History

Dr. Ouida Cash, Ed.D., began leading Starfish Family Services in 1978 when the agency was known as Youth Living Centers. At the time, the five-program agency focused on services for children and youth who had been removed from their homes because of abuse or neglect. Over her years of service, Dr. Cash transitioned the agency’s focus to prevention and early intervention or “moving upstream,” striving to offer needed services before problems escalated and families broke apart.

She directed the agency through two mergers, the first one in 1984 and the final one in 1998, which created the current, 13-program organization, Starfish Family Services. Dr. Cash served as CEO of Starfish through February 2007.

Here is a video about the founding of Starfish Family Services.