Our services include:

• Information and Referral
• Parent Education Workshops
• Advocacy and Support Navigating the Public and Private Systems of Care
• Planning and Coordination of Services
• Individual and Family Counseling
• Support Groups for Parents and Siblings
• Socialization Groups for Children
• Parent-Child Play Activity Groups
• Training and Consultation for Staff at School Sites

Children with special needs and their families require professionals who have specific training and expertise. Our multi-disciplinary team utilizes the skills of parent educators, licensed therapists, clinical social workers and volunteer services.

Amy Weiss, MS, MFT, is the Director of Parents Place, San Francisco. She holds an M.S.in Rehabilitation Counseling and is a licensed marriage family and child counselor with more than 30 years of experience working with children, families, adults and couples. She has expertise in working with children with special needs and their families, infant parent mental health, bereavement, and trauma. (EMDR). Prior to joining Parents Place, Amy was the Director of Clinical Services and Training at JFCS/East Bay. There she developed a program serving Jewish disabled residents of the East Bay. She has also worked at Through the Looking Glass, the World Institute on Disability, and has maintained a private practice since 1986.

Janina Nadaner, MFT, Clinical Director, Parents Place, San Francisco, has been been working with children and families for the past 25 years with an emphasis on prevention and early intervention, both as a mental health clinician and administrator. She has worked extensively with children with behavioral, learning, and developmental special needs, both in California and Oregon. She is a developmentally trained clinician and has specialized expertise in autism spectrum interventions, early childhood trauma, and attachment informed treatment. She has directed a number of innovative community-based programs and has been a consultant to schools and community professionals. Prior to joining Parents Place, Janina served as Regional Children's Services Coordinator for Southern Oregon.

Vanessa Kahlon, MFT Trainee, has been working with individuals with developmental delays using principles of applied behavioral analysis for ten years. Vanessa uses verbal behavior methodologies to supervise in-home early intervention programs for children across the autism spectrum, working with kids, schools, parents and providers. Vanessa also has extensive experience developing behavior intervention plans, teaching social skills and curriculum modification, and working on functional communications such as picture exchange communications.

Parent Place Special Needs Center
JFCS Koret Family Resource Center
1710 Scott Street, San Francisco, CA 94115
415/359-2454
ParentsPlaceSF@jfcs.org

The Parents Place Special Needs Center, which is open to children and families of all faiths, is a program of Jewish Family and Children’s Services of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties.