Canopy Children's Solutions
Transforming Lives
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
- 1 in 5 children suffer from a mental or behavioral health challenge. Sadly, 80% of those who need help will not receive the services they need to overcome their challenges. - Children deserve to thrive in a loving home. Unfortunately, abuse, neglect and other unhealthy environments develop when a family is in distress and does not get the support they need to stabilize their environment. This can lead to unsafe home environments, crime, educational disruption and a greater burden on the state foster care system. - On the MS Gulf Coast, many children are abused annually and need support to overcome their experiences. - Children with severe emotional and behavioral challenges deserve specialized and therapeutic educational opportunities to learn.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
CARES Center
The CARES Center is Mississippi’s first private, non-profit psychiatric residential treatment center for children with severe emotional or behavioral disturbances. The CARES Center places children in an intense residential setting where they are surrounded by a highly structured environment. We utilize a team approach that includes therapists, case managers, psychiatrists, family therapists, family partners, school staff, dietary staff and milieu staff. Each person plays an integral role in achieving the goals of the child’s treatment plan.
CARES Center Jackson serves up to 60 children at a time, ages 6-17. While residing at CARES Center, each child receives comprehensive assessments and individualized strengths-based treatment planning as well as different types of therapy that include, but are not limited to, individual, group and family therapy.
Each child receives individualized educational services administered by our accredited on-campus CARES School. We provide therapeutic recreation, spiritual enrichment and nutritional services, and each child receives medication management and ongoing psychiatric assessment.
Upon leaving CARES Center, each child receives comprehensive discharge and aftercare plan.
Educational Solutions: Canopy's CARES Schools and The Canopy School
CARES Schools are accredited, non-public schools designed to meet the educational and behavioral needs of students whose behavior prohibits participation in the public school setting. The goal of CARES School is for each student to live and learn effectively.
Canopy's CARES Schools are located in Hattiesburg and Jackson. Each school is accredited by the Mississippi Department of Education. The work completed at the CARES School is fully transferable to Mississippi public schools and classes can include traditional and non-traditional academic courses.
CARES Schools serve children in grades 1-12 in a small classroom setting where licensed, certified teaching professionals can address children's academic needs in addition to emotional and behavioral concerns.
The Canopy School is a nonprofit, accredited and individualized academic environment for children with an array of learning differences. The Canopy School is located in Ridgeland, MS.
Adoption and Maternity Services
All children in Mississippi deserve a permanent, loving home. Canopy recognizes that a caring family with supportive parents is necessary for a child to thrive. We help place children of all ages, cultures, and backgrounds in the safety of a loving home. Canopy has led the charge to ensure that Mississippi adoptions take place through a licensed agency that will always have the best interests of the child at heart.
Recognizing that the adoption process can be overwhelming, we are honored to walk alongside adoptive families through this life-changing experience. That process may include adoption training, education regarding the adoption process, completion of a home study, supportive counseling, finding the best match for each family, and, pre- and post-placement solutions.
Trained and licensed staff help birth parents navigate numerous options available to expecting parents. Referrals to community resources are also provided to meet the needs of the birth parents and child.
Adoptive parents and adoptees often have many questions long after the adoption process is complete. While maintaining the confidentiality of all parties, we provide non-identifying medical and social information to the adoptees placed by Canopy.
Mississippi Youth Programs Around the Clock (MYPAC)
Mississippi Youth Programs Around the Clock (MYPAC) is an in-home and community-based solution offered in all 82 Mississippi counties. MYPAC provides parents with an alternative to psychiatric residential treatment services for youth with serious emotional challenges.
Therapeutic Foster Care (TFC)
Rooted in the belief that a home and family-based environment is in the best interest of every child, we offer Therapeutic Foster Care (TFC) to children in the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services child welfare system.
TFC provides a therapeutic, caring environment in a nurturing therapeutic foster home and family. Any child entering our care is supported in reaching his or her permanency plan, whether that is reunification with the family, adoption, permanent
foster/kinship care, or independent living. Each
child is supported by a TFC therapist, and our
therapeutic foster parents receive extensive training
to ensure that each child is given the opportunity to
succeed at home, in school, and in the community.
Warren County Children's Shelter (Crisis Shelter)
Warren County Children’s Shelter (Vicksburg) provides refuge for abused, neglected, runaway and homeless youth. WCCS provides beds for 12 children and youth ages birth to 17 who are seeking temporary shelter.
The shelter provides housing, medical care, psychological evaluations, educational services, food, and clothing while delivering solutions for the therapeutic needs of the children who come into their care. The shelter is used for diagnosis and evaluation when children are removed from homes due to abuse or neglect. The center also serves as runaway and homeless youth shelter for children in crisis.
Early Intervention Autism Clinic
Early Intervention Autism Clinic provides an intensive early intervention program for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder ages 18 months to 8 years old. The clinics utilize the Promoting the Emergence of Advanced Knowledge (PEAK) curriculum and assessments with Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) therapy to help break down communication barriers that impede learning. Intensive therapy, which includes upwards of 25 hours of individualized therapy per week, helps children on the spectrum develop communication skills, fine and gross motor skills, emotional regulation, and overcome sensory and learning challenges.
in-CIRCLE Family Preservation and Reunification
in-CIRCLE is a program administered by Canopy Children’s Solutions in partnership with Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services (MDCPS). The program provides family preservation services and family reunification services. Anchored in the belief that the best place for every child is a permanent, loving home, Canopy works to keep families together and children safe.
After we ensure the safety of each family member in preservation cases, in-CIRCLE provides intensive support to help the family through crisis to prevent removal of children from the home. In instances where children have already been removed, in-CIRCLE works to reunite the family through ongoing therapeutic and support solutions.
Family Preservation Solutions are designed to keep families together, particularly in situations where children and adolescents are at risk of being removed from their homes. MDCPS must have a case open; although, youth may or may not be in MDCPS custody. Canopy provides preservation solutions for up to 8 weeks.
Family Reunification Solutions are tailored to families where youth have been removed from their home and placed in MDCPS custody for less than 8 months. Canopy provides reunification solutions for up to 16 weeks.
South Mississippi Child Advocacy Center (CAC)
The South Mississippi Child Advocacy Center (CAC) offers forensic interviewing to children when there are allegations of abuse, neglect, or violence. Without the CAC, a child experiencing abuse has to tell his story over and over again: to the police, a doctor, a social worker, an investigator, and a counselor. This places an incredible amount of undue stress on a child who is already traumatized. The CAC gives children a place where they can come and tell their story a single time.
Following the interview process, the CAC brings together many services and resources under one roof in order to protect the child and effectively support prosecution.
Behavioral Health Solutions
The Canopy Behavioral Health Clinic serves children and youth up to age 21. Our outpatient solutions help children and families manage symptoms associated with behavioral and mental health. Our therapists provide treatment for a wide variety of childhood emotional and behavioral problems.
Therapeutic Day Treatment
The Therapeutic Day Treatment Program is for youth who are struggling to maintain appropriate participation in traditional school setting due to behavioral or emotional problems. We bring solutions to a full range of challenges including depression, anxiety, defiance and aggression. Treatment is provided after school.
Where we work
Awards
BBB Accredited Charity 2021
Better Business Bureau
Certified Great Place to Work 2021
Great Place to Work
Affiliations & memberships
Better Business Bureau Accredited Charity 2021
External reviews

Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Percentage of families preserved and kept intact with youth remaining safely with their families or relatives at discharge.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Families
Related Program
in-CIRCLE Family Preservation and Reunification
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Permanency outcome goal is 90% to ensure that youth have long-term safety outcomes while remaining in their homes with their families.
Number of Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) developed
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Related Program
Educational Solutions: Canopy's CARES Schools and The Canopy School
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Assessment goal for improved Individualized Educational Plans (IEPs) for students with emotional and behavioral disabilities, as well as mental health challenges, within a calendar year is 70%.
Percentage of youth discharged from in-patient psychiatric care to a lower level of care.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Related Program
CARES Center
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Goal for youth discharged from in-patient psychiatric care to a lower level of care is 100%. In most cases, the discharge plan for residential programs is an indicator of program effectiveness.
Number of children served
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Canopy continuously evaluates the needs in Mississippi to determine how we can meet those needs for the children and families in need of behavioral, educational and mental health solutions.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn 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?
Canopy Children’s Solutions (Canopy) mission is to help children thrive and families overcome extraordinary challenges by providing a continuum of behavioral health, educational and social service solutions. For over 110 years, Canopy has provided innovative mental health, social and educational solutions to Mississippi’s most vulnerable children and youth. The organization, founded as Mississippi Children’s Home Society in 1912, was first established to place children into permanent, loving homes. Canopy’s programs developed for Mississippi’s children, youth, and families continue to evolve to meet society’s changing needs. Today, Canopy serves all 82 counties through a full range of innovative solutions.
Meeting the dire needs of Mississippi's children requires innovation, leadership and timely solutions. Today, our state continues to face unprecedented challenges in accessing behavioral healthcare services that are timely, coordinated, affordable and delivered by highly skilled and deeply passionate healthcare professionals.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Canopy proudly served over 7,000 children in 2022 through a variety of statewide solutions and interventions, including residential psychiatric programs, fully accredited schools, in-home family preservation, and reunification services, in-home community-based mental health services, therapeutic foster care, and outpatient clinics.
Canopy remains committed to providing children, youth, and young adults with maximal opportunities to overcome behavioral health challenges and reach their full potential to lead self-determined lives of meaning and dignity.
Canopy has always been and will continue to be focused on creating solutions for the most vexing challenges facing Mississippi’s children and families.
The following four strategic directions will serve as areas of strategic focus that build on the foundation of our four core values that have informed every aspect of our planning process and will guide every step of our implementation.
The Four strategic directions include:
(1) Our People
- This includes our strategic efforts for our staff, our board, our volunteers, our interns, our family and youth partners, and our business and
community partners.
(2) Our Solutions
- This refers to the full array of solutions under our “Canopy” (also referred to as services or programs) as well as our innovations and best practices, our Information Technology, and our Quality Management efforts.
(3) Our Stewardship
- This strategic goal attends to our stewardship efforts over our finances, cash position, risk and compliance, property, and donors.
(4) Our Impact
- This strategic focus will examine the impact we are making through the metrics that matter in the lives of the individuals, families, communities, state, and nation. This strategic focus will also examine the impact of our brand identification as a pivotal thought leader, advocate, and service provider supporting the development of healthy children.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
For over 110 years, Canopy has provided innovative mental health, social and educational solutions to Mississippi’s most vulnerable children and youth. The organization, founded as Mississippi Children’s Home Society in 1912, was first established to place children into permanent, loving homes. Canopy’s programs developed for Mississippi’s children, youth, and families continue to evolve to meet society’s changing needs.
Today, Canopy serves all 82 counties through a full range of innovative solutions. Canopy has 18 locations around the state and an extensive statewide infrastructure of mental and behavioral health professionals, nurse practitioners, therapists, social workers, case managers, teachers, forensic interviewers, and longstanding networks that enable us to create and scale solutions to address vexing problems for children and families quickly and efficiently.
Canopy leaders also work to advocate for new public policies to create better access to services for children and families.
Canopy programs include:
- (2) CARES Schools located in Jackson and Hattiesburg (serving more than 30 school districts)
- CARES Center (CARES) - a psychiatric residential treatment facility located in Jackson (serving children from around the state)
- Therapeutic and Diagnostic Emergency Children's Shelter located in Warren County (serving children from around the state)
- (2) South MS Child Advocacy Centers located in Harrison and Jackson counties (serving the MS Gulf Coast)
- Community-based in-home mental health treatment (MYPAC) (available in all 82 MS counties)
- Community-based in-home family preservation and reunification services (In-Circle) (available in all 82 MS counties)
- Community-based resource connection service program (LINK) (available to most MS counties)
- Outpatient mental and behavioral health clinics located in Jackson, Hattiesburg, and Gulfport
- Early Intervention Autism Solutions located in Jackson
- Accredited special purpose school (The Canopy School) located in Ridgeland, MS and serving children with a variety of learning differences.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
For over 110 years, Canopy Children’s Solutions has offered a bold vision to address the most vexing problems facing Mississippi children and families. From children abandoned as orphans at the turn of the century to current challenges with homeless pregnant teens, youth struggling with crippling addictions or mental health concerns, or the growing epidemic of children diagnosed on the autism spectrum, Canopy has provided both the vision and the solutions for Mississippi’s children and families.
Canopy has made an intentional shift to create solutions for the 131,000 children in Mississippi with significant mental & behavioral health challenges. Canopy is focused on providing services through an integrated healthcare delivery method. Canopy is uniquely positioned to export our expertise into schools, pediatric and primary care settings to come alongside children and families who have suffered from challenges related to mental or behavioral health, substance abuse, and autism spectrum disorder.
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
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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.
Canopy Children's Solutions
Board of directorsas of 03/31/2023
Mrs. Lisa Bemis
Jackie Meck
Dorian Turner
Lisa Bemis
Brad Maley
Randy Eure
Robert Abney
John Arledge
Lauren Benner
Jamie Chustz
Barney Daly
Dave Dennis
Carol Edmonds
Monica Harrigill
Lynn Hosemann
Craig Jackson
Will Lampton
Laurie McRee
Jill Pierce
Charlotte Seals
Bryman Williams
Sherribeth Wright
Gerard Gibert
Robert Leard
Latoya Merritt
Lane Campbell
Alfrado Donelson
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? Yes
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:
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
No data
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data