The Covering House

Sponsor a School's Prevention Education!

We have more requests for help than we have resources to cover.

Headlines on a local, state and national level have revealed the extent of sexual crimes against children. On the news, we’ve seen an inordinate number of sexual offenses within the schools in Missouri. The need for The Covering House services has never been more prevalent.

The Covering House has been inundated with calls, especially from school districts, for our prevention program, Reducing the Risk. Reducing the Risk is designed to educate students, teachers, parents, and caregivers on sexual exploitation and trafficking. Topics include healthy relationships, setting boundaries, and navigating the internet safely. Students are taught how to recognize the red flags and what self-protective factors they can put into place to reduce the risk of experiencing this trauma. The Covering House has seen a 138% increase for presentations from 2025 to 2026.

St. Louis community is in the top 20 U.S. cities for trafficking, while Missouri ranks 4th in the nation. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Cyber Tipline has seen a dramatic increase in reports linked to AI-driven exploitation material, surging 1,323% from 2023-2024. The need is great.

By donating, you are helping ensure that students are empowered to set safe boundaries and learn trafficking red flags. Will you help prevent youth from being exploited?

Programs include Residential, Community-Based Services (CBS), and Reducing the Risk.

The Level III Youth Residential Facility provides 24/7 residential care to minors for a period of 12-15 months. Residential services include individual and group therapy, specialized therapy (equine and horticultural), expressive arts, a full in-house education program, nutrition, recreation, experiential learning, and sensory integration. The residential home is staffed by licensed therapists, degreed educators, and trauma-informed trained Youth Development Specialists (YDS).

Community-Based Services (CBS) provides intensive therapy and case management to clients in their homes when the biological and foster families are stable and intensive residential care is not required. CBS also provides aftercare to clients graduating from our residential program who need ongoing stability services.

Reducing the Risk is our prevention and early intervention program. The curriculum is designed to educate students/faculty/parents on red flags, protective factors and recovery services specific to sex trafficking.

Our COVER Care® program which encompasses the above programs is currently in the process of being licensed to sell and distribute the model.

The population served at The Covering House (TCH) residential home are youth aged 12-17, who have experienced sex trafficking or sexual exploitation.

Since beginning services in 2013, TCH has served over 190 youth and reached more than 7,900 with the Reducing the Risk prevention and early intervention awareness program in schools. In 2020-2022, TCH served an average of 24 youth each year. In 2020-2021, 70% of the youth served by TCH were ethnic minorities [51% identified as black, 19% as white (non-Hispanic/Latinx), 17% multi-racial/multi-ethnic, 2% as Hispanic/Latinx, and 11% unspecified]. Sex trafficking knows no demographic boundaries. However, those who live in poverty are at a higher risk. Traffickers look for unmet needs in potential victims (lack of money, basic needs, love, etc.).

TCH clients are primarily from Missouri with most from the greater St. Louis area. TCH has served clients from other states and has contracts with the children's divisions of Missouri, Iowa, and Indiana. TCH has had one international client who was brought into the U.S. for sex trafficking.