PITTSFIELD, Mass. Jan. 12, 2015– Hillcrest Educational Centers is celebrating 30 years of providing therapeutic treatment and special education to children and adolescents with unique psychological and learning needs. “During our 30 years in business we have touched the lives of thousands of young people, their families and their communities,” said Gerard E. Burke, President & CEO of Hillcrest. “We continue to develop our business in response to the needs of families, who often feel they have run out of solutions until they connect with our caring and professional staff.” The private not-for-profit has also formed Hillcrest Educational Foundation (HEF), a parent company that will serve as an umbrella organization for Hillcrest’s diversified services.

Hillcrest serves students from across the country and was started as an organization providing residential programs for students with complex psychiatric, behavioral and/or developmental disorders, and a variety of high-risk behaviors. Today it has grown into a diverse health and human services organization whose mission is to improve the lives of individuals and families through an array of services.  

Burke noted, “The success we have experienced over the last 30 years is a testament to the hundreds of talented staff members that have served us throughout our history. Their unequaled commitment and performance has been integral in helping us facilitate the social, emotional, intellectual, and physical growth of our students through the development of new skills that will better enable them to succeed in their home community.”  

Burke described the Foundation as a logical evolution in Hillcrest’s growth: “We have grown and diversified into new service areas over the years including specialized mental health, educational, autism and dental services; looking back at the lessons learned over the past 30 years, this seemed like an ideal time to create the Foundation. We’ve set it up as a unifying organization that will provide efficiencies and economies to better serve our clients, while helping Hillcrest grow and look forward to our next 30 years,” Burke said.  

HEF consists of four subsidiaries and one affiliate agency.

They include:  

Hillcrest Educational Centers, Inc. provides therapeutic treatment and special education to children and adolescents with unique behavioral, health and learning needs in Berkshire County, Massachusetts and throughout the country. HEC campuses include a non-residential therapeutic day school, day and residential autism services, and three residential treatment centers.  

Housatonic Academy is a therapeutic day school that provides education and clinical behavior support services to emotionally/behaviorally disturbed children and adolescents from local school districts. There are also classrooms that are specifically devoted to educating children on the Autism Spectrum.  
Hillcrest Dental Care, Inc. was born as a resource to provide dental care for Hillcrest students. It has now grown into a complete state-of-the-art general family dentistry practice and the largest provider of oral healthcare services to MassHealth recipients and special needs patients in Western Massachusetts. Hillcrest Dental Care has two locations, one in Pittsfield, MA and one in North Adams, MA.  

Hillcrest Community Support Services offers a broad range of outpatient behavioral health care services, counseling and evaluations for individuals, families and schools in Berkshire County.  

Berkshire County Kids’ Place and Violence Prevention Center, Inc., an affiliate of Hillcrest, is a fully accredited Children’s Advocacy Center for child abuse victims and their non-offending family members located in Pittsfield, MA.

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About Hillcrest Educational Foundation
Atop area employer, Hillcrest Educational Foundation is a private not-for-profit agency, serving students from across the country. Hillcrest was started as an organization that provided residential programs for students with complex psychiatric, behavioral and/or developmental disorders, including autism, and a variety of high-risk behaviors. While the agency still provides these residential services, today Hillcrest also offers nonresidential day programs and services for emotionally/behaviorally disturbed students at their Housatonic Academy, general family dentistry at Hillcrest Dental Care and outpatient mental health services for children, adolescents and adults through Hillcrest Community Support Services. Hillcrest’s Administrative Offices are located at 788 South Street, Pittsfield, MA 01201. More information is available at www.hillcrestec.org.

Media Contact:
Hillcrest Educational Centers, Inc.
Katrina Cardillo
Director of Communications
413-499-7924 ext. 114
kcardillo@hillcrestec.org