Metropolitan Family Services history

The Der Deutsche-Rechtaschartz-Verein (later named the Legal Aid Society) in New York in 1876 is sometimes referred to as the first, but it helped only German immigrants.

The first organized effort to provide free legal help for those unable to hire an attorney was the Protective Agency for Women and Children, established in 1886 by the Women’s Club of Chicago, ‘to protect young girls from seductions and debaucheries’ by men posing as employers.

The Bureau of Justice, in 1888, was the first true legal aid service not limited by race or gender.

The two pioneer services in Chicago combined in 1905 to form the Legal Aid Society.”

In 1909, with the city population growing and the need for relief rising, the Chicago Bureau of Charities merged with The Chicago Relief and Aid Society to form the United Charities of Chicago.

As United Charities, the organization became more active in the community in promoting progressive public policies and addressing health issues such as the Mothers Pension Law Act of 1911.

In 1935 the counseling services were officially named the Family Service Bureau and for the first time, a considerable number of financially independent families received “family consultation.”

In response to increasing demand for services and long waiting lists, in 1963 the organization's board of directors made policy decisions for the family services Bureau, directing program emphases to families with minors and the elderly.

In 1971, the agency added a department of social affairs (later renamed Social Advocacy) to influence government policy which affected its clients.

The organization also began to seek expansion into Chicago's suburbs, and in 1987 acquired the Family Services of DuPage now known as the DuPage Center.

A major effort to address long term concerns about the agency's name and image cumulated in 1995 with the changing of the name from United Charities to Metropolitan Family Services (MFS).

The acquisition of the Family Counseling Services of Evanston/Skokie Valley agency and the Child Abuse Prevention Services (CAPS) in 1996 further complemented the strategy and change of the agency.