More than 400 families struggling with addiction, sex abuse or mental illness last year were turned away from the Carroll County Youth Services Bureau.
That?s nearly half of all the families who asked the bureau for help.
“It?s very disheartening when you know you have people that have problems in their life and they?re reaching out for help” and can?t get it, said Dale Sears, the bureau?s community services initiative program director.
But he said he hopes that within a few years, any family who needs help in Carroll County can get it. With state and federal grants, the center plans to open a larger building and hire more counselors.
“It?s really hard to tell someone, ?Hey, we know your kid?s out of control and you?re pulling your hair out, but we don?t have the space,?” Sears said.
Officials at the bureau hope to break ground by March on a two-story, 22,000-square-foot building along Route 32 that will allow them to treat 1,200 families each year, officials said.
That would serve more than the number of families? requests they expect to receive.
The current building in Westminster is one floor and about 8,000 square feet.
The state granted $3 million ? about half the cost ? for the new building, and U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin earmarked $335,000 for the bureau so it can hire more employees.
Cardin presented the check to the center Thursday.
“The services providedhere are so important for a healthy community,” he said. “This is a matter of doing what?s right for people. We can?t afford to lose our children.”
The center is the primary treatment center for Carroll families, coordinating with the schools system to go to children?s homes before they are put into foster care, said Lynn Davis, executive director of the bureau.
The facility is one of three inpatient clinics in the county and treats low-income families who use state assistance to pay, Davis said.
“The reward is seeing them when they?re finished counseling and are in a better place,” she said.
