St. Joseph Children's Home

St. Joseph Children’s Home (SJCH) is a nonprofit child caring facility licensed by the Commonwealth of Kentucky with the mission of "Giving Children a Home." SJCH was founded in 1849 by local German-American Catholic parishes wishing to care for orphans whose parents had died in the cholera epidemic. Originally called the St. Joseph Orphanage, SJCH has served over 75,000 boys and girls since its inception. SJCH has consistently adapted to the needs of the community and now serves children and families across three core programs: Therapeutic Residential Treatment Program, Therapeutic Foster Care and Adoption Program, and the Child Development Center. SJCH serves children in all counties of Kentucky, regardless of nationality, race, or creed.

The Therapeutic Residential Treatment Program is licensed to serve 48 children, ages 5-15 years old. The children who live at SJCH currently, had to be removed from their homes due to severe abuse and neglect. On average, the children have lived in 12 different places (i.e., emergency shelters, psychiatric hospitals, residential facilities, and multiple foster homes) before arriving to SJCH and live at the home for approximately one year before being placed in their forever home. The children receive both individual and group therapy, participate in an array of fun and therapeutic activities, as well as attend JCPS public school while living at SJCH. SJCH is approximately 94% effective at placing children in their forever homes while the state average is 68%.

The Therapeutic Foster Care and Adoption Program serves approximately 65 children (infancy to 21 years old) each year who have also suffered from neglect, physical, mental and/or sexual abuse. SJCH TFC recruits and trains families to become foster parents while also providing 24/7 support to help meet the various needs of our foster families. SJCH TFC continues to facilitate the largest number of adoptions of any private child caring agency in the state and is growing bigger each year as more families are needed to give homes to the nearly 8,000 children in KY's foster care system.

The Child Development Center is licensed by the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, serving approx. 140 children, ages 6 weeks to 5 years old. The CDC participates in the STARS for KIDS NOW, a voluntary above-licensing quality assurance program operated by the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services. The CDC also has an amazing Enrichment Program focused on movement, music, art, and science.