Description
Founded in 1989 with a start-up gift from Lucy Daniels, Ph.D., a local writer and psychologist, the Lucy Daniels Center for Early Childhood (LDC) treated eight children in an early intervention preschool program in 1991. The Center is now the largest nonprofit agency provider of children's mental health services in the Triangle, serving 700 families annually. The Center is both a community clinic, serving a diverse population, and an assessment and treatment facility. Our 31 person staff includes clinical social workers, child psychologists, psychiatrists, psychoanalysts, and teachers, who provide tailored care for each child.
The Center has been recognized with local, regional, and national awards for its excellent programs. In 2007 the LDC received the Triangle Business Journal's Healthcare Heroes Award for Most Outstanding Outreach Program and the Cary Chamber of Commerce's inaugural Charitable Partner Award for its outstanding service to the people of Cary. In 2009 the Center was selected as the Band Together Charity Partner. The Center's mission is to helps children live emotionally healthy lives through in-depth evaluation and treatment, family involvement, and education.he Lucy Daniels Center's Current Programs include:
1) an internationally recognized early intervention therapeutic preschool and kindergarten program with two tracks: one for children with more severe emotional challenges and one for more typically developing children;
2) evaluations, counseling, psychological and medical services for children up to age 11 through our on-site family guidance service;
3) in-home or in-daycare counseling for children up to age 5 from underserved, low-income families, together with Wake County SmartStart; and
4) an array of community programs including workshops for parents and childcare workers and internships for graduate students Our most recent outreach program for all young children and families is the Lucy's Book Club, www.lucysbookclub.org
The LDC provides the most comprehensive array of mental health services and treats more children annually than any other nonprofit mental health agency in the Triangle. The Center is well known by medical and mental health professionals and social service agencies, locally and nationally, as a trusted source for children's mental health advice, treatment, and referrals.
