ABOUT US - MISSION AND HISTORY

OUR MISSION

Fred Finch Youth Center seeks to provide a continuum of high quality programs for the care and treatment of children, youth, young adults and their families, whose changing needs can best be met by a variety of mental health and social services. The goal is for clients to be professionally served in the least restrictive environment appropriate to their needs so that they may function at their highest potential.

OUR HISTORY

Fred Finch Youth Center was founded as a Methodist orphanage in 1891 by Duncan and Eunice Finch. One of our most prominent early residents was Pulitzer Prize- and Academy Award-winning writer William Saroyan, who wrote about his experiences living with his siblings at Fred Finch Youth Center in the 1900s.

By the early 1950s, the needs of the community had changed so FFYC changed its focus and began serving adolescents who were, at the time, considered “incorrigible.” Mental health treatment services were added to meet the needs of these young people. In the late 1960s, we opened a residential treatment facility for youngsters who required more intensive services. From the 1970s on, we have specialized in serving the youth who require unique services not available from other agencies.

Today, FFYC offers an array of services in the San Francisco Bay Area and San Diego.