About Us - The Crittenton Family of Agencies

The Florence Crittenton Agency, Inc. – Knoxville, Tennessee

Founded in 1896, The Florence Crittenton Agency (FCA) of Knoxville, Tennessee, provides prevention and treatment services to children, families, and pregnant young women and, as a result, strengthens the communities in which they live.

Crittenton Center is on a 26-acre partially wooded campus with a spectacular view of the Great Smoky Mountains. The campus includes six buildings clustered in convenient proximity to each other and connected by covered walkways. Full-service dining, indoor and outdoor recreation areas, and a state-of-the-art rope course are available for clients and staff.

Comprehensive residential services for young women include services to enhance mental and physical health, substance abuse assessment and treatment, academic education on campus, spiritual development opportunities, independent living skills, and recreation within a nurturing environment. Girls, ages 13 to 17, and pregnant girls and women of any age, are eligible for services. No geographic restrictions exist.

Outreach services in a 16-county area are designed to reduce teen pregnancy and child abuse/neglect rates through prevention programs. Counseling and case management services are provided to children and families in crisis, to foster families with mothers and babies, and to other adolescent females who are in the custody of the state.

Addiction assessment and treatment services are provided at Crittenton Center for residential and non-residential maternity clients and up to three months post-partum.

Programs and Services

Residential–Comprehensive mental health and substance abuse services; physical health, including maternity services; accredited academic education; life skills education; nutritional food services; recreation; and constant adult supervision and care. The program has provided services to girls and women with a 68 percent success rate, resulting in positive changes in self-esteem, peer relations, and impulse control.

Family Foster Care—Unique foster home services for pregnant and parenting teens and babies, as well as youth needing regular or therapeutic foster care. The program enrolls 20 individuals with an 88 percent success rate discharging them to permanent placements.

Home-based Counseling—Prevention and reunification program that provides in-home counseling and intensive case management to 477 family units with a 70 percent success rate of keeping children out of state custody.

Students Teaching and Respecting Sexuality (STARS)—School-based peer education by high school students to younger children stressing the importance of preventing pregnancy. In 2005-2006, the STARS program has made 164 presentations to 4,000 students, with a significant drop in pregnancy rates compared to counties without the program.

Child And Parenting Skills (CPA)—School-based pregnancy and parenting education and support service designed to prevent infant abuse or neglect for first-time teen parents .The program enrolls 164 students; to date there have been no reports of abuse or neglect.

Victims of Crime (VOCA)—School-based counseling for pre-teens and teens who are victims of family violence; 95 clients have benefited from this program.

For detailed information about this agency see:
www.fcaknox.org