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 sees brighter futures in which individuals and families thrive, communities are strengthened, and generations are enriched.

Our work empowers children and families to achieve success in relationships, school, and work through community-based services that advance growth and development.

What makes Foothill Family unique

STRONGER TOGETHER

Foothill Family’s approach to care thoughtfully engages family members as partners in care which encourages accountability and creates deeper bonds.

NOW & FOR THE FUTURE

Our programs emphasize prevention and early intervention, initiating action now to promote change that ripples outward into the community & forward through future generations.

HOLISTIC

Foothill Family supports multiple stages of human development with an integrated approach to care. Dynamic and transformational programs often intersect and overlap to address challenges comprehensively.

LONGEVITY

Foothill Family’s nine decades of growth and evolution is a testament to our proficiency & agility in responding to a complex, shifting landscape of the ever-changing human condition.

Our History

Foothill Family’s services took root during various points in our nearly one hundred year history. Below are significant milestones that opened the door to shaping the agency of today, and the life-changing programs that we offer our communities and clients.

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.

Annual Reports

Audited Financials

Tax Returns