About Us

Our Mission

Children's Health Council helps children, teens and families find the best ways to learn, develop and thrive.

Children's Health Council (CHC) has a rich history of serving our community's children and their families. CHC provides assessment and treatment services in multiple disciplines, including psychiatry, psychology, neuropsychology, social work, education, behavior management, family therapy, speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and art therapy. Our goal is to help children reach their maximum potential by building on their strengths and teaching them strategies to overcome their challenges. CHC's multidisciplinary approach and areas of expertise- children with Autism Spectrum Disorders; preschool, school-aged and adolescent group therapy; children with complex medical problems; and developmental and behavioral assessment of infants through school-aged children - make it unique among care providers in the Bay Area.

CHC provides services through four divisions: an Outpatient Clinic, the Esther B. Clark School, Educational Services and Outcomes Measurement and Research. The initial entry into the Outpatient Clinic is the information and referral service. Expert staff responded to more than 4,500 calls this past year from parents and caregivers, offering them encouragement, referrals to other community resources or information about help available at CHC. The clinic provides assessment and treatment services to more than 1,440 children ages 0-18 and their families each year.

The Esther B. Clark School is a therapeutic day school for elementary, middle and high schools students who have significant learning, emotional, behavioral and/or developmental challenges. Located onsite at CHC, the school has a capacity to serve up to 90 full-time students who are referred by local school districts because they are not able to function in regular schools. Usually within one to two years, they learn the skills they need to transition successfully back.

CHC's Educational Services division provides parent education through workshops and the Parent Resource Center as well as professional development training to hundreds of educators each year. Since 1998, CHC has been a regional site for the Schools Attuned® program, which trains teachers to identify learning differences in children and to develop teaching strategies to foster academic success for all students.

Evaluation and Quality Improvement assess CHC programs regularly for quality and effectiveness and also provides consulting to other non-profits that want to develop their own capability for measuring program impact and success.

CHC provides programs and services that are responsive to the needs of children and families in the Bay Area. In recognition of its 50 plus years of commitment to the community, the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce honored CHC in 2006 with the Tall Tree Award in the outstanding non-profit organization category.