COEUR d’ALENE — Deep cuts in state funding for children’s mental health services struck a fatal blow several years ago to Children’s Village’s residential treatment program for kids with severe emotional and behavioral disorders.

The nonprofit was forced to ax the program that operated in its Miller Home, one of two buildings located on the agency’s grounds in Coeur d’Alene.

Now they hope to reopen the residential section of that building, to duplicate the group foster home and services provided next door, in the 12-bed Moyer Home. The expansion would double the number of placements Children’s Village is able to accept.

“There’s a real need for that,” agency director Sheilah Stone-Dorame said. “For the month of November, we turned away 28 kids.”

Since its inception in 1984, Children’s Village has provided a safe haven for more than 2,000 Kootenai County youngsters who have been abused, neglected, who are homeless, or whose family situations have become dangerously unstable.

Stone-Dorame, who has been with the agency for 22 years, said homelessness has become the most common reason kids come through their doors.

“I’ve seen the change. There are a lot of moms and dads out there living with three kids in a car or a tent,” she said.

The children arrive through private placements, regardless of ability to pay, or through placement by the state.

Stone-Dorame said there is just one child there right now who was placed by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.

In many cases, when a family loses its home, the parent or guardian will turn the children over to Children’s Village voluntarily, with the hope that the separation will be temporary.

“They have no place to go, and they’ve done their best to care for them,” Stone-Dorame said. “It’s heartbreaking, but they’re doing what is best for their children.”

Reunification is the goal, but the children’s welfare is Children’s Village’s top priority.

“Unfortunately, it’s harder than the parents think it’s going to be to get their acts together,” she said. “There are long waiting lists for help with housing.”

Because many of the agency’s young residents are there under these circumstances, the stays have become longer, Stone-Dorame said. Some just spent their second Christmas at Children’s Village.

In addition to having a warm, safe place to live, the kids are transported to school, and they receive medical care, counseling and other services if needed.

“We had a 5-year-old who couldn’t eat. She had an infected tooth. It’s so heartbreaking,” Stone-Dorame said.

To serve more kids like this at Miller Home, more money is needed. Children’s Village receives less than 5 percent of its funding from the state, so it relies heavily on donations.

That’s the other side of all the heartbreak Stone-Dorame sees.

“There’s so much good in our community. We’re very thankful,” she said.

To donate or learn more about Children’s Village call (208) 667-1189.