[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 158 (Thursday, October 12, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1939]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               TRIBUTE TO THE MARIN FAMILY SERVICE AGENCY

                                 ______


                          HON. LYNN C. WOOLSEY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 12, 1995

  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to an 
organization that has provided service to the families of Marin County 
for over 50 years. The Marin Family Service Agency [FSA] has provided 
critical mental health and social services to Marin County families by 
functioning as a safety net for families, a lifeline for people in 
crisis, and a champion of family health.
  The Marin FSA began in 1945 with the goal of strengthening families 
through the teaching of basic skills in parenting, caretaking and self-
sufficiency. Through the years, that goal has expanded to include Marin 
County's first family counseling program, child sexual abuse treatment 
programs, family alcoholism treatment programs, and support services 
for elders. Wherever and whenever families need assistance, the caring 
and dedicated staff of the Marin FSA are there to help families help 
themselves.
  Perhaps it is because the focus of treatment is the whole family, and 
not just individual family members, that the Marin FSA is such a 
successful social service provider. Robert Thomas, the current 
executive director of Marin FSA and a recipient of the United Way's 
Seaton Manning award for leadership, realized the pervasive and eroding 
effect that problems like alcoholism, domestic violence and child 
sexual abuse have on the entire family as a unit. Robert Thomas and the 
dedicated staff of Marin FSA know that successful resolution to 
problems that affect families, is treatment that includes the whole 
family.
  Mr. Speaker, Congress would do well to follow the lead of the folks 
at Marin FSA. By coordinating our social services, we too could achieve 
the excellence of care that the Marin FSA provides to the families of 
Marin County.

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