St. Francis Community Services

About Us

Since 1945, Saint Francis Community Services has been dedicated to the needs of children and youth. We advocate for them and work to protect them. We do our best to ensure that every child we serve gets a chance at a happy and fulfilling life. As a non-profit, faith-based organization, we place great stock in the value of both traditional and non-traditional families. We believe strong families make children’s lives better.

That’s why we care for children through community-based means, serving 10,000 children in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska with a broad range of programs and services. We help strengthen and heal families while providing for the health and security of children.

Though rooted in the Episcopal tradition, Saint Francis Community Services is an independent not-for-profit organization dedicated to the protection, nurturing, and healing of children and families in body, mind, and spirit. To that end, while partnering with government agencies in supporting children and families in crisis, Saint Francis Community Services honors religious freedom and is also committed to allowing children and families in its care to participate in religious activities on a voluntary basis.

At Saint Francis Community Services it is our mission to provide healing and hope to children and families.

Our vision is to be the leading provider of a continuum of preventive, therapeutic, and educational services for children, youth and families.

The Rev. Robert Mize Jr., an Episcopal priest, founded Saint Francis Boys’ Home nearly seven decades ago in Ellsworth, Kansas. Fr. Bob had seen too many troubled youth disappear forever into the juvenile justice system, and he wanted to help them reclaim their lives and their futures. He offered hope.

Over the years, the scope of our ministry has grown, encompassing foster care, therapeutic foster care, adoption, family preservation, residential care, and community outreach services. We provide child welfare services in Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska and adult developmental disabilities services in Mississippi.

Saint Francis Boys’ Home began with 12 boys; today Saint Francis Community Services serves thousands of children and youth. Yet, we still do the same work begun by Fr. Bob – helping children and youth find a more hopeful future.