Keystone Human Services - Comprehensive community based mental retardation, mental health, autism and early intervention services

Keystone Global Vision

A Community Still In Need

Through participation in postvention support for our Russian colleagues in Beslan in the aftermath of their tremendous loss, members of the Keystone family had the opportunity to form powerful connections with support professionals whose mission did not end – or become any easier – as the impact of the school siege began to fade. The work of human services professionals in this region of southeastern Russia, the North Caucasus, is laden with the added complexity of near-constant political, religious and ethnic volatility. We learned that the political and social climate of the North Caucasus dramatically impacts the lives of children, and we sought to find a meaningful way to continue our support of these children even as Beslan faded from the international spotlight.

Connecting with Russian professionals in Beslan and Vladikavkaz, the capital of North Ossetia-Alania, Keystone developed a plan of action to establish a support center for children and families in this area of need that could be replicated throughout the North Caucasus region. Through the Keystone Social-Educational Foundation for Social Assistance to Children and Families' Comprehensive Systems of Care for Children and Youth in the Northern Caucasus project, Keystone developed a program of children and family programming at the Polyclinic Hospital in Beslan. In Beslan, children and families still struggle to cope with lingering anger, anxiety, sadness and confusion in the aftermath of the school siege, and many continue to feel unsafe in their schools. Through a specialized, comprehensive approach to training and individual developmental support, Keystone can continue to contribute the restoration of this broken community.

At the polyclinic in Beslan, Keystone provided training and support in the development of continued family counseling services, psychiatric services for children and their families, home visits and community outreach, and group work and other creative therapies. With funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Keystone Social-Educational Foundation for Social Assistance to Children and Families (KFCF) has launched a Children and Family Center in North Ossetia-Alania, utilizing the developmental mold of the Children and Family Centers in Moldova.

Through the North Ossetia-Alania Children and Family Center, as well as the Beslan polyclinic and other satellite support centers, children and families can access psychological therapy services, medical services, fellowship and group support from other families and for teenagers, as well as a variety of creative outlets such as hippo therapy and art therapy. KFCF professionals provide continual training and support in service provision, fundraising, administration and community involvement.

If you are able to help the children and families of Beslan, please make a secure online donation. All donations are fully audited and will be carefully managed through the Keystone Partnership. Further information is available by calling KHS at (717) 232-7509.