The Family Service Center of Sangamon County, a social service agency located in Springfield, Illinois, is the product of mergers of several predecessor organizations, including the Home for the Friendless (later called the Children's Service League), Associated Charities (later known as the Family Welfare Association), Springfield Day Nursery, Colored Children's Service Bureau, and Child and Family Service.
 

The Home for the Friendless, the oldest of these organizations, was incorporated on February 12, 1863, Abraham Lincoln's birthday. Reverend Francis Springer of Springfield, who had seen many destitute women and children during his service with the 10th Illinois Calvary in Arkansas, sent a number of battlefield refugees to Springfield. Antrim Campbell petitioned the State Legislature for an act of incorporation for a board of "lady managers" to run a Home for the Friendless, which would provide temporary aid and shelter to the destitute, especially those sent by Reverend Springer. The Board of Managers acted as legal guardians for minors under its care and was allowed by its Articles of Incorporation to indenture children to "honorable" employers in the Springfield area. By 1865, financing for the construction of a three-story brick building that could house two hundred children was available. The building stood on what is now Seventh Street and South Grand Avenue. The Board of Managers, which originally consisted of 12 members, expanded to 84 members by 1902, and 150 members by 1920. As the Board became larger and too unwieldy to be effective, committees were formed to carry out the work of the organization. After 1900, the Board concerned itself primarily with problems of administration and left the details of work to the committees.

Development of the Family Welfare Association began in the 1880's when attempts were made to organize and coordinate various charitable groups in Springfield; these charities consisted primarily of church groups. A committee was formed with representatives from several charitable organizations, including the Ladies Benevolent Society, Auxiliary Society of the YMCA, Home for the Friendless, Episcopal and Catholic Churches, and the Women's Christian Temperance Union. A number of churches wished to continue aiding the poor separately, but enough support was found to form an umbrella organization to act as a record keeping clearinghouse and coordinate activities of charitable organizations. The Association of Springfield Charities was formed in March 1888 but due to a lack of funds, it ceased operations after Christmas 1891. Efforts to revive the organization came from the Philanthropic Department of the Women's Club. In November 1897, a mass meeting of concerned citizens was held as a preliminary to a reorganization of the Association. After several additional meetings, a committee was appointed to develop a plan. The committee's plan was accepted and the Associated Charities was incorporated in 1915. In 1924, the name was changed to the Family Welfare Association (FWA) to reflect the organization's emphasis on the welfare and rehabilitation of the family unit.

In 1914, the Russell Sage Foundation conducted a survey to evaluate current conditions in Springfield to determine where improvements in community life could be made. The idea for the survey came from a group of Springfield citizens. Out of this group grew the Springfield Survey Committee, which consisted of twenty-five people from various community groups that provided moral and financial support for the project. The recommendations arising from this survey provided an outline for future improvements, although most were not implemented for several more years.

One of the recommendations of the Springfield Survey called for more comprehensive programs in the area of child welfare. In 1925, in response to this recommendation, the Children's Bureau was organized as a department of the Family Welfare Association (FWA). Funds for the new bureau were drawn primarily from the budgets of the FWA and Home for the Friendless. After a year of existence, the Bureau became an independent entity but, in 1928, merged with the Home for the Friendless to form the Children's Service League (CSL). With that merger, the old Home for the Friendless completed a reorganization that made child welfare its primary concern. The purposes of the new Children's Service League were to maintain and operate a home for children (the Children's Home), and to develop, promote, and administer general programs of child care and welfare. In later years, emphasis at the CSL gradually changed from institutional care programs to foster home programs.

In the late 1930's the Children's Service League (CSL) took over the administration of the Springfield Day Nursery, which was established about the time of the Springfield Survey to care for children of working mothers. The nursery kept its name and maintained a budget separate from the CSL.

Organized care for needy black children began in 1898 when Mrs. Evan Monroe established the Lincoln Colored Home. The Home faced continual financial problems during its existence. Money was so difficult to come by that Mrs. Monroe was forced to resort to fundraising tours. In 1904, a new home was built with money provided by Springfield philanthropist, Mary Lawrence. The Home's license was allowed to expire (pending the results of an investigation) in 1932 because it failed to meet the minimum standards of care set by the Illinois Department of Public Welfare. In 1933, the Colored Children's Service Bureau replaced the Lincoln Colored Home in the care of destitute black children.

Mr. and Mrs. William H. Hunt organized the Springfield Redemption Home in 1903 as a center for the "conversion, reformation, and Christian education of penitent erring girls and to provide a home for dependent infants and children." In 1906, the Home moved from rented facilities to a new building at Eleventh and Jackson Streets. The Home was incorporated the following year. The Hunts sold the property in 1923 and moved to North Douglas Avenue, where the Home remained until it went out of existence in the mid 1940's. There is no indication that the Hunts affiliated with any of the other agencies.

By 1940, Family Welfare Association, Children's Service League, Springfield Day Nursery, and Colored Children's Service Bureau were seriously considering forming a single agency in order to create greater administrative efficiency, provide more efficient service to clients, and realize a greater economy of services. A merger was seen as a means of consolidating the meager resources of each agency, though the total cost of community welfare services was not expected to decrease.

When first considered, the merger was discussed on an administrative level only. Very little consideration was given to programs and staff. In 1948, however, a detailed self-survey was made which revealed a need to not only strengthen the family service program but also improve the staff of agencies by developing job classifications and better personnel practices. In 1949 and 1950, a merger plan was developed by a Unification Committee established by the Council for Social Agencies, a central conference of social agencies created in 1923 to coordinate social work in Springfield. In order to avoid legal complications, the committee recommended an administrative merger under which each corporation would maintain a separate identity. The Family Welfare Association voted in favor of the merger, but the Children's Service League (CSL) voted against it. CSL officials felt that more time was needed to implement the recommendations of the 1948 self-survey so that the weaknesses cited in the survey could be corrected before merging.

In February 1953 the Family Welfare Association and the Springfield Day Nursery merged into the Children's Service League (the surviving corporation) to form Child and Family Service of Sangamon County (CFS). Board members were elected to three-year terms, with one third of the board membership elected each year. Board members from the merging corporations were allowed to hold membership on the board until the expiration of their respective terms. Officers of the CFS included a president, first and second vice presidents, secretary, treasurer, and auditor. An executive director was to be appointed by the Board. The following permanent committees were created to carry out the work of the board: Executive, Social Service, Personnel, Finance, Community Relations, Building and Grounds, and Nominations. The Colored Children's Service Bureau joined CFS in 1959, and the Board was increased to thirty members. In 1974, the organization's name was changed to the Family Service Center of Sangamon County (FSC). Its present address is 1308 South Seventh Street, Springfield, Illinois 62703, at the corner of Seventh Street and South Grand Avenue, the original site.

Today, the Family Service Center offers an array of social services to strengthen families in Springfield and Sangamon County. These services include family counseling, adoption, post adoption services, foster care, Young Parents Support Services/Healthy Families Illinois, Post Adoption And Guardianship Respite Program, and Tree Of Wishes. Funding for earlier social service agencies in Springfield came from membership dues, gifts and contributions and/or the Community Chest. Today, financial support for the Family Service Center is generated from service fees, United Way contributions, government grants and contracts, and fundraising.

As the problems confronting families in our community have changed, so have we. While our original mission as the Home For The Friendless was to provide care and shelter for widows and orphans of the Civil War, our basic goal of strengthening families remains unchanged even today. Our mission at the Family Service Center is to provide services designed to empower families and individuals of all ages to deal positively with the continuing changes and challenges that occur throughout the family life cycle. We achieve our mission daily by providing a wide array of quality programs that serve families in need.