Trish LeBlanc
James Conway & Linda Landefeld-Conway
White, Zuckerman, Warfavsky, Luna, Wolf, CPA
Black Gold Golf Club, Yorba Linda Bower’s Museum, Santa Ana Patricia Bright Costco, Laguna Niguel El Niguel Country Club, Laguna Niguel Extreme Boot Camp, Laguna Niguel iLounge, Orange County Interior & Exterior Designs-Fine Woodworking, La Habra Phil LeBlanc Lorin Backe Photography Marriott, Fullerton Mathnasium, Yorba Linda Sheasby, Cho & Middleton, Attorneys At Law Mulberry Street Ristorante, Fullerton Pala Casino, Pala Jon Petty Custom Goldsmith Inc., Anaheim Hills Pura Vida Day Spa, Laguna Niguel Sheraton Park Hotel, Anaheim Soup Plantation, Laguna Niguel South Coast Repertory, Costa Mesa The Summit House Restaurant Goldsmith Jewelers Schultz Painting Florentines Grill
Fire Station 5, Laguna Niguel
Fullerton South Rotary
Moses Hall Attorney at Law
New York Life, Irvine, CA
Norma Rodriguez & Eric Marrs Family
Alan D. Davis Attorney at Law
Law Offices of Hollie Lemkin
Mathnasium, Yorba Linda
Prieto Chiropractic & Spinal Decompression
Scott’s Barber Shop, Norma DeLao
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| Founders Shelley Driscoll, Cheryl Ramirez and Mary O'Connor |
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In 1988, Mary O'Connor, a single parent of five children, originally conceived the notion of Family Assessment, Counseling & Education Services aka F.A.C.E.S on an airplane ride back from an AFCC conference for family law judges, mediators and mental health professionals. As a court-appointed mediator for several years, she had counseled families going through the various stages of divorce. She and her co-workers saw children, through no fault of their own, were shuffled back and forth, and were frequently subjected to the domestic violence between their parents.
The team envisioned a family-friendly place where parents and children would find safety and healing from the wounds of separation and divorce. Goals of the programs included cooperative parental communication and acceptance of the diversity in parenting, strengthening parenting skills, adjustment to the single parent life, rebuilding broken bonds between parents and children, and maintaing safe environments for children to thrive.
With friends Shelley Driscoll, MFT and Cheryl Ramirez office manager, the three women began the work of developing the organization. A friend, John Smith III, drew up their incorporation papers. Richard Ronsko made their first sign in front of the agency. John Balent and other attorneys sent their clients for help to FACES. Richard Vogl made suggestions on brochures. Other judges and attorneys saw the value of such and organization and the families started coming in.
New to business management, the team's first fundraiser brought in $64!
Undaunted, the principals who set up the agency had a strong vision of what was needed to help families in crisis: Respect, Professionalism and Social Change.
This agency has continued to give families what they need: the compassion and respect and education to get through difficult life transitions.
Divorce is a fact of life in our community. Over 50% of families are divorced, separated or remarried. This change, in the last 40 years has impacted how children view themselves and how they cope with life.
At F.A.C.E.S., children are the focus.
Parents who cannot talk, learn to communicate for the sake of the children, and for children to grow up in safer environments.
Each year, in February, F.A.C.E.S. hosts a summit on family violence prevention, Hearts in Action.
Community Leaders present their views on panels about the growing problem of domestic violence and its effect on the community. Participants work in roundtable discussions to brainstorm collaborative ways to decrease the problem. Advocates are awarded each year, in recognition of their contributions to the community.
Every Family Assessment, Counseling & Education program has been developed in response to community needs: F.A.C.E.S. began with parenting classes, counseling sessions and custody evalutions. As the agency grew, community spirit brought in not only clinicial counseling volunteers, but members of the community who would help with janitorial services, sign building, painting walls, writing incorporation papers, computer programs, and donations of furniture and supplies. The community based organization which began with a groundswell of interest continues to encourage and support development and capacity building of F.A.C.E.S. programs.
F.A.C.E.S. was incorporated in 1992 as a non-profit agency. Community spirit spurred the founders to open a second office in Santa Ana California in 1994, and in 1999 we opened the South County office. Today F.A.C.E.S. has two additional branch offices in , Los Angeles and Laguna Niguel.
At F.A.C.E.S., our staff is 90% volunteer, and it has been that way for 20 years.
F.A.C.E.S. is an agency with compassion weaved in with professionalism, that has grown and continues to add to the circle of 3 full time caring employees and over 70 volunteers who work with families of divorce.
No family member is turned away for lack of funds. All services are on a sliding scale. in 2007, over 2000 families received services in the five offices.
F.A.C.E.S. is the only non-profit agency in Southern California that offers mental health services on a sliding-scale basis specifically for single parent famlies. F.A.C.E.S. family resource centers provide a variety of interventions, including counseling for adults, children, couples and families; group counseling, teen groups and relapse prevention groups; single parent support groups; parenting and anger management groups, and monitored visitations and exchanges for families separated due to violence.
F.A.C.E.S. 50% bilingual for Spanish staff is culturally sensitive to the changing needs of our communities. We also offer In Home Family Assessments, mediation services, seminars, classes, and counseling sessions are offered regularly in both English and Spanish.
These programs listed above are supported by our Educational Institute, which offers a link between our clients and 25 interns from local universities who receive quality, interactive training in the human services and counseling fields. F.A.C.E.S. has a network of 5 licensed Marriage & Family Therapist supervisors, and a Clinical Psychologist, who give back to the community by training and providing guidance to bright and professional interns in the counseling forum.
F.A.C.E.S. carefully selects counselors who volunteer at our agency because of their professionalism, dedication to the mission and willingness to maintain a healthy caseload of families. Counselors work at the agency because of its reputation for excellent training and supervision.
F.A.C.E.S. goals are to develop outreach centers in other geographical areas in Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and L.A. Counties.
The Common Ground program provides safe environments for children who have been exposed to family violence, whether it is verbal, emotional or physical abuse. The single parent families who participate can be assured that the children will have a safe, professional place to visit with their parent. The Common Ground program has two main components: monitored visits and supervised exchanges. For parents who are ordered to do so by the Court, F.A.C.E.S. provides monitored visits with case managers. Clinicians receive specialized training in monitoring and provide guidance when intervention is necessary. For example, a therapeutic monitored visitation occurs when a child who may have experienced verbal, physical, or sexual abuse may need encouragement to participate in the visitation. In supervised exchanges, a trained counselor is also present during the exchange of children between parents to ease the transition between homes. These services create a non-threatening environment for children who have been exposed to hostility, allowing them to flourish in a positive atmosphere.
One Story:
Five-year-old Sara did not understand why daddy hit mommy’s head against the wall or pushed her down the stairs of their apartment complex. All she knew was that it scared her and made her sad to see mommy crying on the floor. Sara told the F.A.C.E.S. counselor that when these arguments occurred, she would often hide in her mother’s closet, huddled amongst her mother’s dresses. She did this because she wanted to become “like mommy and share the hurt and make [her] mommy hurt less.” Unfortunately, Sara’s story is a familiar one. Everyday our counselors help children who are physically, emotionally or sexually abused and diligently develop treatment plans focused on building coping skills and renewing a sense of hope in their young lives.
Sara’s story mirrors hundreds of families in Orange and L.A. Counties in crisis. Her experiences illustrate that many divorces may be complicated by a combination of alcohol and drug abuse, domestic violence and other devastating family problems. Studies show that child abuse peaks during the weeks directly following the separation. In these cases, the child must deal not only with the divorce, but also with the trauma of abuse.
F.A.C.E.S serves a majority of low-income families from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. Along with the escalating percentages of diversity, there is also a subsequent increase in the need for mental health services. F.A.C.E.S. staff mirrors the colorful diversity in our communities with second language capabilities in seven languages.
F.A.C.E.S. has a commitment to all parents in crisis to help heal the hurts and build stronger families and communities. For twenty years, with limited funds, this much admired agency has served the community. We have not done this alone. The help of hundreds of selfless volunteers have kept F.A.C.E.S. doors open to families.
We need you to help us continue this awesome work, where more than 2000 families were helped in 2007. Every dollar contributed goes directly to services for children. Our 10,000 hours of volunteer time translates to thousands of dollars of in kind donations.
Please contact us for information. 714.879.9616
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| The Global Human Family Print is symbolic of F.A.C.E.S. mission to provide services for all families and put a smile on their faces |
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