Our History
We bring compassionate, innovative mental health resources directly to children in need and the adults who support them.
Since 1901, when our founder Jane Addams set out on a mission to provide probation officers for children, JPA has been improving the social and emotional well-being of Chicago’s vulnerable kids, along with their families, teachers, and communities.
For over 120 years, we’ve shown up every day to protect children’s ability to be heard, to heal, to learn, and to thrive in difficult circumstances. By working not only with kids, but also their most important adult influences, we’re helping ensure that the progress children make in the therapy room can be sustained at home and in the classroom.
Where We Started
Mental and emotional health aren’t optional - they’re essential to kids’ ability to learn, grow, and thrive.
In 2005, JPA joined a school-based educational pilot in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood.
We found that elementary and middle school children affected by challenging or traumatic circumstances had fears and anxieties that made it difficult to focus in school. educational pilot in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood.
Most of them were not receiving mental health care.
JPA began providing school-based therapy for these children, along with their teachers and families.
Since then, we’ve expanded into the Chicago schools and neighborhoods where poverty, racism, violence, and generational trauma make our services most necessary.
Today, we collaborate with over 24 schools and community centers throughout 16 Chicago neighborhoods. Most of the participants in our programs are African American and Hispanic living at or below the poverty level.
Every year, we provide holistic mental and emotional health support to over 4,000 vulnerable children and their families and educators.
Our Connect to Kids (C2K) program helps elementary and middle school teachers across our city understand and form stronger, more positive relationships with their students. Our research on trauma and adverse childhood experiences has contributed to improving child abuse and neglect prevention policies and practices across the nation. JPA clinical staff members assist DCFS, foster care organizations, and the courts in determining appropriate placements for children in care. And our internship program helps us ensure more compassionate, diverse, and trauma-informed social workers are equipped to help kids get the support they need.
We believe there is a strong, vibrant, and talented human inside of every child. And we’re here to make sure all of Chicago’s kids get the chance to thrive.
At JPA, we operate as though all kids are our kids.
And every child deserves someone who believes in them. Will you be that someone?
Explore the many ways you can make a difference and support the mental health and well-being of the kids in Chicago who need it most.