Inperium has acquired KidsPeace, a Lehigh Valley human services nonprofit with a troubled past
Inperium is a Berks County nonprofit human services conglomerate that has grown rapidly through acquisitions. Its biggest deal was for Philadelphia's Resources for Human Development.
Inperium Inc., a fast-growing Berks County nonprofit, announced Monday its latest acquisition with the takeover of KidsPeace, a troubled provider of youth mental health services.
KidsPeace has struggled financially for years and is facing at least five lawsuits by people who say they were sexually abused more than a decade ago at its residential facility Orefield, Pa., near Allentown. KidsPeace is based in Lehigh County.
The deal with Inperium took effect Friday and is designed to give the nearly 150-year-old organization financial stability at a time of rising costs and low government reimbursement, KidsPeace spokesperson Bob Martin said Tuesday. KidsPeace has been looking for a partner for five years.
“This arrangement allows us to have greater access to capital as well as drawing on Inperium’s expertise in terms of shared services,” Martin said. “But we’re retaining our identity, retaining our branding. Our management is staying. Our board of directors is staying. It was what we feel is the right kind of agreement at this time.”
Preliminary financial results show that KidsPeace had $144.9 million in revenue last year and an operating loss of $3.7 million from the services it provides in six states. Because of its financial troubles, KidsPeace’s lenders require it to file monthly financial reports — which is unusual in the world of nonprofits.
Inperium is best-known in Philadelphia for its 2024 acquisition of the nonprofit Resources for Human Development, which was close to bankruptcy when Inperium agreed to take it over.
Inperium had $765.8 million in revenue in the 12 months that ended last June 30, according to its audited financial statement.
Inperium noted in its KidsPeace announcement that the acquisition will boost its annual revenue to just under $1 billion, a figure that has long been a target for Inperium founder and CEO Ryan D. Smith.
The deal for KidsPeace comes about a year after Pennsylvania regulators revoked the license of a major Inperium unit, Supportive Concepts for Families. That move came after four deaths and dozens of neglect cases at community homes for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Last fall, state regulators revoked the license of the secure detention unit at another Inperium subsidiary, Abraxas Academy in Morgantown, Pa., because it failed to report abuse and was found “grossly incompetent.” Abraxas had drawn attention for housing migrant children under a contract with federal Office of Refugee Resettlement.
Inperium did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Supportive Concepts and Abraxas.
