About Us

Children's Friend has been serving Rhode Island's most vulnerable children and their families since 1834. The children that we serve face a myriad of obstacles in their lives, including poverty, language barriers, lack of education, substance abuse, and difficulty accessing health care. Because of these obstacles, many of their parents have difficulty caring for them.

At Children's Friend, we support families and help them find the strength to overcome their hurdles. By creating safe and nurturing environments for children during the crucial early years, and by helping parents gain access to the resources, education, and support that they need, we can give children the foundation to help them live healthy and productive lives.

The mission of Children's Friend is to promote the well-being and healthy development of Rhode Island's most vulnerable children by providing flexible, effective and culturally relevant services that support and strengthen families and communities.

Our Key Principles:

1. The agency’s services must be pro-active, seeking to identify children at risk for negative developmental outcomes and to intervene as early as possible in order to prevent such outcomes.

2. The services provided to children and families must be culturally relevant and focus on strengths as well as vulnerabilities. The agency must deliver services in a manner which conveys respect for each individual and family and their particular cultural traditions.

3. In order to meet the needs of vulnerable children and families, the agency’s services must be comprehensive and address the needs of the whole child and family. Collaboration with other private and public agencies is the key to delivering comprehensive services that are tailored to the needs of each child and family served and to avoiding duplications.

4. The agency’s services must be effective. Therefore, on-going program evaluation is necessary to ensure that programs are achieving their goals and that services are truly making a difference in the lives of vulnerable children and families.

5. The agency’s 170+ years of experience with vulnerable children and families behooves us to take a leadership role in educating policy makers and the general public regarding the needs of such children and families. Therefore, we will advocate for polices and resources which enhance the well-being of all children and families in Rhode Island.

6. As a learning organization, Children’s Friend provides on-going opportunities for staff, board members, interns and volunteers to increase their awareness and understanding of current issues and best practices which are relevant to the agency’s work. Children’s Friend will ensure that the spirit of boldness and innovation is maintained.

7. Our history and experience also provides us with a unique capacity to share our expertise with others. Children’s Friend will provide training and consultation to a wide array of service providers in order to enhance the professional development of those who work with children and their families.

8. Children’s Friend will provide careful and responsible stewardship of its financial resources; ensuring that administrative costs remain proportionately low and that most of the resources are spent on meeting un-met needs and serving those who would not otherwise receive appropriate services.