In the early 1980s, Dr. Ray Helfer, a pediatrician in Michigan, noted that just as there are trusts to maintain our nation’s highways, there should be trust funds to care for our most precious resource—our children.
In Massachusetts, a joint partnership between the Executive Office of Human Services and the Special Commission on Violence Against Children resulted in the publication of a report called, It’s Never Too Soon: A Blueprint for Preventing Child Abuse by Strengthening Families.
The Blueprint recommended that Massachusetts take action to protect children from abuse and neglect. In 1988, the Massachusetts Legislature voted to create the Children’s Trust Fund.
The Children’s Trust Fund is the only Massachusetts organization solely dedicated to preventing child abuse and neglect. CTF reaches every community in the Commonwealth to ensure that parents have the skills and knowledge necessary to raise safe and healthy children.
Friends of the Children’s Trust Fund was established in 1991 as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization to raise private support and revenues to augment the public funds and to enhance our efforts to prevent child abuse and neglect.