Minneapolis Family and Children's Service

The Minneapolis Family and Children's Service had its origins in two charitable movements that spread across the country during the years following the Civil War. The humane movement, which sought to halt mistreatment of animals and, sometimes almost as an afterthought, children, was represented by the Minneapolis Humane Society, first established as a branch of the Minnesota Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in 1878. The Humane Society employed an agent to discover cases of child and animal abuse and neglect, campaigned to improve conditions in maternity homes, and, together with the Juvenile Protective League (est. 1905), helped to improve the court system's handling of juvenile offenders through the introduction of probation officers and policewomen assigned to cases involving juveniles. The Humane Society and The Juvenile Protective League merged in 1917 to form the Juvenile Protective Society. The Humane Society's work with animals was turned over to the Animal Rescue League, forerunner to the present Hennepin County Animal Humane Society.

The second, and more prominent, wing of what was eventually to become the Family and Children's Service grew out of the charity organization movement, a national phenomenon that stressed the importance of placing charity on a systematic, business-like basis to discourage waste, duplication, and fraud that resulted from uncoordinated efforts. The Minneapolis Associated Charities was established in 1884, seven years after the first such American society was started in Buffalo, New York.

The Associated Charities quickly became the largest charitable agency in the city. It emphasized careful investigation of all its clients, at first relying heavily on a corps of volunteer "friendly visitors" but increasingly turning to paid agents as the social work profession began to develop in the early twentieth century. The Associated Charities also initiated a number of innovative social and public health programs which, once they proved their worth, were turned over to independent organizations. Among these were anti-tuberculosis, visiting nurse, and legal aid activities. During World War I general secretary Frank Bruno and other Associated Charities staff members were loaned to the American Red Cross Northern Division which assisted communities throughout the upper midwest in dealing with social problems caused by the war mobilization effort.

Strong leadership from Bruno and his successor, Joanna Colcord, earned the agency, which changed its name to Family Welfare Association in 1922, a national reputation for the quality of its services. That reputation suffered during the 1930s as sadly inadequate financial resources and personnel problems left the agency struggling to cope with the demands of massive unemployment during the Great Depression. During the early years of the Depression it was primarily responsible for distributing relief funds in Minneapolis until the city's public relief program was reorganized and the federal government assumed responsibility for economic assistance through the Social Security and other New Deal programs

The extent to which the work of the Family Welfare Association and the Children's Protective Society overlapped led many persons to call for the merger of the two agencies throughout the 1920s and 1930s. The Children's Protective Society resisted the argument that a unified organization would be more efficient, contending that specialized work with children would inevitably suffer. Despite that resistance, the merger was carried out, and the Family and Children's Service began operation in 1945. The new agency formed a Family Division, which offered counselling and support services, and a Children's Division, which handled services for children outside the home, include foster care and homemaker service.

During the 1940s, MFCS increased its work in the areas of marriage counselling, housing, child care and senior services in response to post-war social issues. It attempted to broaden the constituency it served by beginning a fee-for-service policy in 1948 with a sliding fee scale geared to the client's ability to pay. It continued the agency's reputation of providing leadership to the profession. Executive directors Frank Hertel and Clark Blackburn both went from the Minneapolis agency to head the Family Service Association of America, and their successor, Earl Beatt, who served for twenty six years, held numerous national professional elective positions as well.

The 1960s saw a renewed emphasis on strengthening families and an increase in related services, such as marriage couselling, family counselling, family life education, and day care. With federal funding, the agency started a New Careers Project to provide para-professional jobs for low income residents of Minnespolis as part the War of Poverty. During the 1970s and 1980s, the agency continued its family and community strengthening initiatives while it broadened its conceptions of its client population and the meaning of family. MFCS, initiated a gay and lesbian counselling program, which became a model for similiar work in other agencies. It also formed a program to help women leave prostitution and also instituted domestic violence and employee assistance programs. The agency also added a staff member to head the Family Advocacy Department, which sought to affect public policy relating to families and communities. Among other topics, the agency fought for the Children's Mental Health Act, crisis nurseries, Head Start, and early intervention for child abuse and neglect.

In 1986, Terry Steeno was appointed executive director of MFCS and initiated an eight-month strategic planning and agency study project. The project resulted in a new approach to the existing service areas of counseling, family life education, and support services as well as a renewed committement to strengthen vulnerable families and communities. MFCS also opened new branches during the 1980s and 1990s, allowing closer contact with client communities. Several significant projects took place during the 1990s. The first was a series of programs to reduce the problem of violence in area families and communities. These included abuse and violence counseling, youth diversion, services for abusive men, and family education aimed at preventing violence. In 1994, the agency also launched its School Home Community Programming Initiative (SHCPI), which is well-documented in the records. The project sought to meet clients on their home ground and to provide resources to help them strengthen and transform communities. In 1996, the agency launched the Minnesota Family Strength project, which is partially documented in the records. The project began with a study to assess the strength of Minnesota families and then used study results to develop new service models and community partnerships. Today, Family and Children's Service continues to provide resources for families and communities and to work in a wide variety of areas, including violence and abuse prevention, anti prostitution programs, educational and job programs, chronic illness, services for the elderly, family education and support.

From the guide to the Minneapolis Family and Children's Service records, 1876-2000, (University of Minnesota Libraries. Social Welfare History Archives [swha])