparing the treatment center to the medical field, Rudder stated, “We kind of see ourselves as the emergency sector. We are a quick turnaround type of facility.” Children come to Genesis from another home or placement, and by the time they leave the facility, the goal is to have found a more permanent placement. Most children are in and out of Genesis within 90 days. Children may go on to live with a foster family, be reunified with their biological family, or live in a more long-term treatment facility.
Youth enrolled in a Genesis center live in a structured environment that incentivizes through a point system. The building in Parsons is not a lockdown facility. The facility is co-ed.
According to the organization Adopt US Kids, as of January 2017 there were 5,040 children in foster care in West Virginia. With 15 beds in the Parsons location and a quick turnover rate, Genesis could house between 50 and 70 youth in a year.
Youth at Genesis will be enrolled in Tucker County Public Schools. At the last Board of Education meeting, Superintendent Campbell commented on the number of new students coming through Tucker County schools. He stated, “Which is probably the biggest concern that we have is just the enrollment issues related to 50 to 70 kids on a rolling basis.”
Youth enrolled in Genesis can come from around the state, but Rudder stated, “We will try to make them from the surrounding area.” Therapists, social workers, registered nurses, and psychological and behavioral counselors will work with children at the facility.
“We are community minded and focused, so we try to have locations that are strategically where we get kids so families don’t have to travel so far to visit,” Rudder said. Rudder stressed that Genesis will grow around the community. “We are not a Clarksburg facility that is coming to Parsons to operate out of Clarksburg.”
Genesis Youth Crisis Centers are a part of the West Virginia Child Care Association. According to their website, “WVCCA represents companies throughout the state of West Virginia that operate a wide variety of behavioral health and child welfare programs statewide for the most vulnerable and difficult children in WV.”
The center in Parsons will hire between 20 to 25 personnel. A job fair will be held on Monday, November 13 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 100 Education Lane in Parsons.
