Crittenton Celebrates 50 Years of Serving Children, Youth and Families
Celebrating 50 Years of Serving Children, Youth and Families in Southern California
Crittenton Services Reaches Half-Century Milestone of Healing Childhood Trauma
Fullerton, CA – Crittenton Services for Children and Families will be hosting a luncheon at the Summit House Restaurant in Fullerton, Calif. on June 3, 2016 from 11:30 a.m to 2:00 p.m in order celebrate the non-profit’s long running legacy of providing comprehensive mental health, social services, and specialized treatment services to the most vulnerable system-involved children and their families.
Crittenton’s 50th anniversary celebration will also serve as an opportunity to reintroduce Crittenton’s history to the local community; as well as, pay tribute to all clients, employees, community partners, volunteers, and donors that have trusted our mission throughout the many years of service.
Among the dignitaries scheduled to appear to help recognize Crittenton’s service milestone include elected officials of the City of Fullerton, members of the California State Legislator, and staff members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.
“It’s really important to break the hold of trauma, to heal it, if you will, to give children and young people a sense of agency, a sense of ownership of themselves, and help them regain a sense of power,” said Joyce Capelle, CEO, Crittenton Services, “It is my honor to thank all those that have helped Crittenton accomplish 50 years of service, and most importantly to express a deep sense of gratitude to the children and families we serve in allowing us to stand alongside them during their time of need.”
Crittenton Services has long been known to be a leading behavioral and mental health services provider in Southern California that believes in the importance of practicing a trauma-informed treatment approach throughout the agency’s comprehensive and client focused programming efforts.
In fact, its one of the few child welfare agencies in California that has continuously been nationally accredited since 1999, and as of 2015 it still continues to be among the few agencies in California to hold dual accreditation with both the Council of Accreditation and The Joint Commission.
The Crittenton mission was introduced in California during the early 1900s where the now defunct Los Angeles Crittenton Home served as a transitional home and social services program model for teen mothers and their children during the early 20th century.
Volunteers of the Los Angeles Crittenton Home, living in Orange County at the time, saw a real need for the creation of a similar program and mission for Orange County teen mothers. With the help of the Los Angeles Crittenton agency and a core of Crittenton volunteers the Florence Crittenton Home in Orange County was established and incorporated in 1966. The original site for the six bed home for unwed mothers was located in Santa Ana, Calif. before moving and expanding its breadth of social services programs to Fullerton, Calif.
Today, Crittenton Services has evolved to be a respected mental health services provider that serves up to 2,000 system-involved children, youth and families each year. At one point in the non-profit’s history it only served local youth, but now has a proud service record that helps clients from Los Angeles County, San Bernardino County, Riverside County, San Diego County, and Northern California.
Community partners, dedicated volunteers, and former clients have also been invited to the June celebration as a way for the non-profit to honor their success, their dedication and the compassion shown throughout the years.
Among our invited guests is Lucero Noyola, a former client of Crittenton’s Residential Treatment Services Program, who is now a graduating senior at the University of Southern California. She has been selected as Crittenton’s 50th anniversary ambassador whose role is to help curate and showcase historical artifacts and artwork at the event’s exhibit hall for guests to enjoy.
Noyola was once involved with the juvenile justice system, but today she is a shining example of why it’s critically important to advocate for and support organizations that help system-involved youth. Noyola mentions that she looks back on her time while staying at Crittenton’s short-term residential treatment center as transformative.
“A lot of kids that end up in places like the juvenile justice system are carrying a lot of emotional baggage because a lot of things that happened to them while growing up. Crittenton seems to understand that,” said Noyola,”Crittenton really changed my outlook while I was a client, and I started doing really well in school, and I was very happy because I felt competent, and they helped me fell accomplished.”
Currently, Noyola has been accepted as a graduate student at the USC School of Social Work and will start her Masters program this fall. Her dream is to one day earn a doctoral degree and to continue to advocate for and help address the continued needs of both foster care and juvenile justice youth.
For additional information about Crittenton’s mission, programs, historical legacy and ways you can help system-involved children and youth connect with Crittenton’s communications department at 714-680-9000 ext. 6008 or communications@crittentonsocal.org.
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Crittenton Services for Children and Families of Southern California (CSCF) is a non-profit social services agency whose mission is to heal the wounds of abuse and neglect; strengthen families; and help troubled adolescents reach their full potential. Established and incorporated in 1966 Crittenton has a highly trained workforce operating 24 hours a day / 7 days a week providing comprehensive counseling, medical, and other support services to the clients in our care. We provide a full array of residential, in-home, community based, wraparound, mental health, foster care, adoption, and transitional age youth services with a service planning area throughout Southern California that covers Orange, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside and San Diego Counties.
Visit www.crittentonsocal.org to learn more about our programs and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Flickr.
Topics: Non-Profit, Social Services, Social Work, Community Based Services, Residential Treatment Services, Wraparound Family Services, Transitional Age Youth Services, Mental Health Services, Chilren’s Mental Health Services, Commercially Sexually Exploited Children’s Treatment Program, Crittenton’s InSight Program, Crittenton’s Teen Mom and Baby Therapeutic Treatment Program, The National Crittenton Mission, Florence Crittenton Services of Orange County
Geography: Orange County, Calif., Fullerton, Calif., Los Angeles, Calif.