Second Chance Homes

The Mission of Second Chance Homes is to break the cycle of addiction, one family at a time. In the best of cases, this mission entails reunification of children with their mother/father.

Description:
Second Chance Homes provides a respectful and nurturing environment to the families the program serves in hopes that they will be able to take advantage of the many resources and helping hands available to them in the community, and to move forward to productive, happy, and independent living.

History:
In 2004, the Yellowstone County Family Drug Treatment Court hosted an open meeting of community providers to begin a dialogue about the ongoing need for housing in the Billings community. Central to that conversation was a discussion about housing specifically for parents/families in recovery. Data gathered by the Family Drug Court indicated that, overall, parents and children had better long-term outcomes in cases where children were allowed to remain in their parent’s care during the parent’s recovery process (assuming that environment was safe and secure for the children). Locally, the only program currently offering this opportunity was Michele’s House. Data gathered by Child and Family Services indicated that far more families would be eligible to take advantage of such an opportunity if more housing was available.
Out of that original meeting, a small work group was formed under the umbrella of the Roots of Promise Coalition. Between 2004 and 2007, that work group began researching other programs and creating a basic work plan for what type of housing would be ideal, policy, procedure, and staffing needs. The work group was comprised of representatives from Family Drug Court, Child and Family Services, Family Tree Center, and providers from other non-profits, as well as foster parents and interested community individuals.

In early 2007, the Administration on Children Youth and Families announced the availability of a grant to “increase the well-being of, and to improve the permanency outcomes for, children affected by methamphetamine and other substance abuse.” The work group felt that this grant was perfect to provide start-up funding for this type of project. In October 2007, Second Chance Homes, under the umbrella of Family Tree Center, was awarded one of only fifty-two of these grants given nationally. By December 2007, the leadership team had formed a preliminary board of directors and hired a director. Doors to the first of the Second Chance Homes, the “main” house, were opened in March 2008, with the other homes opening shortly after that and throughout 2008.

Contact people:

Donna Huston, Project Director, (phone), (email) Bob Grover, Resource Development Mgr., (phone), (email)

Office fax number: (406) 294-5090

Address:

1004 Division St. - Ste. 200 Billings, MT 59101 (See a map)

Web Site: http://www.sch-mt.org

Directions:

Second Chance Homes is located at the corner of Division St., Clark and 3rd Avenue north. We are in the CN Plaza Building at 1004 Division - Suite 200, right across the street north of the Moss Mansion.

Last updated on June 30, 2009