Mission

From addressing the needs of homeless children via our Shelter Outreach Services Program to our Intensive Outpatient Programs, Beacon is relentless in assuring fulfillment of its mission: Empowering children and families by helping them find their way to a better future by providing accredited educational, mental health, and social services. Beacon seeks to accomplish this mission through the provision of innovative services to the most fragile children and their families in the metropolitan Chicago area.

History

In 1968 a group of concerned parents on Chicago’s southwest side gathered for the benefit of their children, children who they felt needed a better learning environment to meet their educational needs. The founding parents began “Beacon School” as a private special education facility serving children ages three to twenty-one years. Over the past four decades, Beacon grew from a single school to a multi-site service center for high-risk, multiple problem children, adolescents, teens, and their families living in the metropolitan Chicago area. Today Beacon is licensed and accredited by the Joint Commission, Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS), North Central Association, and Illinois State Board of Education.

Last year Beacon served 1,900 clients through three core programs: the Therapeutic Day School serving elementary and high school students through contracts with city and suburban school districts; Shelter Outreach Services delivering high quality behavioral health and supportive services to homeless families in 22 of the 50 homeless family shelters in Chicago; and the Outpatient Program providing outpatient and intensive day treatment services to children ages 3 to 18.