KidsPeace affiliates with Inperium to enhance mental health services in Pennsylvania

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A Conversation With: Michael W. Slack, president and CEO, KidsPeace 

LVB: You recently announced that KidsPeace has entered into an affiliation agreement with Inperium Inc., tell me more about this? 

Slack: We at KidsPeace are excited at the potential benefits of our affiliation with the Inperium organization.  

Through this partnership, we are joining an impressive constellation of human services agencies across more than twenty states that are benefiting from Inperium’s access to capital for essential improvements, as well as its deep expertise and technical sophistication in the delivery of shared support services.  

We see this agreement as an important step in ensuring that KidsPeace can continue to provide necessary mental and behavioral health services to kids and families, as we have proudly done for nearly 145 years. 

LVB: Why did you decide to make this move? 

Slack: KidsPeace’s board of directors and leadership have been exploring strategic partnership models for several years as a core part of our long-term planning.  

Like other providers in our field, we are navigating significant challenges like rising costs, staffing shortages, and reimbursement rates that have not kept pace with the needs of the children and families we serve. 

As a result, we have carefully evaluated arrangements that can provide our organization greater financial stability and important technological advances in our back-office operations.  

At the same time, it was essential to us that the high-quality programs our young people in our care and their families rely upon would continue – and that those services would remain firmly grounded by KidsPeace.  

Our identity is not changing. Our Board and leadership are not changing. And, most importantly, our commitment to the KidsPeace mission is not changing as a result of this agreement. 

LVB: How will the affiliation benefit KidsPeace? 

Slack: Our affiliation with Imperium will allow us greater access to capital to fund needed advancements and improvements in our programming. We also will benefit from their expertise in support services – including the ability to take advantage of advanced technological platforms and purchasing power that will make our operations more efficient and sustainable in the future. And as I emphasized, we will secure these benefits while maintaining our identity as KidsPeace – with our mission, governance, and commitment to the children and families we serve fully intact. 

LVB: Will the children and families that you serve notice any difference with the change? 

Slack: Truthfully, I don’t think they will see much change at all. Our services will be delivered by KidsPeace’s dedicated associates, in KidsPeace facilities, backed by KidsPeace’s long history of trauma-informed evidence-based care. 

Maintaining our identity and program delivery has been a key priority for us in evaluating potential partnership models over the past few years. 

Where they may see a difference is in improved access to care. The need for more mental and behavioral health services in our communities is great and it’s growing.  

With a financially stable foundation, we can look at expansion of programs in the KidsPeace Continuum of Care, like our walk-in crisis assessments that we provide in Lehigh and Berks counties, to address that need going forward. 

LVB: How do you see the future of KidsPeace with this affiliation? 

Slack: I’m optimistic about our future. At KidsPeace, the heart of what we do has been about meeting the needs of people, and our fellow affiliates in Inperium’s constellation of services share that same commitment.  

This agreement directly supports KidsPeace’s strategic goals, and we’re excited to begin working with Inperium as a partner to bring those shared benefits to bear on the challenges we face and, in doing so, improve the lives of children, families, and communities who depend on us.