Child Inc

CHILD, Inc. is committed to providing safety and enhancing the well-being of families affected by domestic violence and child maltreatment. Through our prevention, intervention, and treatment programs, CHILD, Inc. strives to positively impact the children and families we serve to enable them to live fulfilling lives free from violence.

We provide 24/7/365 hotline services and emergency shelter to victims of domestic violence and their children at 2 shelter locations in New Castle County, Delaware. We also provide rapid rehousing services for families exiting our shelters to ensure they have safe, stable, and permanent housing.

Our youth emergency shelter, runaway hotline and emergency beds for runaway youth, and foster care program provide children and teens with safety, age-appropriate programming and case management in a home environment. We provide advocacy to ensure that youth receive services from state agencies, schools, and community organizations to meet their needs. Through our runaway prevention workshops and anger management for youth sessions, we provide children/youth with information/resources, strategies, and tools to keep them safe.

For over 25 years, we have operated a community-based family resource center and provided services for children/youth in a high needs community in New Castle County, Delaware.

Parenting education classes and workshops are offered statewide to parent/caregivers of children from birth through teenage years. We offer specialized parenting programs for families who are in recovery from substance use, and for parents who are divorcing/separating including those who have experienced intimate partner violence in their relationships. We also offer clinical services to parents who are separating to assist with their co-parenting skills.

CHILD, Inc. offers clinical treatment services to all members of families affected by domestic violence. We offer domestic violence offender intervention programming to those who perpetrate intimate partner violence, we offer treatment for victims of domestic violence, and specialized treatment for children who have been victims or witnesses to domestic violence in their homes.

Through our Family Visitation Center, Community Health Workers, and Domestic Violence Court Advocacy programs, CHILD, Inc. supports survivors of domestic violence in the community.

As active participants on dozens of task forces, committees and planning groups, CHILD, Inc. is viewed as an integral part of Delaware's social service community.

CHILD, Inc. has been serving the Delaware community since 1963. With 55 full-time employees and 60 part-time employees, the agency has staffing capabilities to meet the needs of our programs. Agency and program leadership are seasoned professionals with decades of experience in non-profit management. The agency has diversified funding sources from federal/state/municipal contracts, grants, contributions from corporate and community supporters, and a Board directed operating reserve account. CHILD, Inc. is actively engaged in the Delaware community on committees, task forces, and planning groups to ensure that our services are known and accessible to social service providers and clients.

2022 Progress:
Domestic Violence Services:
• Domestic violence hotline helped 1,786 English speaking callers and 42 Spanish speaking callers.
• Two domestic violence shelters sheltered 145 women and 126 children. Eleven female victims and their 11 children as well as 6 men were sheltered in local motels. Motel sheltered clients received similar interventions and case management by staff as sheltered clients.
• The HUD Rapid Rehousing program assisted 34 adult heads of household and their 54 children find permanent housing.
• Two Family Visitation Centers at the Hudson State Service Center and Philadelphia Pike locations provided exchanges and supervised visits to 265 adult caregivers and their 189 children.
• The domestic violence liaisons served 45 clients who were referred for services by the Division of Family Services, the State’s child welfare agency.
• The domestic violence advocacy program assisted 1,070 victims seeking Protection from Abuse orders from the Court. Staff and volunteers provide services at the Courthouses in Wilmington, Dover, and Georgetown both in person and through virtual platforms.
• The Community Health Advocates served 253 victims in person and provided information and referral to another 243 individuals who did not meet program criteria.

Domestic Violence Treatment:
• Male offenders who participated in the batterer’s intervention program totaled 373. Female offenders served by the program totaled 60.
• Victim therapy services were provided to 98 adult clients.
• The Helping Children Heal program served 28 children and 25 parents/caregivers. In addition, 50 children and 45 parents/caregivers, who were residents at the domestic violence shelters, received these counseling services.

Family Support and Parent Education:
• In 2022, 352 caregivers attended parenting programs. Classes and workshops were offered in- person and via Zoom and were available in English and Spanish.
• For families experiencing divorce/separation, 222 parents attended the specialized parenting seminars either in-person or via Zoom.
• The Sparrow Run Family Resource Center recorded 3,395 visits to the center or at center events.
• At Kids Place, 120 children regularly participated in programming with a total of 4,282 visits to the center. Children also participated in Summer of Service activities for a second year.

Emergency Shelter and Services for Youth:
• The Governor Terry Children’s Center (GTCC) served 73 abused, neglected, and dependent children in the custody of the Division of Family Services who needed short-term shelter and support services including critical counseling services.
• The runaway hotline fielded 54 calls and the program sheltered 8 youth who were runaways from around the State and the country. Outreach presentations at schools and community centers reached over 8,300 youth.

Specialized Foster Care (SFC) for Youth:
• Foster families provided 2,168 days of care for 21 teenagers.