Leaders from Erikson Institute announced at the organization’s annual luncheon that a new, first-of-its-kind Center for Children and Families (CCF) will open in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood, a primarily Latinx community challenged by high rates of poverty, violence, and the additional stressor of deportation. In Chicago, over half of children under the age of 5 (more than 102,000) live in a community that experienced over four homicides in 2017. Little Village, one of the areas with the highest rates of gun violence in the city, has one of the largest populations of children among Chicago’s 77 community areas. These issues often go ignored but have a direct impact on young children’s mental health, and Erikson’s relationship-based approach will address this need.  

Slated to open in January 2019, the 2000 square foot center will offer a variety of direct services in a supportive space, carried out by highly trained, bilingual practitioners and experts in the field who will enhance families’ strengths to improve child outcomes. The announcement positions Erikson, an esteemed nonprofit organization that educates child development professionals, serves vulnerable children and families, and influences early childhood policy, as a leader in trauma-focused care that is culturally responsive. Direct services provided by the center will include home visits, crisis intervention, early intervention clinics, trauma-informed diagnostic assessments, infant/early childhood mental health assessments and services, and medical diagnostic assessments.  For more information on Erikson Institute’s Centers for Children and Families, visithttps://www.erikson.edu/center-children-families/