Sacramento Bee’s Melody Gutierrez writes:

With funding cuts and increased clients, the Stanford Home for Children is running leaner and looking at ways to evolve.

The nonprofit’s executive director said part of that evolution includes a name change to reflect what Stanford Home is doing – providing at-risk youth a variety of intensive intervention programs.

“We haven’t had residential care for children since 2006,” said Executive Director Keith Diederich. “Research shows when you work with families at home and in the community, the results are better.”

In the coming months, the new name will be Stanford Youth Solutions. The nonprofit will stay at its current location near Folsom Boulevard and Watt Avenue in Sacramento, where it provides art therapy, counseling, foster care and other services to families and youth in crisis.

The Stanford Home for Children saw gross revenue fall from $10.6 million in 2007 to $9 million in 2010. Associate Executive Director Kären Woodruff said 2011 is looking to be a more challenging year financially.

Stanford Home has been housing vulnerable kids since Jane Lathrop Stanford, the widow of former Gov. Leland Stanford, left the Stanford Mansion to the local Catholic diocese to become a refuge for “friendless children.”

The organization – originally called the Stanford Lathrop Memorial Home for Friendless Children – has moved several times since the state took over the Stanford Mansion in 1978. The Stanford Mansion is now a state museum at 8th and N streets.

With the rebranding to Stanford Youth Solutions, Diederich said he hopes the community will better understand what the nonprofit does. He said the new name shows that the organization is focused on positive outcomes for families and youth.

The nonprofit serves mostly families at or below the poverty line of $22,350 for a family of four. Clients are referred by Sacramento County Access.

In 2010, the nonprofit created a fund that provides families with financial support, such as paying rent to keep a family off the streets, helping turn the electricity back on or buying school supplies.

Diederich said the typical case referred to Stanford Home is a teenager who has been in multiple foster care placements, has a history of abuse or neglect and may need psychiatric services.

“The kids at Stanford Home typically have not been successful in other interventions,” Diederich said. “We see ourselves as the last safety net.”

And that’s certainly how LaDauwn Suggs views Stanford Home. Suggs, 18 and the mother of an 8-month-old, credits the organization with helping her get her life back on track through counseling and other services.

“They help with everything, and they don’t push you aside,” she said.