History

CSC History

Community Services for Children was officially formed in 1981, by Patricia W. Levin.

Judith Chase began a local chapter of Head Start as a summer pilot in Easton in 1965 under President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty initiatives, which was launched in 1965.  Head start celebrated a 50 year anniversary in 2015.

Click to read a full history of the National Head Start Association.

Until 1981, Head Start of the Lehigh Valley was administered through Colonial Northampton Intermediate Unit #20, followed by Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley (CACLV). In 1981, Patricia W. Levin incorporated Community Services for Children as a platform for numerous early education programs, including Head Start.

CSC Milestones include the following:

• 1965 – Head Start in the Lehigh Valley began as a summer program in Easton
• 1967 – Expanded Head Start to Lehigh and Northampton counties
• 1972 – Started home-based services to serve rural areas
• 1981 – Patricia W. Levin officially formed Community Services for Children in Allentown
• 1982 – Established TOT-INFO child care resource and referral service
• 1985 – CSC Began to administer subsidized child care in Lehigh County
• 1996 – Initiated Early Head Start for children prenatal to 3
• 1998 – Named as Pennsylvania’s Child Care Resource and Referral Developer for 15 Northeast Pennsylvania counties
• 2001 – Moved onto newly-acquired and renovated “Donley Children’s Campus” in Allentown
• 2003 – Established Early Head Start/SafeStart Child Welfare Collaboration with Lehigh and Northampton counties
• 2004 – Opened Playscape, an innovative, natural landscape play area
• 2007 – Added PreK Counts preschool through state funding
• 2008 – Launched innovative literacy/technology lab
• 2011 – Built new Donley Family Infant Center for the Early Head Start center-based program known as SafeStart
• 2013 – Expanded Regional Key STARS program to 18 counties of Northeast Pennsylvania
• 2014 – Initiated Newton School, focusing on STEM as a way of learning
• 2015 – Expanded SafeStart to second site for a total of 72 abused and neglected babies/toddlers
• 2018 – Began operating the Early Learning Resource Center for 5 Regions in the Commonwealth
• 2019 – Formed partnership with The Century Fund to open three kindergarten Jump Start centers preparing Allentown School District students for school
• 2019 – Opened The Learning Hub in Center City Allentown, home to six enhanced Head Start classrooms
• 2020 – Opened the Neighborhood Resource Center in Center City Allentown, a partnership with City Center Allentown and Lehigh Valley Health Network, that serves as a “one-stop-shop” for educational and family resources
• 2021 – Opened the Early Learning Resource Center in Quakertown, PA
• 2021 – Began a scholarship program offered to any Head Start students who are pursuing post graduation education
• 2022 – Officially opened CSC Downtown in place of The Learning Hub operating with up to 17 classrooms and providing services for up to 400 children
• 2022 – Opened Early Learning Resource Center in Wilkes-Barre
• 2023 – Launched partnership with Leonard Parker Poole Institute for Health establishing collaborative collective action initiative in Franklin Park, Allentown.
• 2024 – Generously sponsored by PNC, CSC Downtown opened the NatureScape
• 2024 – Launched Families First in Franklin Park and UPLIFT After School Program
• 2024 –  Launched official partnership with Valley Health Partners providing a clinic care, vision, & dental care for families at CSC Downtown
• 2025 – Early Learning Resource Center moved to a new office space in Scranton, PA
• 2026 – Approved as a Blue Zones Project worksite, ensuring we are putting the health and wellness of our staff first