Our History

Holly Hill was chartered April 3, 1884, through a special act of the Kentucky General Assembly. Founded as Campbell County Protestant Orphan’s Home, the original facility was located in Newport, Kentucky and housed children whose parents had died or were ill and unable to care them. Because of advances in health care during the early 1900s, fewer parents were dying from chronic illnesses thereby reducing the number of orphaned children. Consequently, the agency turned its focus to meeting the needs of children who had been deserted or had experienced break-ups in their family.

In 1952, the home relocated to Cold Spring, Kentucky and changed its name to Holly Hill Children’s Home. Since that time, Holly Hill and its programs have continued to evolve. Although there are virtually no traditional orphans today, there are still many children who have become “societal” orphans. In 1987, Holly Hill was officially licensed as a residential treatment facility to deal with children who suffer from severe emotional and behavioral problems. The vast majority of the children served have been physically or sexually abused.

Thanks to a generous bequest of land from Mr. Eric Robinson, Holly Hill Children’s Home relocated to rural Campbell County in California, Kentucky in 1990. The agency is situated on a scenic campus that includes an administration building, two residential cottages and a maintenance building. Historically, Holly Hill treated boys and girls ages 12 to 18 until September 1, 1995, when the agency made the transition to an all-girls facility. We remain the oldest and only agency in Northern Kentucky that specializes in the treatment of adolescent girls in a residential setting.

From 1996 to present, Holly Hill has worked diligently to provide a continuum of care for the children it serves. To better define the agency and the programs it offers, the Board of Directors voted in 1999 to change the agency name to Holly Hill Children’s Services to incorporate three additional programs: Therapy Services, Case Management, and Supervised Visitation. The addition of new programs has allowed the agency to increase the number of children it has served from 40 in 1997 to more than 3,000 children and family members in fiscal year 2017. Also in 2017, Holly Hill once again updated their name to reflect the type of care they are providing.

Today, Holly Hill Child & Family Solutions, with offices in California, Kentucky and Highland Heights, Kentucky offers two main areas of programming to benefit families in Northern Kentucky: Residential Treatment and Behavioral Health Services. In fiscal year 2020, Holly Hill Child & Family Solutions served 39 adolescent girls in Residential Treatment and 3,211 children and family members in Behavioral Health Services.