Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Newark

Catholic Charities began in the Archdiocese of Newark in 1903 when a group of lay Roman Catholics founded the Catholic Children's Aid Society of New Jersey, the predecessor of our current Family and Adoption Program. The organization was the first society for the prevention of cruelty to children established by a Catholic diocese in the United States, and it was the second to begin placing Catholic orphan children in private Catholic homes for the purpose of adoption. In 1927, 15 orphanages collaborated with the Children's Aid Society to form Associated Catholic Charities, which provided organized family services that included child welfare. Catholic Charities has been in the forefront of adoption policies and procedures, utilizing best practice standards to implement change. Orphanages no longer exist in the United States and infant domestic adoptions have decreased. At the same time, international programs have increased and children living in orphanages in other part of the world are finding loving families through the efforts of Catholic Charities.