The Council created an impressive award program for individuals who have a strong, favorable impact on young people: the Judge Clifton M. Kelly Champion for Children Award. It is named for a retired public servant who consistently worked to aid children and families while he was on the bench. Then, based on his broad experience, he developed a law education program to teach the principles of good citizenship and lawful behavior. Inauguration of the award was a project during 2000, and the program has become an important annual affair.

The Council renovated a home to provide transitional housing for victims of spouse abuse and their children. Short term, interim housing allows women to find jobs and arrange for child care and financing so they can avoid returning to the site of domestic violence.

Numerous agencies are represented in a single building so they can investigate charges, share information, and agree on proper treatment for child victims of abuse and neglect. Since its opening in October 1998, the Children’s Advocacy Center has served hundreds of  children cooperatively, devising positive remedies for the damage done to the innocent.

This residential commitment facility seeks to rehabilitate youthful offenders by teaching them job skills, demanding discipline and enabling them to resolve the problems that led them to commit crime. The 37 acre renovated air base will soon be the third largest such site seeking to rehabilitate and salvage young people by removing them from their homes while avoiding adult prison.

This multi-family home provides short-term protection for women and their children who have suffered physical or emotional harm at the hands of family or friends. Opening in 1995, the Safehouse has sheltered hundreds of victims and offered counseling and assistance in breaking the pattern of spouse abuse.

This low-cost, comprehensive healthcare coverage for school children fills the gap between private insurance and Medicaid. It has provided several thousand young people with preventive and therapeutic medical care since it was first offered though the school system in 1993. The program has expanded to include five counties in the Heartland region.

These two programs focus on efforts to prevent problem births and to identify and cure vision problems. This is accomplished by stressing proper pre-natal care and screening infants and young children for eye diseases and malfunctions.