Children First Center offers a full array of home visiting services to children and their families in northeast Indiana.

The Children First Center has a long and successful history of providing early intervention services to children with special needs and their families.  As part of this commitment to the children of northeast Indiana, the Children First Center has expanded its services to include prevention and preservation services.

The DeKalb County Parent Group for Handicapped Children, Inc. was established and incorporated in 1971 to provide the parents of handicapped children an opportunity to associate together to discuss and exchange information, share special resources that would encourage and increase the public support and understanding of the needs of the handicapped person.  These concerned parents quickly realized the value of early intervention services and created the DeKalb County Preschool for the Handicapped.

For 15 years, the Auburn First United Methodist Church housed the preschool.  Then in 1987, the Preschool built its own facility and became the Children First Center serving infants, toddlers and their families from DeKalb, Noble and Steuben Counties.

Today, most of Children First Center’s programs are provided in natural environments, meaning that services are in the home or in a place that children would normally be.

Participation in all programs is voluntary and most are provided at no cost to families.

Children First is adamant in its belief that every child, regardless of limitations, deserves the opportunity to grow, to learn and to achieve at the highest potential.  Our mission continues to be “helping children become all they can possibly be.”