DePelchin Children’s Center, a Houston-based children's nonprofit that has been offering foster care, adoption and other family services since 1892, announced Sept. 11 it had received a $5.9 million gift that will go toward decreasing wait times for counseling programs and a new partnership with the Harris County Child Protective Services investigation team, among other efforts.

The gift, one of the largest in the nonprofit's 131-year history, comes courtesy Project Shine Inc., which is supported by Houston philanthropists Lara and Bill Perkins, according to a Sept. 11 news release.

At a glance

DePelchin's Houston office can be found at 4950 Memorial Drive, Houston, where staff offers services that include foster care, adoption and free counseling. The nonprofit received a $2 million gift from the Junior League of Houston in April, which will help fund a new volunteer center at the site.

The details

The $5.9 million gift will be distributed over two years and will help fund the following five focuses:

• Decreasing the time families wait to receive counseling programs, which will be achieved by enhancing intake, assessment and crisis response teams as well as hiring more clinical staff
• Establishing a partnership between the Harris County Child Protective Services investigation team and DePelchin’s Together and Safe team, which will involve investigating cases in which there is a high risk to children and providing ongoing support to families experiencing child maltreatment immediately before and for several months after an investigation is closed
• Investing in outreach and training support to increase the number of families who can serve foster youth who are older, have higher clinical needs, are part of large sibling groups or are living with relatives
• Enhancing the quality and scope of residential programs, including those that serve youth who cannot safely reside in a foster home or with relatives, youth in foster care who are pregnant or parenting, and youth who are preparing to age out of foster care or who recently aged out of foster care
• Expanding data, analytics and program evaluation work

Quote of note

“The overarching principle of every program we provide is to create safe, loving homes as well as opportunities for children and families to heal, grow and thrive,” DePelchin President and CEO Jenifer Jarriel said in a statement. “This incredible gift will enable us to reach more families with existing services while also creating new ways for us to serve vulnerable populations. We are profoundly grateful for the generosity of Project Shine and Lara and Bill Perkins.”