ACRC Conference Provides Opportunities for Mercy Home to Share Model of Care

April 14, 2026

The expertise that our coworkers bring to their jobs is not developed in a vacuum. Opportunities to share knowledge and experiences with professionals from near and far are valuable and ultimately benefit the children and families we serve. 

That’s why Mercy Home participated in the Association of Children’s Residential Centers (ACRC)’s annual conference in March. Held in a different city each year, this year’s 70th annual conference was held in Chicago, allowing over 20 Mercy Home coworkers to attend.

ACRC is an international nonprofit membership organization that represents and supports providers delivering residential treatment, group care, and related services for vulnerable children and youth. The conference brings together child‑ and youth‑serving professionals from across the country to share best practices, research, and leadership strategies focused on strengthening residential care and improving outcomes for young people. The conference includes a combination of keynote presentations, workshops, panels, poster presentations, and an awards ceremony, where Mercy Home’s own Br. Paul McDonough was honored.

This year, Mercy Home was selected to be an exhibitor during poster presentations. Marc Velasquez, Mercy Home’s director of milieu training and cultural-spiritual engagement, gave a presentation on the competencies found in our Home’s model of care, aka, the Mercy Model.

“Marc was able to present on the great work our youth care workers are doing around the Mercy Model competencies and how we make sure that’s being sustained,” Manager of Training Niaira Marshall said.

Coworkers who attended took a survey before and after the conference so that our organizational development team could track what was learned and how to implement it. Coworkers who worked at Mercy Home for at least six months and were in a youth-facing role were welcome to apply to attend. Marshall noted that it was a great professional development opportunity for those who attended.

“Being able to join and [access] the amount of knowledge that’s shared throughout I think is really powerful,” Marshall said. “We talk a lot about professional development, and we do a great job here, but when there’s opportunities to connect outside of Mercy Home, I think that should always a be a priority.”

Attendees left feeling motivated to implement what they learned, as well as enjoying the time spent being able to network, share information, and problem solve with other organizations from around the world.

“We are always so grateful to be a part of ACRC, and have access to the resources that they provide,” Marshall said.

The networking continued later in the week when youth-serving professionals from Italy and Australia visited Mercy Home for an afternoon of connection and learning. The relationship began at the conference, but it grew into the opportunity to see firsthand how organizations across the world approach caring for young people in need. 

The visit was made possible through Kari Sisson, Executive Director of ACRC, who helped connect Mercy Home with international attendees at the conference. Among them were representatives from Strive Community Care in Australia and CNCM Italia, organizations involved in residential youth care abroad. 

The Italian visitors brought cookies to share as the Mercy Home coworkers welcomed the group with an introductory presentation, offering insight into the mission and daily work. One by one, attendees introduced themselves, sharing their names, roles, and the paths that brought them into the field. Among them was Mercy Home President & CEO Fr. Scott Donahue, whose remarks moved many of the visitors. For many of them, it was their first time in the United States.  

“My favorite part has been the relationships I’ve made at the conference,” Vittoria Vitaloni, CEO of Fondazione GEOS ETS Peace Builders, said. “I feel very honored to work with such a loving community.” 

Her decision to visit Mercy Home came as a desire to learn from people just like herself.  

“We asked to see a program in Chicago,” she said. “But little by little, I fell in love with this project. Through this conference, I’ve learned more about what stands behind the values of Mercy Home. It’s very moving because I’m the CEO of a residential care service and these are our values we work with every day. To think that there’s somebody working in the same way on a larger scale… for me this is a bridge of hope, consistency and love.” 

Following the introductions, the group embarked on a tour of Mercy Home’s West Loop Campus just outside downtown Chicago. They first visited the cafeteria, where daily meals are shared by our young people and coworkers, and a residential living space where youth care workers described how they create a safe and structured environment. The tour continued through the gymnasium and concluded with a look at the community care program, which supports young people and their families even after they leave residential care. 

For Megan Kerndt, director of learning and development at Mercy Home, the visit highlighted how important ACRC is at connecting organizations around the world to teach best practices in residential youth work.  

Kerndt emphasized the role ACRC plays in shaping the field, advocating youth and family voice, reducing reliance on physical interventions, and fostering collaboration among professionals. 

“One of their guiding principles comes from Maya Angelou- ‘When you know better, do better,’” she said. “They help keep people inspired, grounded in quality care, and committed to supporting the direct care workforce.” 

This year’s conference, held in Chicago, brought interest in seeing what residential care looks like in the country that the conference is hosted in.  

“We offered to show Mercy Home to anyone who was interested,” she explained. “Kari shared that international visitors were interested in seeing local organizations, and we connected from there.” 

Throughout the tour, the groups exchanged ideas and asked questions about their resources and challenges.  

“We wanted to share a bit about our approach to care here at Mercy, and during the tour, we learned more about their work,” she said. “It was a great opportunity to make connections and learn best practices from one another.” 

By the end of the day, what stood out most to Kerndt was the shared experience of wanting to help those in need. 

“My favorite part was learning about what they do and having so much respect and admiration for the breadth of challenges that they deal with and how they address them,” she said. “It’s so encouraging to see how people are doing this kind of work all over the world. They’re seeing similar types of challenges as we are, but in a slightly different context… and continent.” 

Special thanks to the Tracy Family Foundation for supporting Mercy Home’s participation at the ACRC annual conference, and to the Robert R. McCormick Foundation for their overall support of Learning and Development at Mercy Home. We are deeply grateful!