Children's Mental Health
Mission: To promote innovative broad-based efforts to engage families in meeting the mental health needs of
children in Massachusetts and to emphasize the extraordinary therapeutic benefits of the arts.
The C. F. Adams Charitable Trust primarily seeks out opportunities in Massachusetts to assist broad-based
regional or statewide approaches to prevention, family involvement and access to children's mental health care.
Its support of providers of service is limited to the field of arts therapy and is focused on community-based
youth arts programs.
System Change/Family Involvement
Arts Therapy
System Change/Family Involvement
The growing awareness of children's mental health needs is coupled with a new emphasis on family involvement
that respects the family's cultural heritage. As understanding grows of the effects of trauma, violence, and sexual
abuse on the emotional development of children, more attention is directed to services designed to prevent or to
mitigate serious psychiatric diagnoses. The Trust assists programs that help further such understanding and bring
about changes in the ways that families are served:
Adolescent Consultation Services
Adolescent Consultation Services provides specialized diagnostic and therapeutic services to court-involved adolescents
and their families from Middlesex County and Greater Boston.
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The C. F. Adams Charitable Trust provided three-year support to the Education and Advocacy Program to demonstrate the
value of in-depth assessment and referral work with court-involved juveniles and their families. A second multi-year
commitment is helping the organization to integrate the program as a core service and to extend the concept to other
juvenile courts.
"Support from C.F. Adams Charitable Trust has significantly strengthened the ACS model, which utilizes a public/private
partnership to move the lives of court-involved youth in positive directions. In particular, as ACS has organized statewide
efforts to address the mental health and substance abuse needs of court-involved youth, the outcome measures from the ACS
Education and Advocacy service are pivotal: the measures allow us to quickly and persuasively explain the powerful impact
of juvenile court clinic services by offering concrete evidence on how these services make a difference!"
Rebecca Pries, Executive Director
Adolescent Consultation Services
40 Thorndike Street
Cambridge, MA 02141
617-494- 0135
http://www.kidsandthelaw.org/
Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation of Massachusetts
The mission of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation is to expand access to health care. Through
grants and policy initiatives, the Foundation works with public and private organizations to broaden health coverage
and reduce barriers to care. The Foundation focuses on developing measurable and sustainable solutions that benefit
uninsured, vulnerable and low-income individuals and families in the Commonwealth.
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The C. F. Adams Charitable Trust became a silent partner with the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
Foundation, providing anonymous support to its Building Bridges in Children's Mental Health program.
The program targeted community-based collaborations designed to reduce the fragmentation of mental health
services for children and to support their families. The Trust's involvement increased the number of funded
projects from 12 to 15, ranging from teen suicide prevention in South Boston to expanded services to the
Vietnamese community in Worcester. Following the first three years of program design and implementation,
additional funds were provided to seven programs to continue their collaborative efforts for two more years.
"The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation's Building Bridges in Children's Mental Health
initiative would not have been as effective or as far-reaching without the partnership with the Adams Trust. Their
strong commitment to promoting systemic changes in the way that children receive mental health services and families
are supported had a significant impact on this grant program. This partnership enhanced our Foundation's approach to
program evaluation, technical assistance for the grant recipients, and connecting with other experts in the field.
The Adams Trust collaborative funding enabled us to expand the number of grantee programs. Their knowledge as
experienced philanthropists increased our capacity to fulfill the objectives of this grant program - to expand access
to comprehensive children's mental health services."
Celeste Reid Lee, Director of Community Health Programs
Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation of Massachusetts
Landmark Center
401 Park Drive
Boston, MA 02215
617-246-3744
http://www.bcbsmafoundation.org/
Federation for Children with Special Needs
The Federation for Children with Special Needs works each day to inform, educate and empower parents, to provide
them with the tools and resources to access opportunities and richer lives for their children with special needs.
The Federation is committed to enhancing the educational, health, and community participation opportunities for
Massachusetts-based families with the greatest need, due not only to disability, but for those who are the most
educationally and economically disadvantaged.
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The C. F. Adams Charitable Trust was encouraged by the Department of Social Services (DSS) Commissioner,
Harry Spence, to assist the Federation in developing its capacity to work with families whose children were
in the care of DSS. As DSS and other state agencies move to a family-centered philosophy of care, the
Pathways for Parents project has become a vocal proponent for parents and a resource for addressing
the mental health needs of children and their families.
"Thanks to the generosity of the C.F. Adams Charitable Trust, the Federation was able to fund the Pathways
for Parents project, providing crucial information, guidance and referral to parents who receive services from DSS,
to promote effective parent participation in their child's education, enable access to emotional and behavioral support
services, and strengthen supportive parenting skills. Additionally, the Pathways for Parents project has helped to
strengthen the communication between parents and DSS, a critical bridge to providing the necessary services for their
children. These efforts would not have been possible without the multi-year commitment from the Trust."
Rich Robison, Executive Director
Federation for Children with Special Needs
1135 Tremont Street
Suite 420
Boston, MA 02120
Ph: (617) 236-7210
http://www.fcsn.org/
Health Law Advocates
Health Law Advocates (HLA) is the only non-profit law firm in the country affiliated with a grass roots
organization (Health Care for All) and dedicated solely to ensuring access to health care for society's
most vulnerable members. HLA provides free legal representation to eligible consumers who live or work
in Massachusetts and seek access to health care.
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The C. F. Adams Charitable Trust helped to launch the Children's Mental Health Access Project
to apply HLA's legal expertise to the task of improving access to mental health services for children
in Massachusetts. HLA plans to leverage its experience to create the first statewide pro bono project
to ensure that needy families can get the legal assistance they need to obtain essential care for their
seriously mentally ill children.
"During the first two years of this project, HLA has been tackling the serious barriers that prevent families
from obtaining much-needed mental health services. Project staff have focused on client representation,
training of advocates, and the creation of collaborations with others in the field of children's mental health.
Another key activity of the Project has been the drafting, in collaboration with many others, the omnibus mental
health reform law: An Act Improving and Expanding Behavioral Health Services for Children in the Commonwealth."
Stephen Rosenfeld, Project Director
Health Law Advocates, Inc.
30 Winter Street
Suite 940
Boston, MA 02108
Ph: (617) 338-5241
http://www.hla-inc.org/
Massachusetts Advocates for Children
Massachusetts Advocates for Children (MAC) is dedicated to being an independent and effective voice for
children who face significant barriers to equal educational and life opportunities. MAC works to overcome
these barriers by changing conditions for many children, while also helping one child at a time.
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The C. F. Adams Charitable Trust made a three-year commitment to the Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative
designed to help children who have been traumatized by family violence to learn and to succeed in school.
The project encourages and assists school systems to provide services to students whose learning is affected
by trauma caused by witnessing or experiencing violence.
"Support from the Adams Charitable Trust has been instrumental in our taking the Trauma and Learning Policy
Initiative to the next level by enabling us to fund a full-time coordinator. Having a multi-year grant allowed
us to establish a different kind of relationship with them-as partners working together toward the project's
goals. They gave us solid, constructive feedback on our project and helped us identify other potential funders,
without the stress of worrying about whether the grant would be renewed from year to year."
Jerry Mogul, Executive Director
Massachusetts Advocates for Children
25 Kingston Street
2nd. Floor
Boston, MA 02116
Phe: (617)357-8431
http://www.massadvocates.org/
Massachusetts General Hospital -- Center for Collaborative Problem Solving
As articulated in the book, The Explosive Child, difficult children and adolescents lack important
cognitive skills essential to handling frustration and mastering situations requiring flexibility and adaptability.
The Center for Collaborative Problem Solving provides clinical services, training, and consultation to assist parents,
as well as professionals in education, mental health, and medicine, in understanding that children's challenging
behavior should be addressed in the same manner as other recognized learning disabilities.
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The C. F. Adams Charitable Trust provided a three-year challenge grant to enable two doctors affiliated
with the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School to build
the administrative infrastructure to support and expand their research, training programs and clinical
work. Their success in working with the juvenile detention system in Maine and their training programs
for educators and mental health professionals help to demonstrate the effectiveness of their model with
children in different settings.
"We are very grateful for the opportunities the C. F. Adams Charitable Trust's challenge has afforded us.
We have garnered critical support in creating an infrastructure that will sustain the Institute; initiated
discussions with other individuals and foundations ; and leveraged the C. F. Adams Trust's gift, which will
certainly encourage other donors to invest in work that can change the future of children and their families."
Ross Green, PhD, Director
Massachusetts General Hospital
Center for Collaborative Problem Solving
313 Washington Street
Suite 402
Newton Corner, MA
http://www.ccps.info
http://www.thinkkids.org
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Arts Therapy
Expressive therapies, including art, music, dance and theatre, often enable children to reveal inner
emotions and fears that they are unable to verbalize. With appropriate therapeutic support, the children
can be helped to deal with their emotional and behavioral issues and to develop artistic talents and skills.
Youth arts development programs in community-based settings with clinical resources and the capacity for field
placements for student interns are the focus of the Trust's support.
Community Music Center of Boston
Community Music Center of Boston provides music education and related services to diverse constituencies, with an
emphasis on reaching those who are unlikely to be taught by private teachers and conservatories. These include
students from traditionally underserved neighborhoods, as well as special needs populations with physical, cognitive,
and/or social challenges. The Center offers a wide variety of programs in music, visual arts and music and movement therapy.
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The C. F. Adams Charitable Trust made a three-year commitment to the Music Therapy Program to serve
children with developmental delays, autism or psychiatric disorders. Music therapy addresses the
physical, psychological, emotional, cognitive and social needs of children within a therapeutic relationship.
It focuses on meeting therapeutic goals, which distinguishes it from musical entertainment or musical
education, and helps children to develop life skills.
"Foundation funding has allowed the Music Therapy Program to hire a staff therapist who helped develop an inventive
music program, "Experience Music" that tailors music education and music experience to the developing student. It also makes
it possible to subsidize in-house music therapy session for families who are financially strapped due to the many services that
their children with special needs require."
David Lapin, Executive Director
Community Music Center of Boston
34 Warren Ave.
Boston, MA 02116
Ph: (617)482-7494
http://www.cmcb.org/
RAW Art Works
Based in downtown Lynn, RAW Art Works offers a safe haven for young people and encourages them to
explore creative ways to express their perceptions of themselves and the world around them. Mentoring
programs and advanced arts programs engage older teens to become role models and to develop their
artistic talents.
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The C. F. Adams Charitable Trust's general support for the wide range of programs offered to
children and teens is intended to assure that the therapeutic and artistic goals continue to
be closely intertwined. The strength of the artistic quality of the programs is matched by the
attention to the emotional and social issues faced by young men and young women as they navigate
adolescence.
"CF Adams Charitable Trust is one of our very few funders who truly understands and actively promotes the art
therapy model. With the Trust's backing, we can expand our dialogue with funders who have doubted art therapy, pointing
to the leadership of this respected foundation. Because they understand the art therapy model, the Trust also understands
that is it crucial that we retain a consistent staff of adults with very specific credentials to work with our kids and
build trusting relationships with them throughout their childhood and adolescence. The CF Adams Charitable Trust is helping
us think about and actualize plans to retain our talented and committed staff for the long term. It has been a gift to have
a funder who really understands our work and mission, from the big theories right down to the not-so-glamourous daily
operations!"
Kit Jenkins, Executive Director
RAW Art Works
37 Central Square
Lynn, MA, 01901
Ph: (781)593-5515
http://www.rawart.org/
Urban Improv
Urban Improv's mission is to challenge young people to meet the major issues in their lives head-on.
By participating in an innovative, interactive curriculum, students from Boston public schools develop
the necessary skills of problem solving, cooperation, and leadership. Theatre improvisation is used
to teach violence prevention, conflict resolution, decision-making and impulse control.
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The C. F. Adams Charitable Trust made a two-year commitment toward the development of an intensive curriculum
aimed at 7th grade students working in conjunction with therapists from the Trauma Center. Testing and
evaluation of the pilot program will ascertain the effectiveness of the curriculum designed to help students
deal with bullying, gang violence and peer pressure.
"The Intensive , a clinical intervention and violence prevention program for middle school children exposed
to trauma and violence, aims to reduce the risk of perpetrating violence and/or becoming a victim of violence. Research
findings show that Urban Improv's method is effective in reducing violence among participating 4th graders. However,
research also found that once these children reach the 8th grade, the benefit from the current program decreases dramatically
and a more intensive program is needed.
"The Intensive is designed to help these students, the majority of whom have already been personally impacted
by trauma and violence, to develop vital coping skills to respond effectively to the formidable challenges they face in their
lives. Through the generous support of C.F. Adams Trust, Urban Improv is helping at risk Boston teens to find alternatives to
violence, through the therapeutic arts."
Kippy Dewey, Executive Director
Urban Improv
Mailing address:
8 St. John Street
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
Ph: (617)524-7049
http://www.urbanimprov.org/
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