The Peoria Children’s Home Association has final approval for a project that could potentially double capacity for one of its programs.
The Peoria City Council gave its approval last week to the plan to construct two additional buildings on the organization’s Knoxville Avenue campus. The buildings, each 5,000 square feet, will house the future Children’s Homes’ supervised independent living program.
“We’re having very detailed planning and organization conversations. We’re talking about funding, of course, and we’re really excited.” said Katie Cox, the organization’s chief development officer. “We have a few opportunities to explore there with funding and feel very optimistic about being able to secure that.”
Cox said construction will cost “a couple million dollars.” The new housing will be built in a parking lot behind the existing facilities. Cox said parking there is underutilized and a perfect place to expand.
The agency is factoring in the surrounding East Bluff community in the design.
“We’re talking about two buildings here that really fit the look and feel of the East Bluff community,” said Cox. “So, I know there have been some questions about that and we’re really looking to build and blend within the beautiful neighborhood that we’re in.”
The transitional program provides a safe place for young people in a range of 18 to 24 years old exiting the foster station and taking their first steps into adult life. They’re given shelter, life skills training, mental health services and help finding employment. Additionally, Cox said, the new location means more of the services available through Children’s Home are just a walk through the parking lot.
According to Cox, statistics indicate young people exiting foster care struggle without some form of support.
“Anywhere up to 46% of individuals aging out of foster care] experience homelessness before the age of 26,” said Cox. “So, we are really hoping that this helps to prevent individuals aging out of foster care who don’t have a place to go.”
Currently, Children’s Home runs these supervised living programs out of homes scattered throughout Peoria. They serve up to 24 individuals at a time. That number doubles with the new buildings.
Though capacity is increasing, spots are still limited and Cox said the organization’s residential and placement division identifies who’s a good fit for the program.
“We’re obviously working very closely with DCFS [Department of Children and Family Services], amongst other organizations and we do have a little bit of a reputation for taking some of the more challenging cases in a good way, because we are staffed and equipped to do that,” said Cox.
The program also is flexible depending on a person’s needs. Though the age range is 18 to 24 years, that doesn’t mean every individual will stay with the program for the entire duration.
“We are just currently … assessing the study, the step-by-step process and how they’re doing and helping them to move eventually,” said Cox. “They will move on from Children’s Home into, hopefully, the next best step for them — whether that’s independent living, living with other members of the family or another group home that serves adults.”
It’s still early, as the organization is still locking down funding, but Cox said the agency expects to break ground on the project by late spring or early summer of 2025.
