Las Familias Angel Center for Childhood Sexual Abuse Treatment was founded in 1983 to specifically address the needs of individuals victimized by childhood sexual abuse and their families. The roots of Las Familias trace back to the late 1970’s and immerging concerns by Child Protective Services over the unclear, ineffective and inconsistent handling of incest cases throughout our community.

Protocol at that time was to remove children from their homes, separating families and often turning the non-abusing parent against the bewildered children. They were blamed them for causing the incarceration of a spouse, the inherent negative social stigma and, in many cases, the loss of economic security.

Consequently, many abused children retracted the allegations of incest out of shame, guilt, fear and the pressure or desire to return to their home. This resulted in the offender once again having daily contact with the children.

In an effort to increase treatment and decrease the number of children being returned to an abusive home, the Child Sexual Abuse Treatment Program was formed in 1980. With the support of the Pima County Attorney, Tucson Police Department, Pima County Sheriff’s Department, Adult Probation and University Hospital Pediatrics, the program was funded solely through the Arizona Department of Economic Security.

In 1983, a board of directors accepted the responsibility for organizational funding and the name Las Familias was born. Over the course of 20 plus years, Las Familias has continued its mission to facilitate the healing process of children and adults who experienced childhood sexual abuse. Central to this philosophy is the recognition that sexual abuse treatment is an issue not just for the survivor, but the entire family.

As the need for Las Familias programs continued to grow in the new millennium, it was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain our level of service. The desire to fulfill our strategic objective, expand services and reach out to underserved populations was met with recognized financial difficulty facing many smaller non-profit agencies.

To maintain financial viability and appropriate levels of administrative support without comprising services, the Las Familias Board of Directors voted unanimously to merge with Arizona’s Children Association. On November 17, 2003, Las Familias became a Member of Arizona’s Children Association Family of Agencies.

The merger with Arizona's Children Association keeps all of the programs intact while providing increased administrative and financial support. Las Familias remains the only non-profit outpatient treatment center specializing in childhood sexual abuse treatment in Tucson, Arizona and Pima County.