SCAN's History & Evolution

Since 1974, SCAN’s focus on eliminating the abuse and neglect of children through education, family services and community partnerships has remained constant. SCAN’s roots run deep. The agency was founded by Charlotte Salinger, a dedicated social worker and community philanthropist, and 10 of her peers. The initial seed money to create SCAN was provided by the United Way of Allen County. In the beginning, SCAN was operated by Ms. Salinger, community volunteers, and just one staff. During the 1980’s the agency hired more staff as it expanded its geographic reach and served greater number of families through educational programming and home-based services. In the 1990’s the agency added the Healthy Families and Family Preservation programs. As services were added, staff was hired and the budget continued to grow. In 1995, SCAN’s budget totaled more than $1 million.

In 2000, SCAN found a home in downtown Fort Wayne. In the years that have passed since moving to the heart of the city, SCAN has continued to thrive. The agency has added the new programs which have diversified SCAN’s funding and allowed the agency to continue to reach more families in need, while holding true to its mission to prevent child abuse and neglect. Today, SCAN’s annual operating budget totals more than $13.7 million and the agency employs more than 180 staff who impact more than 5,660 families across a 19 Indiana county region.

SCAN offers services to 34 counties in northern Indiana. Counties include: Adams, Allen, Blackford, Cass, DeKalb, Delaware, Elkhart, Fulton, Grant, Hamilton, Hancock, Howard, Huntington, Jasper, Jay, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Lake, LaPorte, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Miami, Newton, Noble, Pulaski, Randolph, Starke, Steuben, St. Joseph, Tipton, Wabash, Wells, Whitley. Our main office is in located in downtown Fort Wayne. Additionally, we have three satellite offices in the following locations: Logansport, Merrillville, and South Bend. SCAN’s Healthy Families program holds the State contract to provide Technical Assistance and Quality Assurance for over 40 Healthy Families sites state-wide.

• Home based case management
• Supervised visitation facilitation
• Assessments for families to help determine their needs
• Emergency respite care for children
• Education to children through school, daycare, and church services
• Pre-divorce classes for parents going through a divorce or never married parents
• Conflict resolution skills training for already divorced parents
• “Kids and Divorce” classes to help children of divorce cope with the issues that occur during this difficult family crisis
• Supervised custody exchanges