Press

April 6, 2006

The Best of Both
On behalf of the THS Board of Directors, we are pleased to announce that effective January 1, 2006 the merger of Therapeutic Health Services and Central Youth and Family became official. In 2005, both Boards decided to create a committee to conduct an objective and comprehensive review of the merger opportunity. The result of this committee’s work was a recommendation to merge that each Board voted unanimously to approve in November 2005.

CYFS, a private non-profit community-based organization, primarily serves the diverse communities of Seattle’s Central District, Beacon Hill and Rainier Valley, with outreach programs that extend to West Seattle and Renton. CYFS services target youth and include individual and family counseling, chemical dependency treatment, case management, outreach, gang intervention, college readiness programs, transitional and permanent housing assistance to homeless youth, and outreach to schools and youth in detention.

The merger added 40 CYFS employees to the 110+ staff already working at THS. In addition, THS will serve 1,000 more clients annually, bringing the total number of clients served to 6,000.

To become better positioned to manage the growth, THS underwent reorganization at the leadership level. The Leadership Team consists of Mervyn Chambers, Chief Operations Officer, who will be responsible for all THS non-medical operational staff. Chief Medical Officer Victoria Evans, former manager of the Summit and Seneca Branches, oversees all THS medical services and medical operational staff. P. Scott Warnock is the THS Chief Financial Officer and directs all financial operations.

THS has been greatly strengthened by the merger as we now offer a continuum of excellent mental health counseling, drug/alcohol treatment, and supportive services to children, youth, and adults in our community. We are conducting extensive training in communications and integration throughout all levels of THS to enhance that strength.

The merger will enable us to achieve greater success in meeting the needs of families, strengthen the communities we serve, and help build healthier families for a healthy community.