1984
Family Support Line was founded in 1984 by a group of social service professionals and private citizens inspired by one Father’s struggle to access the specialized treatment services his child and family needed after his daughter was sexually abused. These individuals volunteered their time, expertise, and other resources to establish groups where Delaware County’s child victims and their non-offending parents could go to connect with others who understood what they were going through and help them heal.
1987
By 1987, the demand for these services exceeded the volunteers’ collective resources, so they began working to establish a more secure base for the program. Family Support Line of Delaware County, Inc. was incorporated in 1988, paving the way for designation as a 501(c)(3) charity that could access the resources necessary to sustain its efforts long-term. They were able to develop relationships with important stakeholders and facilitate community discourse about child sexual abuse. With its new status, Family Support Line enhanced its credibility as a provider of technical assistance to schools, camps, faith-based institutions, and other organizations seeking to develop policies to prevent abuse and respond to suspected abuse.
1988
Family Support Line developed and provided specialized treatment groups for children, adolescents, non-offending parents, and sexual abuse offenders. These groups have helped those who have experienced child sexual abuse and their families heal from their trauma. The provision of services through specialized treatment groups has remained the cornerstone of the Family Support Line’s work.
1990
Family Support Line began the Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Task Group in partnership with Delaware County community members and professionals to strategically address this issue, which resulted in the development of the Sexual Abuse Prevention and Education Program.
1991
Family Support Line began offering consultation and technical support services designed to respond to specific situations. Such services include assisting organizations and corporations with policy development related to abuse. Residential facilities and schools are among the clientele who utilized the services.
1997
Family Support Line began providing individual and family therapy for child sexual abuse victims through our Therapy Network. The Network was comprised of private practice therapists with special expertise in treating sexual trauma who agreed to provide services to Family Support Line clients at a reduced rate. Clients without the means to pay received scholarships through Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funds, individual donors, and grants from private entities such as the Claniel Foundation, the Kind Family Foundation, and the Ethel Sergeant Clark Smith Memorial Trust.
2003
15th Anniversary of Family Support Line
2003
Family Support Line held the 30th consecutive group therapy session, providing specialized care to children and families consistently for 15 years.
2003
Family Support Line was named by the Delaware County Chamber of Commerce as the Outstanding Nonprofit/Charitable Organization of the Year. This award came at the nomination of the employees of one of our event sponsors, Sovereign Bank.
2003
Family Support Line has long recognized professionals’ need for basic and advanced professional training related to child sexual abuse prevention, detection, intervention, and treatment. In 2003, we partnered with the Post Graduate Center in the Institute for Graduate Clinical Psychology and the Center for Social Work Education at Widener University to host the first of 13 annual Opening Pandora’s Box conferences for mental health professionals. Ranging from one to three days in length, these events helped local professionals become more competent and confident in treating sexual trauma.
2004
The Delaware County Chamber of Commerce nominated Family Support Line for the GlaxoSmithKline Community Impact Award which came with a monetary gift that was used to further our mission.
2004
In an effort to expand the network of local mental health professionals with special expertise in the treatment of sexual trauma, Family Support Line launched the Mental Health Professional Training program in 2004.
2007
Partnered with the Post Graduate Center to implement the Child Abuse Treatment Certificate program. 101 professionals completed this 36-hour postgraduate training program, which addressed core competencies in treating childhood sexual trauma. Through the Professional Reading Group, Family Support Line continued to provide advanced training for clinicians.
2015
In 2015, Family Support Line opened the Delaware County Children’s Advocacy Center (DCCAC) to help ensure that the needs of child victims come first. The staff creates a safe, comfortable space where children who may be victims of abuse can talk with a trained forensic interview about their experiences while prosecutors and investigators from law enforcement and child welfare agencies watch in another room via closed-circuit television.
The DCCAC’s Family Advocates help child victims and their families navigate the legal system and identify needed resources. They also help ensure that children who disclose abuse are not further victimized by the systems designed to protect them.
The DCCAC is based on a national, evidence-based intervention model that emphasizes multidisciplinary teamwork. A Coordinated multisystem response helps ensure that child victims won’t be subjected to multiple, repetitive investigative interviews. Such interviews can be re-traumatizing, especially when investigators lack the advanced knowledge and skills necessary to conduct them in a child-sensitive, developmentally appropriate, and forensically sound manner.
2016
After achieving a nearly perfect score at the end of the highly demanding process – which included an application of more than 300 pages, and a site review – the DCCAC achieved full accreditation by the National Children’s Alliance in June 2016.
2017
The opening of the DCCAC prompted significant reconfiguration of our Treatment program, including the dissolution of most of the Therapy Network and the hiring of an on-site Therapist/Educator using VOCA funds. These changes allowed therapists to provide interventions closer in time to abuse discovery/disclosure and thereby reduce its long-term negative effects. In FY17, team members also began offering school-based Psychoeducation/Mindfulness sessions for child victims struggling with emotional regulation.
2017
By the time Family Support celebrated our 30th anniversary in 2017, we were a regional leader in the field of child sexual abuse prevention and treatment, thanks to the hard work and dedication of the Board, management, professional staff, and volunteers.
2021
Due to the rising cases of human trafficking in Delaware County, Family Support Line also expanded its program offerings at the CAC to serve victims and survivors of all forms of human trafficking. Through a 3-year grant with the U.S. Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime in December 2021, the District Attorney’s office and Family Support Line formed the Multi-disciplinary Anti Trafficking Team (MATT) a coordinated response to trafficking in the county.
This includes developing written protocols, policies, and procedures for the coordinated response of human trafficking in all forms and for all ages in Delaware County. These protocols provide a blueprint to better serve those survivors and their non-offending family members as they cope with the trauma of being trafficked for labor or sex exploitation. Training for professionals and community members and services for victims and survivors are also provided.
In 2021, we partnered with the Joseph J. Peters Institute (JJPI) to increase the clinical resources available to local children and families through Project DelcoHART (Healing and Resolving Trauma). Through this program, which is funded by a five-year SAMHSA grant, JJPI therapists are able to treat child victims of trauma and children with problematic sexual behavior at FSL’s office. Additional case management and Delaware County school-based PSB evaluation and trauma treatment services are made possible through this project and 56 children were referred to DelcoHart.