Spectrum Human Services & Affiliate Companies

Spectrum Human Services & Affiliate Companies Headquarters Location

Westland

What We Do
Dignity and respect are simple human gifts. We believe they belong to everyone.

Since 1976, we’ve worked to strengthen children, families and communities across the state of Michigan. Our assistance directly addresses the challenges SHS users face, including:

Assessment and diagnostic services
Family preservation
Foster care and adoption
Independent and assisted living programs
Juvenile treatment and detention
Short and long-term residential programs
Small group living and outpatient mental health treatment
Substance abuse prevention and treatment services
Workforce development
Each day, more than 1,450 children, teens and adults who deal with mental, physical, emotional and/or behavioral challenges find help in a Spectrum program. And, we are gratified they do.
Mission and Vision
Our vision
To be the center of excellence for innovative and progressive human services, designed to address the changing needs of the people in our communities.
History
On Friday, February 13, 1976 James Minder and Susan Davis launched Pyramid Human Services by opening the “Quincy Home”, a 12-bed group home for developmentally challenged boys in northwest Detroit. Jim and Susan believed – everyone is entitled to dignity and respect, and their mission to empower individuals, strengthen families and enhance communities is the foundation of everything we are and represent today.

Quincy provided the opportunity for discovery and the opening of a second home. The Durham Center in Detroit, focused on helping abused, neglected and delinquent teens.

Simultaneously, we began opening group homes for developmentally disabled adults in Washtenaw and Wayne Counties. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, many state institutions for the developmentally disabled closed their doors, creating a huge need for the community group homes that Spectrum provided.

As we grew, Mr. Minder saw the need for complete continuum of care and aftercare. The Independent Living and in-home programs that are offered today by Spectrum Child & Family Services arose from that need.

In 1980, Pyramid became Michigan Human Services, and in 1988 became Spectrum Human Services, Inc., to avoid confusion with other organizations.

In 1983, Spectrum became the first agency to provide comprehensive in-home services for delinquent youth in Wayne County, through the Milestones program. The program, which served up to 150 youth at a time, was part of a research study that cited better outcomes for youth participating in community-based programs rather than residential care. Adjudicated youth coming through the Wayne County Juvenile Court were diverted to the Milestones program, rather than going to a residential center. Spectrum Human Services established its Adoption program in 1985, in response to the requests of many of our foster parents who wanted to adopt their foster kids.

Milestones: In our first ten years, Spectrum Human Services, Inc. was the first organization to:

Take profoundly mentally ill adolescents from an institution and move them into a residential setting
Provide in-home care program for delinquent youth
Provide a team of professional social workers and therapists to offer support to foster care parents. Staff members provided individual therapy to assist parents, as they coped with severely emotional children.
With Spectrum’s overwhelming desire to provide quality services to the mentally and physically challenged population and the need for services, this movement opened a floodgate of options and possibilities. Spectrum’s driving force was to provide dignity and respect to those that had been institutionalized and forgotten. The program delivery was targeted to children and adults. So Spectrum Human Services divided its forces into child welfare and community integration, while challenging staff members to become experts and champions for the critically underserved. We are proud to have nearly 1,400 “experts and champions” working for Spectrum Human Services, Inc. & Affiliated Companies.

Today, Spectrum Human Services, Inc. provides a formidable continuum of care with 45 programs and services across the state of Michigan. Our five affiliated companies Spectrum Child & Family Services, Spectrum Community Services, Spectrum Juvenile Justice Services, Primacare, and Operation ABLE of Michigan serve 1,450 children, families and individuals each day throughout the state.

Number of Employees in Spectrum Human Services & Affiliate Companies

501 to 1,000

Spectrum Human Services & Affiliate Companies Revenue

$1M to $5M (USD)