Former FACE of Boone County changes name to reflect new focus after funding cuts

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Family Access Center of Excellence of Boone County has changed its name to better reflect its services after being tasked with cutting $1.6 million. The shortfall in funding has cut out community-based services and has forced some staff to be let go.

The newly named Boone County Schools Mental Health Coalition will focus on school-based services, including therapy access programs and supporting juvenile justice efforts, coalition director Sarah Owens said.

"We are shifting our name to represent that we are no longer an 'access center' and give recognition to our work being primarily school-based," Owens wrote in a text message.

The coalition receives its funding from the Children's Services Fund, a quarter-cent sales tax approved in 2012, Boone County Community Services Department deputy director Kristin Cummins said. Funding peaked in 2017 at $16 million, but the county requires 17% of the total fund to be kept in reserves for emergencies.

More money was distributed to organizations in the years following, but revenue dwindled, leaving the coalition without the necessary funding to keep up with its community-based efforts. Cuts to the coalition weren't based on performance.

The coalition has a $3.6 million budget for 2026, but that will begin to decline throughout the "transition period," Owens said.

There will be a large cut for 2027; the coalition will have about $2.3 million. By the beginning of 2028, the coalition will be down to $2 million, a 43% cut.

There are 58 programs that receive money from the children's service fund. Those programs are safe from cuts for 2026, but that could change when those programs reapply for funding in the spring and are awarded in the summer.

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