Our mission

The mission of DCCH Center for Children and Families is to express God’s love by providing compassionate care and quality services to address the physical, spiritual, and emotional needs of children and families.

Our philosophy

As a Christian institution under the auspices of the Diocese of Covington, Kentucky, DCCH Center for Children and Families respects the dignity of each individual as a person created in the image and likeness of God.

The Board of Directors and Staff are committed to helping children and their families while embracing and celebrating the diversity and giftedness of each and every person.

We work to nurture each child physically, intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually and provide them the opportunity to lead fruitful and productive lives as children of God and members of society.

Our goals

We access, stabilize, treat, and educate children and their families while facilitating changes in relationships, attitudes, and behaviors. Through a continuum of support and assistance, we strive to establish a safe and loving home environment. We help children and their families reshape themselves into a loving family unit and become productive, self-confident members of our community.

Our vision

DCCH Center for Children and Families will be the preferred provider of flexible, adaptive and the highest quality family-centered care in a safe environment. We will increase awareness in the community and expand funding sources to ensure the long-term financial viability of a state-of-the-art facility.

Our history

For more than 175 years, DCCH Center for Children and Families has served the needs of more than 3500 children and families in Northern Kentucky. Each of these children and their families have become part of our family tree. 

Meet the team

If you have any questions about DCCH Center, please feel free to contact us at any time. We look forward to hearing from you!

Denise Govan

President & CEO

Amber Wert

Financial Consultant

John Ross

VP of Programs

Cass Patterson

VP of Development and Marketing

Ron Bertsch

Therapeutic Foster Care/Adoption/ILP Director

Emily Burch

LCSW, LISW, Residential Treatment Director

Doug Harlow

 TBS & PQI Director

Nancy Poulos

Human Resources

Dave Poland

Interim Facilities Manager

Our board

Jerry Deatherage, Chair
NEST

Pending, Vice Chair
Pending

Kathy Wise, Treasurer
Retired (Bartlett Wealth Management & DCCH Center)

Molly Barth, Secretary
Retired (GeoCentral)

Donna Allen
Retired (Landor)

Chris Carle
St. Elizabeth Physicians

Dave Chandler
B105

Troy Fedders
St. Elizabeth Healthcare

David Futscher
Cors & Bassett, LLC

Michelle Groeschen
Fischer Homes

Matt Bain

Paul Hemmer Company


Justin Hanks
Dow Chemical

Sister Jean Marie Hoffman
S.N.D. Sisters of Notre Dame

Matt Verst
Messer Construction

Chuck Kelly
Pediatric Care of Kentucky

Kelly Kleier
Cincinnati Children's Hospital

Kim Moser
Kentucky State Representative

Msgr. William Neuhaus
St. Henry

Performance

Performance and quality improvement

Our Performance and Quality Improvement (PQI) plan is in place to manage an organizational culture of improvement. This improvement ensures that we provide evolving high-quality services to children and families. The philosophy of the plan is based on setting performance goals, measurement, and evaluation with stakeholder input and communication of results. We have a PQI plan which outlines the activities and is updated annually. A PQI committee of volunteer staff meets monthly to lead the plan implementation. Stakeholder participation in this plan is considered crucial. Stakeholders may participate in the process in many ways: submitting improvement ideas, serving on the PQI committee, completing an annual survey, or supporting our plan and culture. Anyone interested in the agency is welcome to participate in the above ways: such as staff, board, volunteers, parents, children, funders, and community partners.

Cover Photo of Annual Report 2024

Performance Indicators

Performance Quality Improvement Statement: At DCCH Center for Children and Families we are committed to providing quality care and services to our clients and their families.

Each department within the agency will exercise best practices in carrying out the responsibilities of his/her department. To ensure that quality standards are being met, performance and target goals will be reviewed on a quarterly basis to comply with best practice standards.

DCCH believes in fostering a work culture that promotes commitment to the agency’s mission and values, pride, and mutual respect among staff and encourages personal growth to ensure a culture of excellence.

Accreditation

DCCH Center for Children and Families was the first residential treatment facility in Northern Kentucky to become accredited by the Council on Accreditation (COA) in 1990 Kentucky’s Cabinet for Health and Family Services now mandates that all private, child-caring agencies be nationally accredited. DCCH Center was recertified and is accredited through October 2026. The process involved a comprehensive review of human resources, financial and risk management, and continuous quality improvement as well as 39 service standards. These standards address a full array of child, family, and behavioral healthcare issues including residential treatment, therapeutic foster care, and adoption. Link to COA’s website by clicking here.

Affiliations