FAMILY LINKS

Parent and Child Guidance Center was founded in 1957 to focus on aiding individuals and their families through the trials of mental retardation and mental health. The Whale’s Tale was founded in 1970 to address substance abuse, early intervention/prevention, crisis intervention, residential treatment, and more. Both of these human service agencies labored independently of each other in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but each of them were committed to improving the lives of children and their families.

Family Links was formed to join the former Parent and Child Guidance Center and The Whale’s Tale in order to offer a comprehensive continuum of human services in the areas of prevention, intervention, and rehabilitation for children, families and individuals in greater western Pennsylvania. Family Links served include mental health, substance abuse, early intervention/prevention, mental retardation, crisis intervention, emergency shelter, residential treatments, independent living, housing assistance, and community support services.

Family Links Goals are to deliver quality family support and enrichment in a wide range of services in a seamless manner. They help clients become productive and contribute to members of the community. They return clients to a more wholesome, safe and loving family environment. This organization merged the two staffs numbering over 500, and they recruited to find outstanding candidates to head the new division of Best Practice and the reconfigured division of Communications.

The operations of the two entities have emerged along with the Board of Directors. Family Links is now a future-oriented, mission-driven group determined to set the organization on a course toward transforming the world for the less fortunate. The agency is now charged with attaining an even greater capacity through training, consultation, and continuous quality improvement activities. Over 3000 human service professionals have attended their training programs.

Family Links is a vital service in Pennsylvania. They offer an unparalleled array of services that assist the homeless, destitute, the abused and exploited, as well as the mentally challenged and chemically dependent. The agencies services are designed to aid the clients and the rest of their family. They help all individuals become healthy functioning adults.