In the 1980s, community leaders in Orange County realized that the area’s abused and neglected children needed a safe shelter whose doors were always open. Thirty years later, Orangewood Children and Family Center is a national leader in the compassionate and comprehensive assessment, intervention, care, shelter and placement of the county’s most vulnerable children.
The center, located on a 10-acre campus in Orange, includes a 24-hour emergency shelter facility, where more than half the children admitted, from birth to age 17, receive a safe placement within 23 hours of arrival.
The center also houses a family visitation center, the Child Abuse Services Team (CAST), medical facilities, an on-ground school and a mental health evaluation unit.
Children who are admitted to the center can stay up to 35 days in one of the six residential cottages. Highly trained staff members help ease transition, and a dedicated member of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department is on site to ensure each child’s safety. On campus, the children attend school, receive services and are eventually placed with family members or in foster care.
The Orangewood campus also has amenities such as a pool, gym, game room and playing field.
“We never say no to a child who is a victim of abuse and neglect,” said Orangewood Children and Family Center Manager Denise Churchill. As a result, more than 500 children a year are processed through the emergency shelter.
Orangewood’s success is largely due to the strong support of community partners and volunteers.
“Volunteers play a huge role in our children’s lives,” Churchill said.
Groups such as Orangewood PALS and LA CASA, the Children’s Assistance Support Auxiliary, provide volunteers, mentors, events and therapy arts to Orangewood residents. Donations of clothes and other items for children ages 6-17 are accepted Monday-Friday at the Orangewood offices.
To learn about becoming a volunteer, visit ocgov.com/gov/volunteer/.
