.jpg "The reopened Cadence Care office in Boardman increases capacity for office-based therapy, offering prevention and substance-use support to local youth.")
The reopened Cadence Care office in Boardman increases capacity for office-based therapy, offering prevention and substance-use support to local youth.
Cadence Care Network
A local counseling service for children and young adults reopened its newly expanded offices in Boardman to better serve the growing mental health support needs of the Mahoning Valley.
In early March, the Cadence Care Network team invited community members to the grand reopening of their office at 4822 Market St. in Boardman.
Matt Kresic is the CEO of Cadence Care Network.
“What we found was that the need for actual office-based therapy was growing,” he said. “On any given day, through our behavioral health program, we work with about 600 kids from the Mahoning area. That’s a lot of kids; some of that work is community-based, but a big chunk of that work is office-based. We needed a place to house more therapists so that kids can be seen in those offices.”
Cadence Care Network began in 1990, previously named Homes for Kids.
“The purpose was to provide foster care for kids and that program started to expand over the years,” Kresic said. “We have staff that are based in about 17 local school districts from Mahoning County all the way up to Ashtabula. As schools identify kids that may or may not have mental health issues or behavioral health issues, we end up intervening and helping those kids, making sure they get into therapy.”
Today, there are nearly 400 people working in the Cadence Care Network, providing services to over thousands of kids per year.
“We’ll have the capacity to employ eight full-time therapists out there, and that should allow us to meet more of our office-based needs,” Kresic said. “We’re really looking forward to continuing to grow that service. We offer mental health prevention, substance use prevention, making sure that kids get resiliency skills and the ability to bounce back since we all face in adversity.”
Since its inception, Cadence Care Network has added programs to support the growing needs of the community, like care coordination and the Bridge program. This helps young adults who are 18-21 who have aged out of foster care in Ohio.
The Cadence Coffeehouse and Creperie opened in 2022 in Niles, a social enterprise started to help local teens and young adults gain job skills, according to Kresic.
“The community has absolutely embraced us,” he said. “These are skills they need that are transferable to move them out of the coffee shop and into another role at another organization, a full-time job. We bring them in; we teach them how to interview; we coach them up. It really is about having a great environment that’s accepting and allows kids to be who they are, despite their challenges, and allows them to feel comfortable.”
The headquarters for Cadence Care Network is in Niles, with more locations in Mineral Ridge, Toledo and Columbus.
“One of the barriers we know to mental health treatment in the Mahoning Valley is transportation,” Kresic said. “A lot of our therapists end up going into the home, and our case managers are working out in the community where folks live. So you don’t necessarily always have to come to us for some of our services.”