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.

For a full history of  the National Head Start Association, click here.

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