[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 128 (Thursday, September 20, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Page S6538]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                  RECOGNIZING THE DEVEREUX FOUNDATION

 Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, today I have the honor of 
highlighting the Devereux Foundation, a nonprofit behavioral health 
organization that supports many underserved and vulnerable communities. 
The Devereux Foundation is based in Villanova, PA, but provides 
critical services throughout the entire country. They are about to 
celebrate their 100th anniversary.
  The Devereux Foundation began as the Devereux School, which was 
established in 1912 by Helena Devereux. Helena Devereux was a 
Philadelphia schoolteacher known for her success at working with 
special needs children. Devereux attempted an integrated, residential 
therapy approach, where lessons were integrated into daily routines. 
This was a radical approach for its time, but it was one based on 
Helena Devereux's firsthand experiences as a teacher. The results were 
a resounding success: by 1920, 22 children out of her 30 students had 
improved significantly.
  By 1938, the State of Pennsylvania granted the Devereux Schools a 
nonprofit charter, and the Devereux Foundation was established. The 
foundation expanded to the west coast in the 1940s, and in the 1950s, 
it began research and clinical training efforts. Today, the Devereux 
Foundation operates a national network of clinical, therapeutic, 
educational and employment programs that serve children, adolescents, 
and adults. Their services include, but are not limited to, residential 
and day treatment programs, foster care homes, special education day 
schools, family counseling, and prevocational training. In this role, 
the Devereux Foundation has played a critical part in uplifting the 
needy and assisting the vulnerable, in Pennsylvania and across the 
Nation.
  I am grateful for all of the work that Devereux and its employees 
have done over the last century, and I am proud that Devereux, a 
national leader in the field of behavioral health care, calls 
Pennsylvania home. I have heard stories of the many individuals with 
special needs whom Devereux supports and nurtures. Many are children, 
and I have seen how these families struggle to find the appropriate 
care and educational services for them. There is a line in Scripture 
that says, ``Every child has a light.'' Devereux plays an especially 
important role in nurturing children who need a little more help to 
reach their full potential, a little extra to let their light shine 
out. I congratulate them on a century of hard work and wish them many 
more years of success.
  As we move forward with the fight to ensure that quality and 
affordable health care is accessible to all Americans, I call on us to 
recognize and emulate the efforts of the Devereux Foundation and the 
role they have played in bringing about positive change throughout the 
country.

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