Newton-based Family Support Center Set To Shut Down

NEWTON, MA — A child and family support organization is shutting down next month.

Family ACCESS of Newton’s last day will be Thursday, June 25, Executive Director Maisie Pollard and Board Chair Jim Rapoport announced this week. The pair cited a combination of declining enrollment and increasing costs as the main reason it is closing its Early Learning Center, Early Literacy Services, and Counseling Services.

“In reaching this decision, our Board and leadership exhausted all options,” Pollard and Rapoport said in a joint statement. “There is simply no way forward that would allow our organization to continue to responsibly sustain our operations, particularly given the persistent economic pressures and shifting family preferences that have led to such a prolonged period of under-enrollment.”

They added that they plan to work with its participating families in finding a new provider for them come June 25.

Family ACCESS dates back more than a century to 1907, when it was first established as the Newton Community Service Center as an early childhood education center by a local group of women. It became one of the first formal organizations in Massachusetts to treat early childhood development as a dedicated field of education. The nonprofit adopted its current name in 2014, and the ACCESS is an acronym for A Center for Comprehensive Education and Support Services. It has since focused on healthy child development and trauma prevention.

According to the organization, Family ACCESS will continue to operate normally until it closes.

“We deeply regret having to make this decision, and we extend our sincerest gratitude to our employees, the thousands of children and families we’ve had the privilege of serving, the City of Newton, and the local neighborhoods and communities that have supported us for more than a century,” Pollard and Rapoport said.

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