CHILDREN’S FRIENDAND FAMILY SERVICES

ABOUT CHILDREN’S FRIEND

Founded in 1837 as the Seamen’s Widow and Orphans Association, the organization known today as Children’s Friend and Family Services is one of the Northeast’s oldest children’s charities, the result of several historic agencies merging over time into a single, vibrant entity.

Over the last 175+ years, Children's Friend has evolved in response to the needs of youth and families, developing counseling, mentoring, child care and juvenile court services programs and becoming a regional organization with offices in Salem, Lynn, Lawrence and Gloucester.

In 2009, as a result of Massachusetts Children’s Behavioral Health Initiative (CBHI), Children's’ Friend was selected to be the Community Service Agency providing wraparound services to MassHealth-enrolled children residing in the Lawrence and Lynn catchment areas. We were also selected to provide Therapeutic Mentoring and In Home Therapy services and have expanded availability to all of our major program sites.

Today, this thriving organization is serving over 3,000 children and families each year throughout Essex County.

Much has changed in our community since 1837; Children's Friend and Family Services remains focused on its core mission, unchanged as we enter our third century of service.

“To improve the lives of children and promote strong families.”

For more information, please visit www.childrensfriend.net

CHILDREN’S FRIENDAND FAMILY SERVICES

OUR SERVICESChildren's Friend and Family Services offers a diverse mix of mental health services and programs geared towards children, youth and families on the North Shore and Merrimack Valley.

Children’s Friend and

Family Services

Outpatient Mental Health

Counseling

Community Service Agency

In Home Therapy

Therapeutic

Mentoring

Youth Mentoring

Family Support

Court Clinic

Teen Parent

For more information, please visit www.childrensfriend.net

OUR SERVICESOUTPATIENT MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELING. Children's Friend Mental Health Counseling Services offer a variety of treatment options for children and families. We provide individual and family counseling in addition to psychopharmacology.

COMMUNITY SERVICE AGENCY. CSAS provide Intensive Care Coordination (ICC) and Family Support and Training (FS&T) to children and youth with serious emotional disturbances and complex needs. CSAs utilize a “Wraparound” approach which is a process used to create, put in place, and monitor an individual care plan that is created specifically to address the needs of a youth by building on the strengths of the youth, family, team and community.

INTENSIVE CARE COORDINATION. ICC is a service that uses the Wraparound care planning process to coordinate multiple services and supports for youth with Serious Emotional Disturbance (SED). A care coordinator is assigned to work with each youth and family enrolled in ICC. The care coordinator is responsible for working with the youth and family to:

Complete a risk management and safety plan Conduct a comprehensive home-based assessment of the youth’s

and family’s strengths and needs Assemble a care planning team of the family’s preference made up

of formal (e.g., teachers, state agency workers, etc.) and natural supports (e.g., friends, neighbors, etc.) to help support the youth and family

Facilitates the development of an individual care plan (ICP) that guides the family and team in pursing goals identified by the care planning team

Make sure services and supports identified on the ICP are in place and coordinated

FAMILY SUPPORT AND TRAINING. Persons delivering this service are known as family partners. A family partner has experience as a caregiver of a youth with special needs. The family partner works closely with the care coordinator (for youth in ICC) to help the parent(s) or caregiver(s) of the youth by:

Teaching the parent/caregiver how to navigate the child-serving systems

Identifying available services and supports in the community Developing connections with self-help or support groups Supporting and coaching the parent/caregiver in reaching goals

identified on the ICP

IN HOME THERAPY. In Home Therapy is a structured, consistent, strengths-based therapeutic relationship between a team of clinicians and the youth and family for the purpose of treating the youth’s social, emotional and behavioral health needs, including improving the family’s ability to provide effective support for the youth to promote his/her healthy functioning within the family. In Home Therapy is provided to assist families stabilize youth in their home and community environments.

CHILDREN’S FRIENDAND FAMILY SERVICES

For more information, please visit www.childrensfriend.net

Salem

(Main Office)

110 Boston Street

Salem MA 01970

p: 978.744.7905f: 978.740.9145 

Lynn Office

112 Market StreetSecond Floor

Lynn MA 01901

p: 781.592.5691(Clinic)

f: 781.595.4393(Clinic)

p: 781.593.7676(CSA)

f: 781.595.1081(CSA)

Gloucester Office

33 Commercial Street

Gloucester MA 01930

p: 978.283.7198f: 978.281.7793

Lawrence Office

15 Union StreetSuite 557

Lawrence MA 01840

p: 978.682.7289f: 978.686.2954 (CSA)

f: 978.482.2014 (Clinic) 

OUR SERVICESTHERAPEUTIC MENTORING. The Therapeutic Mentoring Program offers structured, one-to-one, strengths-based support services between a therapeutic mentor and a youth for the purpose of addressing daily living, social and communications skills.  Therapeutic Mentors utilize interventions to help youth reach goals such as interpersonal skills, increasing emotions control and developing problem solving skills.

YOUTH MENTORING PROGRAM. Children’s Friend Youth Mentoring Program provides a consistent, structured, one-to-one relationship between a youth and a caring and supportive adult. The goal of the program is to help ‘at risk’ children develop self esteem and learn positive behaviors by establishing a trusting relationship while engaging in social, recreational and educational activities.

FAMILY SUPPORT. The Family Support Program provides practical assistance to parents of children with behavioral disorders or that have their own mental health needs who may be struggling with a variety of parenting challenges.

COURT CLINIC. Children’s Friend has been providing DMH-funded court clinic services for the Essex County Juvenile Court since 1997. the Court Clinic services Lynn, Lawrence, Newburyport and Salem Juvenile Justice Courts.

TEEN PARENT. Children’s Friend and Family Services offers a comprehensive Teen Parenting program at Salem High School, designed to give at-risk teen parents the support they need to be nurturing, effective parents – all while completing their high school education.

CHILDREN’S FRIENDAND FAMILY SERVICES

OUR LOCATIONS

For more information, please visit www.childrensfriend.net