History Timeline

1968-1978

Spaulding partners with the Michigan department of Social Services to pioneer special needs adoption for children in Michigan.
Spaulding trained others in successful methods throughout the United States, Canada Great Britain, and South Africa.

1978-1989

Spaulding hired experts in the field of developmental disabilities and concentrated on adoption for this population
Spaulding worked with the State Department of Mental Health to implement permanency planning for children with developmental disabilities found abandoned in that system
Spaulding opens its first Detroit office in an African American Church and helps to establish Kinship, a multi-Agency recruitment network for African American children
Spaulding helps D.A. Blodgett in Grand Rapids start a special needs adoption program and assume Spaulding’s caseload in that area.
Spaulding expands its work in Detroit, adding specialized foster care and post adoption services for adoptive and kinship families.
Spaulding receives Federal Grant for its pioneering work in special needs adoption to establish the National Resource Center for Special Needs Adoption (NRC)

1990-1999

The NRC trains over 60,000 professionals and parents and develops state of the art video curriculum in adoption, cultural competency, parent training, child assessment, developmental disabilities and post adoption services. Grant was renewed for $700,000 per year for 5 years, starting in 1999.
Spaulding sells the farm to consolidate training and services in one location in Detroit.
Spaulding helps Wayne County Community Mental Health establish a provider network for post placement services to adoption and kinship families and becomes a Medicaid provider in the mental health system.
Spaulding implements the Bandele project, a collaboration with 14 African American churches, to find, train and support foster, adoptive, and kinship families and to provide supportive services for older children to increase their adoption opportunities.
Spaulding is accepted by the Van Dusen Endowment Challenge program and achieves $1,000,000 campaign goal within 14 months.
Spaulding became fully accredited by the Council on Accreditation in early 1999
Mike Lucci Scholarship Endowment established for Spaulding for Children
With an original gift of $40,000 from the Hearst Foundation, Spaulding develops and implements Partners Endowment Campaign to build endowment funds to $5,000,000 by 2002.
Spaulding’s National Resource Center’s funding is renewed for 5 more years – until 2003 – for $700,000 per year.
Spaulding initiates expansion of foster care, adoption, and post adoption services with additional state referrals and contracts.
Spaulding receives new grant from the Skillman Foundation to establish Parent Help Centers in eight African American Faith Communities. The Parent Help Centers receive support and consultation from Spaulding to offer parent training, outreach, and other programs to prevent child abuse and neglect in their respective communities.

2000-2001

Spaulding receives 3-year, $900,000 Federal grant to develop innovative services for kinship adoption. This program helps to remove barriers that grandparents and other relatives have in adopting their relatives, when a birth parent is out of the picture.
Spaulding receives $300,000 grant from the McGregor Fund to expand public relations and marketing efforts to increase adoptions to 100 per year.
Spaulding Board members establish Family Support Program to focus on the needs of its families, which include foster, adoptive, kin, and birth. In addition to scholarships for college and other institutions of higher learning, the Agency has funds to pay for anything deemed reasonable for family success. The Family Support Program is supported exclusively by individual board members and their friends.
Spaulding receives a $4.5 million award from the Department of Health and Human Services to develop an “Infant Adoption Awareness Training Program”, with a goal of training health professionals how to present the option of adoption along with other forms of non-directive counseling to pregnant women and teens.

2002-2009

Spaulding is named as the “Best Managed Nonprofit” by Crain’s Detroit Business and is awarded $10,000.
The National Child Welfare Resource Center for Adoption has trained more than 72,000 professionals, staff, and families nationwide
Spaulding’s National Resource Center for Adoption’s funding is renewed for 5 more years – until 2008 for $1,000,000 per year and in 2008 renewed for another 5 years for $1,200,000 per year.

2010-2015

Spaulding has trained more than 200,000 adoption and health care professionals through the Spaulding Institute for Family and Community Development
Spaulding partners with the State of Michigan and is awarded a five-year $2,000,000 Diligent Recruitment Grant to fund the I-CARE 365 recruitment program.
Spaulding is awarded a 3 year $1,000,000 federal grant to pilot a Family Group Decision making model based on Michigan’s MI-Team model.
Spaulding launches its Academy for Family Support and Preservation

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