Who We Are
At Foothill Family, we believe that healthy families are the basis of every child’s promise for a bright future. The strength and resiliency of these families provide the backbone of vibrant, thriving communities
We are committed to improving infant, child, youth, and family development and are leaders in providing comprehensive mental health care, early childhood development programs, and social services throughout the Greater Los Angeles region.
Foothill Family impacts communities across Greater Los Angeles with services provided in homes, at schools, in the community, and at our family centers in Covina, Duarte, El Monte, Pasadena, Pomona, and West Covina.
Our Mission and Vision
Foothill Family empowers children and families on their journey to achieve personal success.
Foothill Family envisions generations of healthy families and thriving communities.
What makes Foothill Family unique
Our History
1920s
1926 Founded in Pasadena by a key community volunteer, who passed a hat to raise funds to help needy families. Mrs. Josephine Marsh is the first director
1930s
1935 Provides casework services to 236 children and families
1940s
1941 Incorporates as the Family Service Society of Pasadena with Mrs. Harriet Huntington Doerr the first president
1943 Harriet Huntington Doerr wrote, “It has helped troubled families out of myriad dilemmas, so that instead of merely existing they could really live”
1945 Incorporates as a tax-exempt organization in the State of California Becomes a training site for USC graduate social work interns
1947 More than 500 WWII veterans are aided by the agency Services for teen parents and their babies are started with a $750 donation to help unmarried teenage mothers and “predelinquent” girls
1948 Elise de la Fontaine, well-known lecturer and writer in the field of social work, is hired as the Executive Director. The agency becomes a pioneer in the psychoanalytic approach to treatment
1950s
1951 Moves into the new Memorial building at 118 South Oak Knoll Avenue, Pasadena. Half of the building’s cost came from bequests and the generous support of Alexander P. and Adelaide Hixon, both of whom served on the Board
Mental illness was declared the No. 1 health problem in the U.S.
1955 Adelaide Hixon was elected as President of the Board and served two terms
1960s
1965 Family Service Society of Pasadena merges with Family Service Society of Temple City and Altadena Family Service. As a result of the merger, the name is changed to Foothill Family Service
1970s
1975 Becomes one of the first agencies to offer specialized programs in child abuse prevention and treatment Develops an innovative family-life camp to provide children and families with a therapeutic experience in the mountains
1976 50th Anniversary of Foothill Family
Develops and implements Senior Services
1978 Purchases the Oak Knoll building from United Way to house clinical services
1980s
1983 Our Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Program services are funded by the State of California under AB 1733/AB 2994
1984 Achieves accreditation from the Council on Accreditation
1985 Becomes one of the first agencies in California to provide the innovative Adolescent Family Life Program (AFLP), a case management program for pregnant teens and teen parents
1989 Receives the American Medical Association Award for excellence in the intervention of teen pregnancy
1990s
1991 United Way dramatically reduces funding to all LA County agencies, including Foothill Family.
Helen Morran-Wolf joins the agency as Executive Director
1992
Develops the innovative School-Based Counseling and Mental Health Program in the Garvey School District and at Willard Elementary school in the Pasadena Unified School District.
Develops an innovative pre-school-based program in Pasadena serving children 0-5 and their families Provides crisis counseling to families affected by the Altadena firestorms
1993 Begins our Domestic Violence Treatment and Prevention Program Receives a FEMA contract to provide crisis counseling, outreach and education following the Northridge earthquake
1994 Secures a contract to provide Cal-Learn, a new statewide case management program for teen parents who are receiving state assistance. Cal-Learn was promoted by Governor Pete Wilson because of its long-term cost effectiveness Expands our service area to the entire San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys, Glendale and Burbank
Opens a family center in West Covina
1996 Launches two educational teen pregnancy preventive and family strengthening programs: Partners for Responsible Parenting and Future Visions
1997 Starts school-based counseling and mental health services at Mountain View School District in El Monte
1998 Secures a contract with the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health to provide mental health services to eligible children and their families
Purchases the site on Hudson Avenue behind Pasadena headquarters to house its growing services and starts development of a Foothill Family campus
1999 Receives the United Way Community Impact Agency of the Year Award for its multicultural services to the San Gabriel Valley children and families
Becomes a founding partner in an innovative program in the Pasadena Unified School District to provide enriched school-based mental health services
Expands school-based counseling services, using mental health and grant funds
Secures a contract to provide CalWORKs Services for Victims of Domestic Violence
2000s
2000 Expands school-based counseling and mental health services to 40 schools in 5 school districts: Pasadena, El Monte City, Mountain View, Garvey and Temple City
Awarded a State grant for a Domestic Violence Prevention Program
Two board members, Lori Winters Samuels and Shannon Williamson, establish The Friends of Foothill Family as a support group for the agency. Shannon Williamson becomes the first president of the new group
2001
75th Anniversary of Foothill Family Service
Secures funding to start two new early child development programs from First5 LA: Bright Start, a home-visiting program for teen parents, focusing on infant development, and Early ESTEEM, an innovative program that identifies and treats mental health needs of children ages 0-5 and their families and provides training to preschool teachers and childcare providers
Successfully completes a capital campaign to develop a new Family Center in Pasadena, headed by Board Chair Frank Tranzow
Opens a new Family Center in El Monte, purchasing and renovating a building, which greatly improves access for client families
2002
Starts school-based counseling and mental health services in the Hacienda-La Puente School District
Fully implements the Early ESTEEM Program serving 195 pre-schools and childcare providers and many families with children 0-5
Opens a new Home Office in East Pasadena
Completes renovation of the Family Center in Pasadena to make the site more “family friendly”
2003 Demonstrates that our School-Based Counseling and Mental Health Program made statistically significant improvements in children’s lives
Expands school-based counseling and mental health services into the Mountain View School District
Develops a pilot Dual Diagnosis/Co-Occurring Disorder Treatment Program for Teens who are identified as having both mental health and substance abuse problems
Launches the Campaign to Build Foothill Family’s Future, headed by Board Chair J. Dale Harvey
2004 Expands children’s mental health services in La Puente, West Covina, Baldwin Park and Covina in response to the sudden downsizing of a major mental health agency.
Secures a new state grant to treat children who are victims of family and community violence
2005 Moves into a new Family Center in West Covina that doubles our space and greatly improves accessibility
Starts Multidisciplinary Assessment Team assessments of children detained by the Department of Children & Family Services, with a specialty focus on children 0-5
2006 80th Anniversary of Foothill Family Service
Secures a new contract to provide intensive Wraparound Services to very high need children and their families to move them into permanent homes
Receives first appropriation through Congressman Adam Schiff to fund Future Success, a preventative program that helps high-risk teens graduate from high school, identify their goals, and plan for a successful future.
Expands school-based counseling services into 64 schools
2007 Secures a new contract to provide Full Service Partnership Services to high-need children 0-15 and their families using Mental Health Services Act funding
Awarded the certificate of re-accreditation through December 2011
2008 Opens new Family Center in Duarte
Implements Hope and Home, founded by the Hilton Foundation, a program to serve children ages 0-5 and their young mothers who are homeless or at risk of homelessness — one of only three programs nationally
2009 Implements an electronic healthcare record system
Starts providing Project AIM — an evidence-based practice to help at-risk teens stay in school and develop tools for their future
10th Anniversary of The Friends of Foothill Family, a support group for the Agency, who have raised over $2 million to support the agency’s work
2010
Secures new contract for a new Early Head Start Program, to provide home-based services to very high-need children ages 0-3 and their parents in El Monte, South El Monte, and La Puente
Implements a School Readiness Program in Azusa through First 5 LA to help at-risk children transition successfully into kindergarten
Begins TBS — Therapeutic Behavioral Services, an intensive mental health program that helps high-need children and teens manage some specific aspect of their behavior that is preventing them from functioning normally in the home or classroom
Opens new Family Center in La Puente
Significantly expands provision of evidence-based practices for children and teens to improve outcomes and maximize resources
2011
85th Anniversary of Foothill Family Service!
We were selected to provide the Positive Youth Development program for teen parents, one
of only eight providers in the state
Cal-Learn was suspended by the state for 2011-12 but through advocacy we secured First 5 LA funding for one year for a scaled-back program for one year
2012
Cal-Learn was restored statewide for the 2012-13 State Budget, through the year-long advocacy of Foothill Family Service and the other three Cal-Learn providers in LA County
2013
Opened an additional site in El Monte to house our Early Head Start and Wraparound Programs to meet the growing need for services in El Monte and South El Monte
Secured additional funding to expand Early Head Start services in South El Monte, Rosemead and Alhambra
Implemented ACCESS Redesign – same day access for clients in our DMH Program
Helen Morran Wolf retires as executive director after more than 20 years of service and
Steve Allen joins Foothill Family Service in September 2013 as the new chief executive officer
2014
Awarded multi-million dollar Early Head Start Child Care Partnership and Early Head Start Expansion federal grant
2015
The agency refreshes its brand in preparation for its 90th anniversary. Now simply known as Foothill Family, the organization is identified by an updated tagline and logo, “Rooted in caring since 1926,” paired with the Foothill Family tree.The logo represents the deep roots of Foothill Family’s significant past, and the far-reaching branches to support a promising future for the agency and for the thousands of children and families it serves each year.
Foothill Family opens improved and expanded family centers in Duarte and West Covina to help meet the region’s growing demand for services in the eastern San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys
2016
90th Anniversary of Foothill Family!
WorldatWork awards Foothill Family with the Work-Life Seal of Distinction in recognition for its outstanding commitment to employee engagement and work-life balance
2017
Foothill Family achieves national re-accreditation from the Council on Accreditation (COA)
Foothill Family’s Healthy Families America program earns national accreditation by Prevent Child Abuse (PCA) America
WorldatWork awards Foothill Family with the Work-Life Seal of Distinction for the second consecutive year, a mark of excellence designed to identify organizational success in promoting effective practices to support and maintain the health of its employees
2018
Healthy Families America (HFA) program was expanded through a new contract with the Department of Public Health (DPH). The expansion extended Foothill Family’s reach from El Monte and South El Monte to the entire Service Area 3 geography, which includes Alhambra, Altadena, Arcadia, Azusa, Baldwin Park, Claremont, Covina, Diamond Bar, Duarte, El Monte, Glendora, Irwindale, Monrovia, Monterey Park, Pasadena, Pomona, San Dimas, San Gabriel, San Marino, Temple City, Walnut, West Covina, and others.
Early Head Start (EHS) earns another contract expansion for home-based services and child care partnerships, including geographic expansion into Pomona.
2019
Elder Abuse Treatment and Support program, contracted with the state’s Office of Emergency Services, launches in 2019. This one year demonstration project provides Foothill Family with an opportunity to develop a new service line and learn more about serving a vulnerable adult population while helping to make an impact on the rising elder abuse cases in our communities.