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In July 2012, Celia Center's founder, Jeanette Yoffe, a psychotherapist, an adoptee and former foster youth felt compelled to start a non-profit organization she named the Celia Center, in honor of her birthmother, Celia whom she was separated from at the age of 15 months due to mental illness. She has always thought "had her birthmother received support services as well as her foster family, she would have remained in contact with Celia, even if she could not live with her permanently." The not knowing what had happened to her birthmother caused her much strife and pain. Jeanette's mission today is to keep connections sacred within the child's family of origin.

CELIA CENTER MISSION

The Celia Center will nurture and support families by providing affordable mental health services to all members of the foster-adoption constellation in order to keep families strong, connected, and whole again. They want to ensure that any first parent, child or parent in an adoptive or foster home receive the proper Mental Health Services in order to develop strong healthy families of all socio-economic status and to preserve the sanctity of the American Family for future generations.

Celia Center addresses the critical needs of the Foster Care / Adoption community in Los Angeles and the United States. Its purpose is to educate, inform and provide resources and valuable services to this community which right now numbers over 423,000 children nationwide. Its purpose is to cherish and support the American family.

Celia Center Programs will include:

Mental Health Program: Individual, group and family therapy sessions provided by licensed and trained professionals to people involved in the Foster care / Adoption process.
Educational Program: Structured “best practice” training’s for parents, educators, social workers, therapists and lawyers who work with this demographic. We provide training’s for birth parents, foster parents, adoptive parents, as well as county and private agency social workers, county mental health therapists, and clinicians in private practice. Educational conferences and seminars are offered on a regular basis for parents and professionals in child welfare. Celia Center develops curricula and trains adoptive, foster and birth parents for Los Angeles County.
Community Program: Open workshops and educational seminars with various experts in different aspects of the foster care / adoption issues. These will include reference materials, resources and extensive Q&A with participants.
Support Program: Regular, on-going meetings such as “Adopt Salon” and “Teen Adopt Salon”, a free, monthly support and information sharing group for members of this demographic and the general public alike.
Awareness Program: Small and medium scale performing arts and literary events, such as play and poetry readings, concerts and talkbacks that highlight or put an interesting focus on a particular aspect of the adoption / Foster care system and the people involved with it.
Awards Program: Championing, supporting and helping to spread the word of individuals, programs or services that are making a positive impact on the lives of the people involved with us.
Development of Interventions Program: Original therapeutic play therapy interventions, developed by the Center.

To Support the journey of the Celia Center and make a donation please donate here....

For general inquiries please send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.