The Children's Aid Society of Franklin County is a private, non-profit human services organization founded in 1884.

What We Do

The Children’s Aid Society of Franklin County is a private, non-profit human services organization founded in 1884. Established as an orphanage, the agency has grown and evolved through the years in response to the growing needs of children. Our programs have a common goal to assist children and youth by meeting their immediate needs for care and safety, as well as to enhance their opportunities for optimum growth and development.

Our broad spectrum of services includes Foster Care, Adoption, and Residential services including Emergency Shelter, Diagnostic Services and Transitional Living. Participants in our programs are referred to us by more than fifteen counties in the greater South Central Pennsylvania area.

FOSTER CARE

Our Foster Care Program places girls and boys from birth to age 21. Foster families enable children who have been abused, neglected, or are otherwise without proper parental care to experience a safe, secure, stable and nurturing environment at a difficult time in their lives. In most cases, the ultimate goal is to reunite the child with their family. However, circumstances may require that the child be considered for adoption or assisted in the transition to independent living.

ADOPTION

We are a licensed adoption agency in the state of Pennsylvania as well as an approved affiliate with the Statewide Adoption and Permanency Network (SWAN). As a SWAN affiliate, we work on behalf of children in the custody of county children and youth agencies who need permanent homes. Services we provide include Child Profiles, Child Preparations, Home studies, Family profiles and Child Specific Recruitment.

RESIDENTIAL SERVICES

Our residential facility provides 24/7 supervision for children who are in need of structure and guidance and are unable to adjust to a family living environment or who are stepping down from a more restrictive placement prior to their return to a family setting.

EMERGENCY SHELTER

Our program enables children and youth between the ages of ten and eighteen to experience the safety and security of living in a highly structured program within the community at a time of crisis.

DIAGNOSTIC

Our diagnostic services assist the referring agencies, the courts, and children & families in developing appropriate and realistic, workable plans for the children and adolescents referred for this service. The initial goal is to generate recommendations that will address the children’s treatment needs within the most appropriate, least restrictive setting. The long term goal is the reunification of the child with the family. The evaluation process will be completed within a highly structured shelter setting within a therapeutic milieu.

TRANSITIONAL LIVING

The Children’s Aid Society’s Transitional Living Wing serves to provide a safe, supervised environment for youth between the ages of sixteen and twenty-one while also supporting them in preparing for independence. The focus of the coed program is to assist youth with completing educational goals, gaining employment, and developing daily living skills while also enjoying age- appropriate privileges.