Contacts   |   Search   |   Links   |   Forms

Kenosha Human Development Services, Inc. (KHDS) began with a call for help from administrators at the county department of social services and the state division of corrections.  They were concerned about a spiraling need for services for adolescents, the treatment in vogue at that time.  In 1973, a committee of concerned Kenosha citizens was formed to explore ways to develop treatment group homes in Kenosha.  Instead of rushing ahead with group home plans, the committee hired consultants from the John Howard Association in Chicago to analyze the way that Kenosha handled problematic adolescent behavior and to recommend needed services.

The consultants recommended that families, not the problem adolescents, should be the focus of services and that the services should be resources for the families to use in addressing the problem.  They felt that preventing the need for out-of-home placements was as important as developing treatment programs.  They recommended several services.  The committee of concerned citizens fostered an organization, Kenosha Area Group Homes, to implement the consultants' recommendations.  In 1974, Kenosha Area Group Homes (KAGH) began a group home for adolescent girls and a prevention service (Crisis Intervention) that made counselors available to parents for advise on parenting issues at any time of the day and on any day of the week.  The crisis counselors operated a hotline, a mobile counseling service, and met daily with city and county police officers to debrief police contacts regarding juveniles and to receive referrals for follow up.  Later in 1974, KAGH began a group home for adolescent boys.

Expansion