Judson Center, a multi-county human service agency, has acquired a building in Farmington Hills that will become the organization’s headquarters, moving from Royal Oak. The location is expected to open in early August. The Royal Oak campus will stay open and expand its programming space.
“The Royal Oak campus needed additional space to expand our core services to help serve more children and families in our community. In order to accomplish this, we decided to purchase the building in Farmington Hills and relocate our administrative departments off campus to gain programming capacity,” says Lenora Hardy-Foster, president and CEO. “We included additional Autism Connections services at the new Farmington Hills location because there is a measurable need in that community.”
Located at 30301 Northwestern Highway, the new building will house the executive leadership, finance and accounting, human resources, information technology, development, and marketing teams, which are moving from Royal Oak. The agency provides autism programs, behavioral health services, child and family services including foster care and adoption in tandem with affiliate Child Safe Michigan, employment services for people with disabilities, and primary care for all ages. Judson Center will expand autism services to the Farmington Hills location.
The addition brings the number of Judson Center locations to 10. All are located in Genesee, Macomb, Oakland, Wayne, and Washtenaw counties, with additional home-based autism services provided in Livingston County. The new location also includes signage on the Northwestern Highway corridor.
Some ancillary programs, support groups, and training provided by the center through the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services are also relocating to the Farmington Hills headquarters, including the Wayne County and Oakland County Building Community Partners departments, the Adoptive/Foster Parent Recruitment and Retention Region 5 program, Oakland County foster parent support groups and community task force meetings, and PRIDE training for foster parents. 855-MICHKIDS, a phone line managed by foster care navigators, is also moving to Farmington Hills.
Judson Center is celebrating its 95th anniversary this year and has a budget of $26 million. The center’s Autism Connections program has grown in recent years and offers services to people from 18 months to early adulthood. About 25 percent of the individuals in Judson Center’s vocational training services have an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis.
The center also offers family counseling, parent training, Sibshops, occupational therapy, and speech services, and the center doesn’t turn people away for inability to pay. It helps more than 10,000 children, adults, and families each year.
The phone number for the new location is (248) 549-4339.
