East Bay Agency for Children History

Think back to 1952. At that time, there were very limited services for children with special needs.  Parent’s choices were generally putting their emotionally disturbed, developmentally disabled, or mentally ill children into residential care or keeping them at home with little if any available services.  So when a group of families in the east bay decided they wanted to give their children “the same educational and recreational opportunities which contribute to the physical well-being and social growth of all children”, they searched for an alternative. 

They identified a program model in use on the east coast, brought it to the east bay, and created the first “day treatment” program west of the Mississippi.  Initially called the Berkeley Activities Center, then the East Bay Activities Center, this newly formed non-profit thrived for 30 years and eventually formed the basis for the current Oakland Day Treatment program and what was to become East Bay Agency for Children. 

Over the ensuing decades, our day treatment program evolved as legislation, policy, and funding changed, so now we serve children with emotional and behavioral challenges issues rather than those with autism and other developmental disabilities.

The decade from the mid 1980’s to the mid 1990’s was a period of significant expansion for EBAC.  Taking advantage of strong organizational leadership and vision and the synergies of collaboration, EBAC merged many other non-profit service providers into our growing family of services and launched new programs ourselves.  We welcomed a new day treatment program in Fremont and the Prevention and Life Skills (PALS) program.  We took over operation of the Therapeutic Nursery School from Children’s Hospital Oakland and in Fremont the first of several EBAC run Healthy Start programs.  We brought onboard PediatriCare Grief Support Center, known today as Circle of Care, and added the Hawthorne Community Collaborative, today’s Hawthorne Family Resource Center.

Our reputation for quality service secured a solid foundation for further expansion in the last decade.  Since 2000, we have added Day Treatment programs in the New Haven Unified School District and two new programs in Oakland Unified.  Our six day treatment programs today provide intensive mental health services for 80 children in Alameda County. 

We built a successful model Healthy Start after school program at Sequoia Elementary in Oakland.  We created our unique Probation Mental Health program to fill a very vital need- assisting teens transitioning out of the Juvenile Justice Center and helping at-risk teens avoid entering the juvenile justice system. 

In 2001, we also welcomed into the EBAC family the very successful and well respected Child Assault Prevention (CAP) Training Center which together with the 2008 merger with Child Abuse Prevention Agency (CAPA) now provides EBAC with solid prevention-based educational services to ensure each child has the skills they need to succeed in school and in life. 

Today, East Bay Agency for Children’s 13 distinct programs serve over 19,000 children and families throughout Alameda County each year, and we operate with a $7.2 million budget.  Our services give each child and family the specific resources, skills, and opportunity they need to help them reach their full potential.

As we approach 2012, and our 60th Anniversary, we are making plans to continue empowering the next generation of children with our vital prevention and intervention programs.

Here’s to the next 6 decades.