Restoring hope for Long Islanders since 1926

Family Service League held its first meeting in 1926. A group of Huntington, NY women came together to help teens and unemployed people in the community. They opened a recreation center which fast became a gathering place. Soon it became clear that a real need existed for one-on-one attention to family problems. By 1927, the League hired Helen Bauer, its first social worker whose job was to go from home to home, visiting families. In the 1930's, the League focused on aiding the unemployed and became involved in a WPA project to build the Village Green Park in Huntington. During World War II and for years after, Family Service League became a loosely knit organization providing direct services -- such as food baskets -- to needy families in the community.

In 1950, Jane Nichols became involved with Family Service League. As a trained social worker, she recognized that Family Service League needed a professional Executive Director and a structured counseling program. For the next ten years, a volunteer Board of Directors worked to develop Family Service League into a countywide counseling agency with a paid professional staff. The 1960's saw an expansion in Family Service League's services and a broadening of its geographical range. It was during this period that services were extended to the East End. Stepping Stones was developed as the first "continuing treatment program," a model on Long Island, for mentally ill adults being discharged from Suffolk's large institutions for the mentally ill. It was in 1968 that a group of residents from the East End gathered to petition FSL to extend counseling services to the North Fork (Southold).

In 1975, another group raised funds for FSL to hire a counselor for the South Fork (Bridgehampton). And in 1977, the West Islip committee met with the FSL Board to request help in establishing a counseling service in the South Shore. This effort resulted in a new FSL office providing individual, marital and family counseling located in the Westminster Presbyterian Church in West Islip. In the late 1970's, FSL was asked by Suffolk County to develop mental health outpatient clinics in East Hampton, Southampton and on the North Fork. During the 1970's, the Debt Counseling, Community Advocacy Information Referral (CAIR), and Bereavement Center were also developed based on community need.

During the 1980's, especially the period from 1986 - 1990, FSL secured its first NYS license to operate an alcohol and substance abuse treatment clinic, Family Recovery Center, as well as new mental health programs.

It was in the early 1990's that FSL developed several new initiatives to prevent and treat victims of child abuse and neglect, to prevent Suffolk County children from being placed in institutions and foster care, and to treat PINS (Persons in Need of Assistance) referrals and their families. In 1995, FSL moved into new administrative headquarters, The Olsten Family Center at 790 Park Avenue in Huntington.

Another landmark was reached in 2001 when Family Service League was awarded national accreditation by the prestigious Council on Accreditation for Children and Family Services (COA). COA professionals assessed every program, policy, procedure, and management system of our agency against hundreds of "best practices" within the field, and determined FSL met, and continues to meet the highest standards for professional performance.

In recent years, Family Service League has focused on bringing programs to under-served populations, developing new and innovative programs and replicating their existing Family Centers. In 2004, FSL established the Iovino South Shore Family Center that houses the Joseph D. Posillico Jr. Preschool Learning Center and the Diane Goldberg Community Center. FSL has further enhanced its services to Eastern Suffolk communities through the opening of Family Centers in Yaphank and Riverhead.

Major program areas include counseling services, programs for the chronically mentally ill, parenting education, and skills training for at-risk families, an information and referral service to help the community at large access resources, and programs for youth and for the elderly. Family Service League helps approximately 47,000 Long Islanders each year.