The Harlem Family Institute is entering its second decade of community service.

The idea for the Institute grew out of the experience of its founding director, Stephen Kurtz, C.S.W., who had started a counseling program at The Children’s Storefront, an alternative school, in 1986. While he was working at the Storefront, Mr. Kurtz’s part-time efforts could reach only a fraction of those in need. Instead of referring students to existing facilities, he developed the idea of a school-based training program.

• A school can be a trusted presence in the community, offering mental health services in a setting free of stigma.
• If seen at school, children do not have to be taken to a clinic by overburdened caretakers; sessions are less likely to be missed and attendance can be more consistent.
• Unlike typical short-term clinical settings, with the possibility of frequent staff turn-over and disrupted attachments, HFI offers 3-4 years of care to each child, in school, by the same therapist.
• The ease of communication between teachers and therapists makes an in-school program particularly valuable.

Since 1991, when HFI was chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, the Institute has expanded its services to a number of schools and one neighborhood center. It has provided free, long-term psychotherapy services to over 300 children and families.