CHILDREN’S FRIEND
AND FAMILY SERVICES
A BOUT CHILDREN’S F RIEND
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 FRIEND
AND FAMILY SERVICES
OUR S ERVICES
Children'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.
Outpatient
Mental
Health
Counseling
Community
Service
Agency
Teen Parent
Children’s
Friend and
Family
Services
Court Clinic
Family
Support
In Home
Therapy
Therapeutic
Mentoring
Youth
Mentoring
For more information, please visit
www.childrensfriend.net
CHILDREN’S FRIEND
AND FAMILY SERVICES
OUR S ERVICES
OUTPATIENT 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.
For more information, please visit
www.childrensfriend.net
CHILDREN’S FRIEND
AND FAMILY SERVICES
OUR S ERVICES
THERAPEUTIC MENTORING. The Therapeutic Mentoring Program offers structured, one-toone, 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.
O UR L OCATIONS
Salem
Lynn Office
Gloucester Office
Lawrence Office
(Main Office)
112 Market Street
Second Floor
Lynn MA 01901
33 Commercial Street
Gloucester MA 01930
15 Union Street
Suite 557
Lawrence MA 01840
110 Boston Street
Salem MA 01970
p: 978.744.7905
f: 978.740.9145
p: 781.592.5691(Clinic)
f: 781.595.4393(Clinic)
p: 781.593.7676(CSA)
f: 781.595.1081(CSA)
p: 978.283.7198
f: 978.281.7793
For more information, please visit
www.childrensfriend.net
p: 978.682.7289
f: 978.686.2954 (CSA)
f: 978.482.2014 (Clinic)