Kent Youth And Family Services Announces Next Chapter: Occupational Therapy For Youth Coming In 2026
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KENT, Wash. - Washingtoner -- Kent Youth and Family Services (KYFS) celebrated its annual fundraising gala, The One Thing Experience, on Saturday September 13, 2025 highlighting program impact, organizational growth, and announcing an exciting new chapter for the organization: KYFS will launch Occupational Therapy services for youth beginning in January 2026.

The evening's theme, Next Chapter, reflected both the organization's evolving story and the future of services for youth and families in the region.

"KYFS has always grown in direct response to the needs of the community," said Trista Helvey, Executive Director of KYFS, who joined the organization in October 2023 to lead the organization through its expansion and reach new youth and families in need. "Fifty-five years ago, KYFS started as a drop-in youth center. Since then, we've become a leader in youth mental health and substance use counseling. Adding Occupational Therapy is the next chapter in ensuring we meet the critical behavioral health needs of our community."

Occupational Therapy (OT) helps children strengthen foundational skills for daily life, including fine motor skills, self-regulation, sensory processing, and executive functioning. These services will benefit youth with developmental delays, sensory processing challenges, ADHD, and motor delays, helping them become more independent and confident in school, at home, and in their communities.

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Brenda Rogers, KYFS's Director of Behavioral Health, emphasized the value OT will provide: "Our therapists support family relationships and emotional regulation skills, but we recognized a gap in the mind-body connection. By adding Occupational Therapy, we'll be able to help kids regulate their bodies, reduce daily stress, and more fully use the coping strategies they learn here in counseling."

In addition to announcing the new service, KYFS unveiled design plans for a new Occupational Therapy Gym at its downtown Kent office, where OT services will be available to both Medicaid and privately insured clients.

This expansion builds on KYFS's steady growth, including the recent launch of a Perinatal Counseling program, Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), and expansion of in-school behavioral health services into Renton, Highline, and Sumner-Bonney Lake school districts. In 2024 alone, KYFS provided more than 11,000 hours of behavioral health services, a number KYFS is projecting will increase in 2025.

Visit kyfs.org to view all of Kent Youth and Family Services Programs.