Spaulding for Children, a private, non-profit child welfare agency was established in 1968 when several entities, each seeking a way to make life better for children without families, joined together. One of these entities was Warren Spaulding, an elderly gentleman farmer who donated his farmhouse and surrounding land to establish Spaulding's first office.

Spaulding's founders had a dream that all children are adoptable, without regard to their age, race or disability.

On Sunday, February 4, 1968 Spaulding for Children was officially established with the signing of its articles. On April 26th it held its Community Kick-Off dinner; in early August,Kathryn S. Harr, the executive director of the Spaulding agency, held an "open inquiry meeting" for anyone interested in adoption. By September, Spaulding had completed its first adoption.

From these beginnings, Spaulding has become internationally acclaimed for its pioneering work in the field of special needs adoption. The Agency has provided training and consultation to professionals in England, Scotland, South Africa and throughout the United States of America and Canada. In 1985, Spaulding was designated as the site for the National Resource Center for Special Needs Adoption because of its contributions to the field. Since then, over 72,000 additional people have been trained in Spaulding's methods and philosophy. Spaulding continuously develops and disseminates new training curricula, publications, and training videos that set the standard for special needs adoption practice worldwide.

Throughout its history, Spaulding has seen its role as providing services and solutions on behalf of children needing permanency, with a focus on those children and families who were undeserved at a given point in time. With this strategy, Spaulding has been able to influence the world view of who is adoptable and who is able to adopt, as well as what services and supports are needed for a specific population of children and families. Spaulding's progressive accomplishments in this regard are as follows:

1968-1978

• Spaulding partners with the Michigan department of Social Services to pioneer special needs adoption for children in Michigan.
• Spaulding trained others in successful methods throughout the United States, canada Great Britain, and South Africa.

• Spaulding hired experts in the field of developmental disabilities and concentrated on adoption for this population
• Spaulding worked with the State Department of Mental Health to implement permanency planning for children whit developmental disabilities found abandoned in that system
• Spaulding opens its first Detroit office in an African American Church and helps to establish Kinship, a multi-Agency recruitment network for African American children
• Spaulding helps D.A. Blodgett in Grand Rapids start a special needs adoption program and assume Spaulding's caseload in that area.
• Spaulding expands its work in Detroit, adding specialized foster care and post adoption services for adoptive and kinship families.
• Spaulding receives Federal Grant for its pioneering work in special needs adoption to establish the National Resource Center for Special Needs Adoption (NRC)

• The NRC trains over 60,000 professionals and parents and develops state of the art video curriculum in adoption, cultural competency, parent training, child assessment, developmental disabilities and post adoption services. Grant was renewed for $700,000 per year for 5 years, starting in 1999.
• Spaulding sells the farm to consolidate training and services in one location in Detroit.
• Spaulding helps Wayne County Community Mental Health establish a provider network for post placement services to adoption and kinship families and becomes a Medicaid provider in the mental health system.
• Spaulding implements the Bandele project, a collaboration with 14 African American churches, to find, train and support foster, adoptive, and kinship families and to provide supportive services for older children to increase their adoption opportunities.
• Spaulding is accepted by the Van Dusen Endowment Challenge program and achieves $1,000,000 campaign goal within 14 months.
• Spaulding became fully accredited by the Council on Accreditation in early 1999
• Mike Lucci Scholarship Endowment established for Spaulding for Children
• With an original gift of $40,000 from the Hearst Foundation, Spaulding develops and implements Partners Endowment Campaign to build endowment funds to $5,000,000 by 2002.
• Spaulding's NRC grant is renewed for 5 more years - until 2003 - for $700,000 per year.
• Spaulding initiates expansion of foster care, adoption, and post adoption services with additional state referrals and contracts.
• Spaulding receives new grant from the Skillman Foundation to establish Parent Help Centers in eight African American Faith Communities. The Parent Help Centers receive support and consultation from Spaulding to offer parent training, outreach, and other programs to prevent child abuse and neglect in their respective communities.

• Spaulding receives 3-year, $900,000 Federal grant to develop innovative services for kinship adoption. This program helps to remove barriers that grandparents and other relatives have in adopting their relatives, when a birth parent is out of the picture.
• Spaulding receives $300,000 grant from the McGregor Fund to expand public relations and marketing efforts to increase adoptions to 100 per year.
• Spaulding Board members establish Family Support Program to focus on the needs of its families, which include foster, adoptive, kin, and birth. In addition to scholarships for college and other institutions of higher learning, the Agency has funds to pay for anything deemed reasonable for family success. The Family Support Program is supported exclusively by individual board members and their friends.
• Spaulding receives a $4.5 million award from the Department of Health and Human Services to develop an "Infant Adoption Awareness Training Program", with a goal of training health professionals how to present the option of adoption along with other forms of non-directive counseling to pregnant women and teens.

• Spaulding is named as the "Best Managed Nonprofit" by Crain's Detroit Business and is awarded $10,000.
• The National Child Welfare Resource Center for Adoption has trained more than 72,000 professionals, staff, and families nationwide