Archives West Finding Aid

In 1908, a Congregational minister in Lewiston, Charles B. Chase, began taking abused and abandoned children into his home prior to their being placed in foster care. The Idaho Children's Home and Finding Aid Society in Boise had asked his help because of distance and transportation difficulties. Chase quickly found that the number of children sent to him by the courts was more than he could adequately care for himself. In 1909, he and other community leaders formed a permanent organization, the Northern District of the Idaho Children's Home Finding and Aid Society of Boise. Funding for the new organization was provided by several public service organizations such as the Commercial Club of Lewiston and the Women's Clubs in Northern Idaho. The children continued to live with Rev. Chase who was named superintendent (a post he held until 1918). Permanent housing was obtained in 1911, when Hurlbut House was bought for $14,000. This was the home of the organization for more than fifty years.

In 1935, the organization separated from Boise and became the Children's Home Finding and Aid Society of North Idaho, Inc. Following World War II the Children's Home faced financial difficulties stemming from the shift in emphasis from private charity to public responsibility for social services. In the 1960's, large permanent care facilities, such as orphanages and mental hospitals, were increasingly replaced by smaller, more specialized units. The Child Protective Act of 1963 gave responsibility for the placement of dependent children to the Idaho Department of Health (later Health and Welfare). These were functions which had been performed by organizations such as the Children's Home. Because of these changes, the children's Home redefined its purpose. No longer an "orphanage," it became a treatment center and temporary home for children who could not stay in their own homes but were not suited for foster care. This change in function eased the Homes' financial crisis. In addition to money from Department of Health contracts, the Home continued to receive private contributions. The George F. Jewett's donated a six-bedroom house, 22 acres of land and fifty thousand dollars to the Children's Home. The move to the Jewett estate was made in 1969.

In 1973, the organization became the North Idaho Children's Home, Inc., (NICH) an organization which continues to provide services for emotionally disturbed and homeless children, much as it did in 1909.