Walker is a nationally accredited, non-profit organization that provides a range of services to 3- to 22-year-old emotionally, behaviorally, and learning disabled students and their families. Through Walker's Needham Campus programs, the Walker Trieschman Center (a division of the Child Welfare League of America), Beacon High School, and Walker Partnerships, Walker educates and supports children, adolescents, and their families, and the professionals around the world who serve them.
Walker’s history is rooted in turn-of-the-century America. Set on seven and a half acres along the Charles River in Needham, Massachusetts, our campus was once home to the Needham Dairy. Later acquired by the Walker-Gordon Lab, the dairy was famous for its pure and healthy pasteurized milk, attracting parents with sick children from around the area. Laboratory co-founder George Walker helped to establish the first medical milk commission, elevating the country’s milk certification standards. (See photo: the famous "Walker-Gordon Rotolactor," a revolving platform that cleaned, washed, and milked 50 cows in 12 1/2 minutes!)
In 1952, after the deaths of Mr.Walker and his wife Irene, a trust was established to convert the dairy into the state’s first convalescent home for children with polio and rheumatic fever. The Children’s Mission, known today as Parents’ and Children’s Services of Boston, ran the home until the late 1950s, when the development of antibiotics and successful vaccinations eliminated the need for children’s long-term hospitalization.
In 1961, under the direction of Children’s Hospital psychologist Dr. Albert E. Trieschman, The Walker Home opened for treatment of emotionally and behaviorally disturbed boys. In 1969, Dr. Trieschman wrote The Other 23 Hours with co-authors James Whittaker and Larry Brendtro. This work introduced a new residential care philosophy that outlined the need for treatment beyond the one-hour therapy session. The Other 23 Hours became a classic in residential treatment and has been translated into five languages. In the ensuing years, Dr. Trieschman became a much sought-after speaker and consultant--a spokesperson and folk hero for child and youth care workers. Dr. Trieschman served as Walker’s director for more than 20 years until his death in 1984. During this period, Walker grew from a residential program for 10 boys to a day and residential center providing intensive services for 75 boys and their families, and now serves over 85 boys and girls within its Campus-Based Programs.
In honor of Dr. Trieschman’s life work, the Albert E. Trieschman Center was established in 1986 to find better ways to treat and care for troubled children through training, professional development, and research. In 1994, Walker launched a new division named Community and School Based Programs (CASP), now known as Walker Partnerships, with the objective of extending Walker’s expertise to help troubled children and families in their homes, public schools, and communities.
In 1995, Walker introduced its Intensive and Acute units for children who require more care, accepting girls for the first time as well as boys. Walker also announced its merger with Beacon High School in Brookline, MA, a co-educational, therapeutic alternative day school for students aged 15 to 22.
In 1998, renovations at Beacon High School were completed. The new Expressive Art Studios, consisting of a music room, photography lab, and pottery workrooms, were funded by the Copeland Family Foundation in Milton, MA. The Sandy and David Bakalar Art Studio was made possible by a generous gift from the Bakalars of Chestnut Hill, MA.
On July 1, 1998, the Albert E. Trieschman Center became a division of the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA), the nation's oldest and largest organization devoted entirely to the well-being of America's vulnerable children and their families. Part of this transition involved a name change (the "Walker Trieschman Center") to reflect Trieschman's connection to Walker, its founding parent organization. The Walker Trieschman Center proudly looks forward to enhancing its impact as a national resource committed to helping practitioners find better ways of caring for, treating, and educating high-risk children and their families.