Coyote Hill Foster Care Ministries
A Safe Place to Be a Child™
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Coyote Hill exists to give children in foster care a safe place to be a child. We know safe children today make safe families tomorrow. We work to end child abuse & neglect in this generation.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Foster Care Community
The Hill is six large foster family homes and one duplex situated on 300 beautiful acres. At The Hill, we are able to fill in a gap in our foster care system by primarily caring for sibling groups. A child is TWICE AS LIKELY to live with their brothers and sisters at Coyote Hill than another foster home. All of the homes at The Hill have a huge playground and basketball court. Families also have access to a lake with water trampolines, a campsite with a fishing pond, a ball field, an equine program, and trails to explore. We regularly welcome foster families from the region to use these facilities as well.
Foster Care Services
In 2020, Coyote Hill launched our Foster Care Services Program. This program focuses on recruiting, training, and supporting potential and new foster and adoptive parents. Coyote Hill’s foster care program focuses on making the foster care process as simple and sustainable for participants as possible. Having the proper resources for foster parents from the very beginning allows for the best long-term results for children. Throughout 2021, the Foster Care Services program served 106 families in mid-Missouri. This new program has allowed Coyote Hill to serve twice as many children and five times as many families. As part of this program Coyote Hill has also expanded geographically to include sites in Hannibal, Jefferson City, and Moberly.
Equine Program
Our equine program is offered to all children in foster and adoptive families in the mid-Missouri area. This program focuses on teaching foster children coping skills and emotional health intelligence skills by learning about and riding horses. It creates opportunities for foster children to use horses as partners as they grow emotionally and physically. They also gain motivation and educational skills they can use throughout their lives. Our equine program runs year-round and is completely free to participants.
Where we work
Awards
Small Business of the Year 2022
Columbia Chamber of Commerce
Four Star Charity 2023
Charity Navigator
Angels in Adoption® Award 2002
Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute
Angels in Adoption® Award 2014
Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute
Most Loved Charity 2022
Hulafrog
Affiliations & memberships
Boone County Children's Services Fund 2022
Christian Alliance for Orphans 2023
Missouri Coalition for Children 2023
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of children served
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Foster and adoptive children, Foster and adoptive parents, At-risk youth
Related Program
Foster Care Services
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
In 2020, Coyote Hill launched our Foster Care Services Program. This new program has allowed Coyote Hill to serve twice as many children and five times as many families.
Number of families served
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Foster Care Services
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
According to the Missouri Department of Social Services Annual Report, there were 20,247 children in the custody of the Missouri Children’s Division in 2021. Coyote Hill works to keep children in foster care safe by securing homes to live in, providing resources to license foster parents, and offering advocates to walk through life with foster families.
Research indicates that, depending on the state, 30% to 50% of foster families quit within their first year. They cite lack of support, insufficient representation within the child welfare system, and feeling helpless when faced with children’s social and emotional needs (National Conference of State Legislatures, 2019). In 2020 Coyote Hill launched our Foster Care Services Program. This program focuses on recruiting, training, and supporting potential and new foster and adoptive parents. Throughout 2021, the Foster Care Services program served 106 families in mid-Missouri. This new program has allowed Coyote Hill to serve twice as many children and five times as many families. As part of this program Coyote Hill has also expanded geographically to include sites in Hannibal, Jefferson City, and Moberly. In 2021, Coyote Hill’s Foster Parent Retention Rate was 90%.
Coyote Hill’s programs focus on making the foster care process as beneficial and sustainable for participants as possible. Having the proper resources for foster parents from the very beginning allows for the best long-term results for children.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Coyote Hill works to secure safe homes for children in foster care to live in by operating our Harrisburg Foster Care Community and training and licensing foster parents throughout Missouri. Our work in training and licensing has allowed more safe homes to open up for children in need. Family advocates help ensure foster parents opening their homes to children in foster care have what they need to thrive.
The Coyote Hill campus is located on 300 acres of land with six large foster family homes, an equine arena allowing children to participate in therapeutic riding programs, and a beautiful outdoor space for children to explore and find healing. Our property allows seasoned foster parents the opportunity to serve children in a serene environment surrounded by the support of other foster families. We also have offices in Harrisburg, Columbia, Moberly, Jefferson City, and Hannibal, allowing staff to be located closely to the families we serve.
Training is an integral component for setting up each foster family for success, as well as ensuring Coyote Hill staff members are equipped to teach trauma-informed best practices. Our training begins with our staff members; making sure our staff can teach our community is necessary for the best outcomes of foster families. Because of our extensive staff training, Coyote Hill is able to offer many different types of training courses to ensure foster parents feel prepared and educated to accept a child into their home.
Coyote Hill also works to simplify the foster care licensing system as much as possible. Coyote Hill has a designated licensing team that works directly with prospective foster parents. They track the family's progress and alert them of upcoming requirements.
Coyote Hill provides tailored levels of support for the specific needs of each foster family. Resources are tailored to support the foster parent(s), the foster child, or the entire family unit. Some families may require more support for the parents, some need more support for the child, but most families flourish with individualized support for each member. All families that foster through Coyote Hill have access to a Family Advocate. No other agency licensing foster parents has dedicated family advocates to support and guide new foster parents. Family Advocates all have higher education and passion for the work that often requires odd hours to be there when a child is placed in a new home. They work to pinpoint which areas of support the family may benefit from and ensure they have the necessary resources. Additionally, Family Advocates facilitate many programs developed by Coyote Hill to benefit foster families.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Several aspects of our organization aid in our ability to keep children safe including our top-notch, well-trained staff, high level of fiscal responsibility, and community interest in our organization's mission. It is part of our strategic plan that leadership will continue to hire excellent staff members who will further Coyote Hill's mission, as well as continue to train and build up current staff to keep our culture healthy. Additionally, our development team is heavily involved in plans for the organization's expansion; creating goals to ensure funding will be secured for current needs and future growth. Coyote Hill has demonstrated a long standing history of being fiscally responsible to its donors and the state of Missouri. Community interest in Coyote Hill's mission continues to grow. In 2021, Coyote Hill welcomed 111 volunteers clocking over 1,100 hours of service, ranging from one-day service group projects to semester-long interns.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
In the last 31 years, Coyote Hill has served more than 800 children. Specifically, in the last two years, our reach has exploded. We went from serving 66 children in 2019 to 124 in 2020 and then 234 in 2021. This increase in the number of children served has also allowed us to serve five times the number of families. Utilizing our strategic plan, we will continue this growth, sustainably. We have plans to expand to other areas of central Missouri where the need is clear. Coyote Hill will build upon a strong foundation of well-equipped staff to provide the best possible care for our families and children.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Coyote Hill Foster Care Ministries
Board of directorsas of 01/19/2024
Dr. David Hockman
Retired, Columbia Orthopaedic Group
Term: 2023 - 2024
Liza Thompson
Foster Parent
Clint Miller
Shelter Insurance
Cindy Mutrux
Mutrux Automotive
Brian Bernskoetter
Capital Solutions
John Glennon
Jostens - Retired
Brandon Barnes
USA Mortgage
Adam Kinser
ServiceMaster of Columbia
Larissa Wollard
Veterans United
Amy Starr
Veterans United
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Not applicable
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 01/19/2024GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.