Familias First celebrated our 20th anniversary this month! We joined with our sister agency, CBC Education, for an anniversary/holiday party with our entire staff.
Ruth Tello-Di Leva, founder and CEO of Familias First, is the first Latina in California to own an agency that specializes in providing Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) services. Her experience as a first-generation woman of Mexican descent, solidified Ruth’s commitment to creating an organization providing quality services in an equitable manner to all clients, especially clients who are underserved in our field.
From its inception, Familias First has celebrated the diversity of its clients and employees. On average, 96% of our staff are BIPOC. Ruth is also a co-founder of the Latino Association for Behavior Analysis (LABA), a non-profit organization dedicated to disseminating evidence-based practices, training opportunities, networking, and mentoring professionals of Latino descent, and all professionals who serve BIPOC.
Ruth co-authored two modules of the Autism Parent Education Program (APEP), a curriculum that educates families about the services available to their family member through the Regional Centers. In partnership with the SG/PRC, Familias First developed an innovative parent education training to mitigate the disparate utilization of their services. Because of its success, the Department of Developmental Services awarded Familias First the Parent Empowerment Program (PEP) Talk grant in 2019, and the Creating Leadership Among Parents (CLAP) grant in 2021 which will continue with workshops presented in English and Spanish in 2023. Both PEP Talk and CLAP programs have set a standard in the development of parent education curricula for Latino families aimed at providing a more equitable access to services.
We are all grateful to be able to do the work we love and look forward to many more years to come!
Here is a video slide show with photos from our celebration.