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Alms box, c. 1839

Inc., 1870

House Rules, 1872

Orphans' Home

Residents, c. 1898

Aid Society, 1910

Mission Statement

Child & Family

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165 YRS. OF COMMUNITY SERVICE

Child & Family Services is one of the oldest nonprofit organizations in Southeastern Massachusetts. We began as the New Bedford Orphans’ Home opened in 1843 to help children left homeless and without families during the whaling era.

The beginning

In 1839, during the peak of the whaling era, New Bedford was the richest port in the world. Whale ships set sail routinely from New Bedford’s docks and the city was a major center of commerce. Fortunes were made and sea captains occupied grand houses overlooking the harbor in all its working splendor. Several city residents were living the good life indeed.

There are, however, other stories to tell about that time. There were children without parents, orphaned by mothers who died and by fathers lost at sea. There were children left to beg on the streets, often forced to steal to eek out their paltry existence.

Reverend Ephraim Peabody, minister of the First Congregational (Unitarian) Society, summed up their plight best: “There is no place on earth where there are thirteen thousand inhabitants, where seven thousand seamen come and go, and where there are the usual changes of fortune, where there are not children who are left friendless.”

With that, Reverend Peabody looked to change the course for these friendless children by establishing an orphanage. And he looked to those he thought could best care for, nurture and educate children at that time – the women of the community.

Toward that goal, a small group of women embarked on a fundraising mission and raised $2,866 for the cause. The women organized a society, elected officers and rented a house. They hired a matron, an assistant and were ready to open the Orphanage’s doors by November 17, 1842. “Four children “rescued from the haunts of vice,” moved in that day.”*

Four months later, in March of 1843, the women’s application for a charter was approved by the House of Representatives and the Senate. “Rebecca W. Rodman, Abby S. Robinson, Lucy C. W. Shaw and their successors”* were granted official status as a corporation that was called the New Bedford Orphans’ Home.

Through continued fund raising, collaboration with other service agencies and the support of the community, the New Bedford Orphan’s Home weathered the last part of the 19th century and more importantly, was a good “friend” to homeless children. Through the Home, children received consistent meals, shelter, clothing, education and care. There were many stories of children who had lived at the Orphans Home who grew into adults that were industrious and happy.

A time of transition

As new theories about caring for disadvantaged children changed with the times, so did the New Bedford Orphans’ Home. By the turn of the century, as social work as a profession was developing, placing out,”* (what we call foster care today) - was considered the best course of action for children in need. After much study and consideration the decision was made to close the Orphans’ Home in favor of a placing-out system.

As with most big changes, there was some anxiety amongst the community members about the fate of children in need. For 67 years, the Orphans Home had been a consistent and capable friend to destitute children. What would happen to them now?

The public was invited to a meeting on February 23, 1910 to address the changes. The Orphans Home had the support of New Bedford’s most distinguished citizen of that time – William W. Crapo – and it was he who made the introductory remarks at the public meeting.

He talked abut the dedication of the women who had run the Home. He told of the struggles along the way, and, of course, about how their first and foremost consideration was the best interests of the children. It was deemed best for needy children to live and grow in family homes rather than in an institutional setting and he emphasized that they were “not abandoning the children but setting up a new system whereby the children would be offered better services.”*

And they did just that. In the following months, the children flourished under the new system. The women worked hard to identify homes where needy children would receive “not only food, clothing, and shelter, but also wise and loving care.”*  In September of 1910, they cemented their new focus with a new name – the New Bedford Children’s Aid Society.

Expansion of services

With our new beginning came ideas of doing even more for families. In 1916, with the generous support and help of local doctors, the women opened a clinic for medical and mental health issues. The endeavor was so successful that a second clinic followed not long afterward. The clinics were in place for more than four years, up until the time St. Luke’s Hospital agreed to take care of children in their outpatient department. In the more than four years that the Children’s Aid Society clinics existed, care was provided to 11,286 children.

The women of the Children’s Aid Society also worked hard to help mothers and fathers, when at all possible, overcome neglectful and poor child rearing methods with the hope of keeping children in their own homes permanently.

The Aid Society also worked with the city’s probation officers to curb child delinquencies.

Help in times of community crisis

The New Bedford Children’s Aid Society was a continual source of support and care to children and families throughout many of our region’s and country’s most difficult times.

• During World War I, New Bedford, like communities across the country, had men fighting in the cause. The New Bedford Children’s Aid Society joined St. Luke’s Hospital in their efforts to help the wives of soldiers in the War. St. Luke’s provided free care to the wives, while the Children’s Aid Society provided free child care to children while their mothers were in the hospital.

• In the 1920s, textile mills had been the bread and butter for many of New Bedford’s residents. As economic decline resulted in tough times for the factory owners, it was the common mill worker who suffered the most. In 1928 New Bedford's mill workers went on strike. The need for help from service agencies increased. The Children’s Aid Society too was struggling financially, but managed to stay the course and remain a viable source of help to people in need.

• By the early 1930s, America was hit hard by the Great Depression. The collapse of the economy impacted many. Poverty was profound and widespread leading to even more pressure on families and children. Fathers without jobs and mothers without the ability to feed their children, was all too common.

• Through the hard work of the women, the help of volunteers and the support of foundations and local citizens, the Children’s Aid Society was able to persevere through this most difficult time for our country. The Milk and Food Funds project, started in 1930-1931, in which malnourished children received “milk with Dextri-Maltose (the first infant formula), and oranges, and undernourished babies received cod liver oil,”* was just one example of the assistance the Children’s Aid Society provided at that time.

• The 1940s brought war again. As the men were overseas, the women took to the work force. In 1942, the Children’s Aid Society contributed to the wellbeing of children on the home front by helping to provide “foster day care for children from any family in order to permit mothers to work.”* The milk program also continued during this time.

Joining forces

In 1944, there were two prominent agencies in the city working to help destitute children and families: the Children’s Aid Society and the New Bedford Family Welfare Society. The latter was formed in 1894 by a group of men who sought to provide economic and social aid to needy families. The two groups had worked in collaboration many times over the years, particularly during the Depression with the Milk program.

Theodore H. Rice, president of the Welfare Federation suggested the two join forces with the goal of “offering the community better services.”*  During the next few years, the organizations worked bilaterally.

In December of 1947, it was decided to “create legally one agency that would carry on the purposes of both societies.” The bigger combined agency was named New Bedford Child & Family Service. They legally merged in March of 1948.

Focusing on the issues

Over the decades, the agency continued growing and evolving to meet new needs in the community. Our Annual report of 1951-1952 points to the direction in which the agency was headed:

“The purpose of the New Bedford Child and Family Service is to strengthen family life. Counseling service is available to any family or individual with a family difficulty or personal problem. The Agency provides also temporary foster home care and adoption placement of children."

That year:

         8 children were placed in Adoption Homes
       67 children were placed in Foster Homes
     729 families received counseling services
  2,060 individuals received services.

In the 1970s, the agency added Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater New Bedford to our services. In 1980, the agency opened a mental health clinic and family support office in Fall River. In 1995 another was added on Cape Cod in Hyannis. We also started a School-Based Counseling program in the 1990s and today have therapists in 21 area schools.

In 1998, New Bedford Child & Family Service developed a state wide Post-Adoption Service –Adoption Journeys - that gained a funding contract in Massachusetts. The program has offices throughout the state.

By 1999, our geographic footprint extended well beyond the borders of New Bedford. To signify this fact, the board voted to officially change the agency’s name from New Bedford Child & Family Service to simply Child & Family Services.

Child & Family Services today

Today, Child & Family Services continues to be lead by caring individuals who work together to help families in need.

The people that make up Child & Family Services today include: 15 volunteer Board members and a staff of 271 that includes 106 therapists, six psychiatrists, many family support workers and several administrative and support staff women and men.

Through counseling, prevention programs, family support and psychiatry services, we are able to keep the commitment we first made in 1843 of helping those in need. Our mission remains: “…to heal and strengthen the lives of children and families.”

* Information and excerpts compiled from Caring for New Bedford's Children 1839-1949 by Mary Jean Blasdale, a book Celebrating the history of New Bedford Child & Family Service, © 1993.