Lucy Daniels Center for Early Childhood

Children’s mental health is our priority at the Lucy Daniels Center, where we help children with emotional, mental and social challenges succeed through in-depth evaluation and treatment, family involvement and education.

Lucy Daniels Center provides free observations and assessments at our center in Cary, North Carolina, or in the comfort of a child’s own home or preschool. We help parents identify their child’s challenges and guide them through the process of finding the right solution for their child and their family. Through our comprehensive therapeutic programs and outreach services, we meet challenges to healthy development by addressing issues such as social, behavioral, and disciplinary concerns; reactions to bereavement, abuse, or other trauma; and fears, anxieties, and behavior rituals.

Lucy Daniels Center provides a comprehensive range of therapeutic and educational programs:

• Lucy Daniels School—a therapeutic school serving Pre-K
through 5th grade

• Farley-Manning Family Guidance Service—individual and
family therapy on-site in Cary, North Carolina

• SecurePath Outreach—in-home therapy services

• Circle of Security Parenting Program—
parenting support workshops

• First Friends—social skills program in local preschools and
daycare centers

• Lucy’s Link—free observations and assessments

FOUNDED IN 1989, Lucy Daniels Center is the largest nonprofit provider of mental health services exclusively for children in the Triangle area. We serve more than 700 children and their families yearly and provide more than 20,000 hours of direct social, emotional, and mental health services to children from birth to age 12.

Our programs offer individualized treatment for each child, a rigorous academic program through Lucy Daniels School (Pre-K–5th grade), and community outreach programs that serve families across the Triangle. Our multi-disciplinary team, which includes recognized experts in mental health and education, works together with families to provide a uniquely comprehensive approach, delivering individualized treatment to each child.

Our story began more than 30 years ago in 1989 with a generous start-up gift from Lucy Daniels, Ph.D., a local writer and clinical psychologist. And what a gift it was! Our story continues as we serve the needs of a diverse population through our on-site clinic, offsite therapeutic services, school, and community outreach programs. Through it all, we are raising the awareness of children's mental and emotional health, and educating the community about the importance of developing a good mental health status early in life. This must be the case if children are to truly live a life of full potential filled with positive experiences. It is our goal to instill a willingness to do what is best for themselves and the people around them.

In the upcoming years, Lucy Daniels Center will be diligently working to increase awareness and expand our services into neighboring counties in order to provide more North Carolina children with emotional, mental and social challenges the support and guidance they need to live emotionally healthy lives.