The organization that emerged from these early efforts gained a national support base and founded the Urban League of P ittsburgh . Our supports and services are offered through community settings such as agency offices, family homes, schools, and many neighborhood collaborations. Our services and educational programs value strength, resilience, and creativity of the family making full use of community and individual resources to assist in developing healthy children and strong families. FSWP assists individuals with chronic mental illness, developmental disabilities or mental retardation and their families to ensure the highest possible quality of life through vocational training and a range of emotional, social, and substance abuse prevention programs. To achieve these goals, the FSWP staff reaches out to the community to increase awareness of mental health and mental retardation services and supports, to educate the public on a variety of human service issues, and to facilitate prevention services that focus on individual and family strengths.
All services seek to help people lead productive, satisfying lives.
Foster Care Services One of the first services FSWP provided to the families of Greater Pittsburgh was foster care - placing children who must be separated from their parents or legal guardians with substitute family homes until they can return to their own families. We have continued to answer this vital need for children from birth through eighteen years of age who suffer neglect or abuse, for parents who may be too young or too ill to care for their child, and for children who have special needs or problems with which their parents cannot cope. After a period of time, many children return to their parents or relatives. Some, however do move into adoptive homes or remain with foster families until they reach adulthood. FSWP offers supportive care and adoption services as a licensed adoption agency.