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Counseling Place details program expansions, funding losses and new outreach as council hears budget preview
Summary
The Counseling Place told the Richardson City Council it exceeded service targets in fiscal 2024, expanded youth and Spanish-language services, and faces funding shortfalls after cuts to Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) assistance that have reduced available money for victim services.
The Counseling Place briefed the Richardson City Council on its services, recent program expansions and funding challenges, saying the nonprofit surpassed service projections in fiscal 2024 but has reduced some free services in 2025 after federal victim-services funding declined.
Deborah Dobbs, CEO of The Counseling Place, told council members the agency has “always been about mental health” and described a range of trauma-informed interventions beyond traditional talk therapy that she said speed clients’ recovery and help preserve staff. She said the organization increased staffing in 2024, adding two therapists and expanding a suite of youth programs, and that new Spanish-language services are being offered by bilingual staff.
The agency highlighted two programs the council and the public heard about in detail. Project Positive is a mental-health-education curriculum that was adapted for elementary ages last year and had full summer registrations; Dobbs said Jonathan Flores translated the curriculum into Spanish. Empower You is a new education-and-skills curriculum for survivors…
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