The Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (MSPCC) is a non-governmental charitable organization with offices in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
and throughout
which seeks to strengthen families and prevent child abuse through essential child welfare and mental health treatment and effective public advocacy.
History
MSPCC was incorporated in 1878.
Henry Bergh
Henry Bergh (August 29, 1813 – March 12, 1888) founded the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) in April, 1866, three days after the first effective legislation against animal cruelty in the United States was passed ...
, originally a founder of the
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing animal cruelty. Based in New York City since its inception in 1866, the organization's mission is "to provide effective mea ...
(ASPCA), and then of the
New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children
The New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children was founded in 1874 (and incorporated in 1875). It is the world's first child protective agency. It is sometimes called the Gerry Society after one of its co-founders, Elbridge Thomas ...
(the first such organisation in the world) was also active in the MSPCC's founding.
Bergh got involved in child welfare when he was approached by a
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...
missionary named
Etta Agnell Wheeler
Etta Angell Wheeler (June 14, 1834 - December 5, 1921) was the rescuer and advocate of Mary Ellen Wilson, whose infamous abuse story led to the creation of the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Wheeler was also influenti ...
who was seeking help rescuing a child, Mary Ellen Wilson, from an extremely abusive home. After Wilson's story was heard, other complaints came in to Bergh. In response, he and
Elbridge Thomas Gerry
Elbridge Thomas Gerry (December 25, 1837 – February 18, 1927), usually called "Commodore" Gerry due to the office he held with the New York Yacht Club from 1886 to 1892, was an American lawyer and reformer who was the grandson of U.S. Vice P ...
formed the New York Society in 1874; the Massachusetts society was formed shortly after.
Today
Mary McGeown is MSPCC's president and CEO.
Its programs include pregnancy and parenting support, child and family counseling, and support for foster and adoptive families.
It monitors public policy issues at the state legislative and executive levels, and promotes the needs of children and adolescents in the areas of child abuse, foster care, poverty and welfare, and mental, physical and dental health, as well as the needs of teens who have "aged out" of foster care.
In 2006, MSPCC helped develop the Connecting With Care program which is a school-based collaborative that provides mental health services for children and families living in high poverty and high crime areas.
MSPCC serves children and families throughout the state through home visits and service sites in Boston, Holyoke, Lawrence, Lowell, and Worcester.
See also
*
New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children
The New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children was founded in 1874 (and incorporated in 1875). It is the world's first child protective agency. It is sometimes called the Gerry Society after one of its co-founders, Elbridge Thomas ...
References
External links
Official siteMassachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children records, 1878-1970
University Archives and Special Collections, Joseph P. Healey Library, University of Massachusetts Boston
The University of Massachusetts Boston (stylized as UMass Boston) is a Public university, public research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the only public research university in Boston and the third-largest campus in the five-campus Un ...
Mental health organizations in Massachusetts
Child abuse-related organizations
Children's charities based in the United States
Cruelty
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