Serving Children and Adults in Need (SCAN) was officially formed in 1982 as Stop Child Abuse and Neglect in Laredo, Texas. Today, SCAN is a community-based, nonprofit social services organization with a 39-year history of providing a variety of comprehensive and culturally sensitive services to a population that is almost 95% Hispanic and which resides along the Texas-Mexico Border in Southwest Texas. SCAN programs provide diverse prevention, intervention, and treatment services for children, adolescents, adults, and families. With a budget of more than $10 million, SCAN has more than 35 programs providing services in 17 different counties.

The mission of Serving Children and Adults in Need is to foster the healthy development of individuals through trauma-informed empowerment opportunities that are rooted in the community; utilize evidence-based interventions and best practices; respond to the needs of the population regarding culture, language, sexual orientation and gender identity; emphasize choice and self-determination; and encourage the support of peers and promote long term recovery and resilience.

SCAN’s vision is to be known by individuals and families as a place where they can find the resources to develop their full potential and where they feel their language and culture are honored; to be seen by funding agencies as a reliable steward of public and private funds and an agency striving for excellence and innovation; to be viewed by community stakeholders as a reliable partner that always collaborates to enhance, expand and improve systems of care; to be considered by the workforce as a place where best practices and evidence-based approaches are utilized with the highest degree of fidelity; and to be viewed by staff as a cheerful place to work, where diversity is celebrated and their ideas and efforts are valued.

Our purpose is to provide individuals with access to a variety of evidence-based prevention, intervention, and treatment services that are delivered by highly trained and caring staff members.