Sheffield Place has experienced substantial growth in the number of clients served (129 families in 2018 compared with just 20 families in 2010) and recently expanded staff to accommodate increased programming demands. The agency is pleased to welcome Kris Downs, LPC, to the newly created position of Clinical Supervisor. Kris brings years of experience in mental health programming and has been at Sheffield Place since Feb. 4, 2019. Kris will be doing some therapy and oversees all the clinical staff, therapists, and the case managers.

Kris is a licensed therapist and has been working in the Kansas City metro area for twenty years. She has experience working in the foster care system, working with children and adults, with homeless, and with addiction.

“I have worked in the KC area my whole career, mainly in homes, so I have worked in all kinds of communities around the city. Throughout the whole twenty years, I have worked in the Northeast periodically, depending on where the moms would be who were trying to get their kids back.”

Kris says her passion drove her to choose this career.

“I have a real passion for helping people. I love seeing growth and that light in people when they see that they’ve got this and can do it. A lot of people get down and lose that feeling that they can do anything and they get stuck. Helping people see and find their way and doing that is just very fulfilling. And I also love working with children.”

Although Kris has only been at Sheffield Place for a short time, she said she has enjoyed her experience so far, and has a vision for where she wants to see it go in the future.

“What I love about Sheffield is that it’s an ongoing program. There’s no time limit. Even if someone isn’t ready right now and they leave the program, if they find that later they are in a better place and they reach back out and say they would benefit from help, they are welcome back. They can always come back for services whether or not it’s into the house to get more intense services or whether they’re coming into groups or therapy or support services in the community. Any place I’ve been, there’s been a time limit to the services. I love the ‘no time limit’ aspect about Sheffield. The fact that Sheffield is there saying ‘we are here,’ it’s amazing.”
Kris says her goal in this new role is to do what she can to help the organization expand.

“My goal is to help Sheffield grow. We would really like to expand services and try to catch some of the services that are being missed, like after-care, more services with the children, and maybe get more community involvement. That’s the big thing; we are really in a time of growth and looking to move forward and expand. I’m really excited about that.”