About Us
Family Paths, Inc. (formerly Parental Stress Service) is a non-profit organization of mental health professionals and dedicated volunteers that provide a number of mental health, counseling and therapy services to low income, multi-stressed individuals and families.
We are a multicultural agency committed to serving families of Alameda County regardless of age, ethnicity/race, financial status, language, sexual orientation, immigration status, class, religion, gender, mental or physical ability.
We have served the mental health needs of Alameda’s families since 1972, and today we offer services from offices in Oakland, Hayward and Fremont. These services include a 24-hour Family Support & Resource Hotline, a 24-hour Foster Parent Advice Line, Emergency Respite Child Care, CalWORKs Case Management, and Positive Parenting Classes. We also provide counseling for infants, children, adolescents adults and families
For more information about our organization, please choose an area to the left.
Family Paths Mission Statement
"Family Paths promotes the development of nurturing, responsible and resilient families within our diverse communities by providing comprehensive services that foster positive change, empowering parents and children."
Program Directors and Board of Directors
Executive Director
Marcella Reeves has worked in mental health and substance abuse treatment since 1983, as a researcher, a direct service provider, and an administrator. She facilitated drug/alcohol treatment groups from 1983 to 1990 at the University of Arizona, and worked as a clinical researcher at Stanford University from 1990 to 1992. After receiving her MS at California State University Hayward, she joined PSS in 1992 as a hotline supervisor. In 1996, she moved to Program Supervisor for Family Paths’ Families In Transition Program, and became the program’s Director in 1999. Ms. Reeves served as Associate Director from 2001 through 2006, when she became the Executive Director. |
Clinical Director
Barbra Silver has worked at Family Paths since 1998, starting as a clinician in the Families in Transition Program and becoming the program's Training Coordinator soon after. She served as the North County Program Manager for the FIT team from 2000-2006 and became Clinical Director the beginning of 2007. Prior to her experience at Family Paths, she worked as a clinician in elementary schools, a dual diagnosis adolescent residential facility and at various outpatient therapy clinics around the Bay Area. Ms. Silver received her MA in Psychology from New College of California in 1995 and has been a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist since 2000. |
Finance Director
Lyda Mata our Finance Director, hails from the Philippines, and migrated to the United States in 1979. She has lived in the Bay Area ever since. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and is a Certified Public Accountant. Lyda joined Family Paths in May 2006. She came to us with a wealth of experience, having been an Accountant for another non-profit agency for 26 years. Before that, she was a Senior Auditor here in Oakland and a Bank Examiner with the Central Bank of the Philippines. |
Development Director
Tara Bartholomew our Development Director, joined our team in August and comes to us from The Family Stress Center in Concord where she had many successes in fundraising. She began her career as a Program Director for youth and family social service programs and decided to make the transition into fundraising three years ago. Since then, she has built strong relationships with the County, private foundations, and individual donors. An undergraduate of St. Mary’s College with a Bachelor’s Degree in Government, Tara was born and raised in the Bay Area and has dedicated her time to helping children and families here. |
Director of Technology
Christopher Palmer has worked in technology services for more than 15 years. Formerly he was the director of technology for the Global Business Network, The Idea Factory, and the East Bay Conservation Corps. He is also a practicing artist and arts educator in the San Francisco bay area, runs a consultancy for tech arts, and is a member of the faculty at San Francisco Art Institute, and at The Crucible in Oakland, where he teaches technological arts. |
Board of Directors
Dr. Randy Bergen, Board President is a pediatrician and pediatric infectious disease specialist who is chief of the pediatric department for Kaiser- Permanente in Walnut Creek. His duties at Kaiser-Permanente include vaccine research, oversight of the influenza vaccination program, and taking care of the children in his practice. He has also worked on several occasions in Africa and Asia, most recently in February-March of 2005 where he was part a team of Kaiser-Permanente doctors involved in tsunami relief in Indonesia. He is the father of 2 teenage girls and lives in San Lorenzo. |
Ted Frey, joined the Board of Directors at Family Paths in 2004. He brings to Family Paths a strong skill set in Business Development and Strategic Planning. His background includes 35 years in various corporate management positions plus over 15 years as an adjunct professor teaching Business Strategy at St. Mary’s College. Ted recently recently termed out after two years as President of Family Paths. He currently serves the Prebyterian Church as a Treasurer of the Zephyr Point Conference Center at Lake Tahoe. |
Maxine Reynolds is a Vice President with Alta Alliance Bank of Oakland, and a founding member of Urban Bankers. She is a member of the Oakland/Bay Area Chapter of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, a member of the Oakland Think Tank, and volunteers her time with the Junior League. |
Dr. Iris Winogrond holds a PhD. in developmental Psychology, and pursued an academic career at the Medical College of Wisconsin before moving on to work in Clinical and Consultative Psychology. She came to the Oakland area in 1999, and looked for a volunteer job where she could use her skills to help the community. A Family Paths notice for hotline counselors spoke to her so she joined up and worked on the hotline for 2 years before accepting a Family Paths board position. Her commitment to healthy community and family life also carries over into her volunteer work with the League of Women Voters. |
Locations & Contact Information
Oakland Office |
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Hayward Office |
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Fremont Office |
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News & Announcements
View Our Newsletter
Along The Way Summer 2009
Sign up for our Newsletter
Our e-newsletter is a source of information about Family Paths.June 2009
February 2009
December 2008
August 2008
March 2008
Request Brochures
If you would like to receive Family Paths brochures by mail, please email us with your name, company name, mailing address and the number of brochures that you would like to receive.
Opportunities for Employment
Parenting Hotline Counseling Intern
(Oakland)
Work as part of a team under the supervision of a Case Management Specialist (CMS) to provide telephone counseling, crisis intervention, education, and information and case management services to hotline clients. Assess for client eligibility, complete phone intake referrals, assist with program administration, and data base updating. Family Paths offers two hotline services. Our Family Support & Resource Hotline serves all parents, caregivers and concerned family members with the goal of strengthening families and ensuring the well-being of children. Our Foster Parent Advice Line (Foster PAL) provides specialized services to foster parents, kinship caregivers, and their foster children to reduce the behavioral effects of traumatic abuse on the child, strengthen the foster family by increasing the skills of the foster parent, reduce placement failures, and strengthen the foster family system as a whole by providing consultation and collaboration with the Social Service Agency.
The position is part-time with approximately 12 hours per week, and requires arranging a work schedule within specified hotline shifts occurring between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday. Periodic weekend activities will also be scheduled.
Click Here To View Full Job Posting
Notice of Privacy
Family Paths, Inc. Notice of Privacy Practices
THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO IT. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY. |
Family Paths, Inc. has a legal duty to safeguard your Protected Health Information. |
A: HOW FAMILY PATHS, INC. MAY USE AND DISCLOSE YOUR PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION.
1. Uses and disclosures relating to treatment, payment, or health care operations |
B: WHAT RIGHTS YOU HAVE REGARDING YOUR PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION.
1. The Right to request limits on uses and disclosures of your PHI.
You have the right to request limits to the use and disclosure of your PHI. We will consider your request. However we are not legally required to agree to it. If we agree to your request, we will do so in writing and abide by them except in emergencies. |
C: HOW TO COMPLAIN ABOUT FAMILY PATHS, INC. PRIVACY PRACTICES
If you think that Family Paths, Inc. may have violated your privacy rights, or you disagree with a decision Family Paths, Inc. made about access to your PHI, you may file a complaint with the person listed in Section D below. You may also send a written complaint to the Secretary of the Department of Health of Human Services at 200 Independence Avenue S. W. Washington, D.C. 20201. Family Paths, Inc. will take no retaliatory action against you if you file a complaint. |
D: WHO TO CONTACT FOR INFORMATION ABOUT THIS NOTICE OR TO COMPLAIN ABOUT FAMILY PATHS, INC. PRIVACY PRACTICES
If you have any questions about this notice or any complaints about Family Paths, Inc. privacy practices, or would like to know how to file a complaint with the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, please contact the Family Paths, Inc. Privacy Officer at 510-893-9230. |
