Crittenton Services for Children and Families, a nonprofit that provides services for families who have experienced trauma, abuse or neglect, laid off 144 workers at its Fullerton facilities.
The 60-year-old behavioral health and child welfare agency stated in a Thursday filing with the state’s Employment Development Department that the layoffs happened at the end of March at offices on East Valley View, North Harbor Boulevard, Brookdale Place and West Amerige Avenue.
“This action is expected to be permanent,” Laura Niculescu, vice president of human resources with Crittenton, wrote in a March 27 letter filed with the state. “This information is based on the best information currently available to us, but may change due to subsequent events beyond our control.”
The nonprofit agency, Crittenton Services for Families and Children that provides mental health services, just laid off 144 employees. The office building is pictured in Fullerton on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The nonprofit agency, Crittenton Services for Families and Children that provides mental health services, just laid off 144 employees. The office building is pictured in Fullerton on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Show Caption
1 of 2
The nonprofit agency, Crittenton Services for Families and Children that provides mental health services, just laid off 144 employees. The office building is pictured in Fullerton on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Douglas Yost, chief executive with Crittenton, wrote in a statement to the Southern California News Group that the layoffs were due to nonrenewal of a three-year application for funding by the Office of Refugee Resettlement, an organization within the Administration for Children & Families — both of which fall under the umbrella of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
“As a result, we had to close our residential program for unaccompanied minors and lay off 144 staff,” Yost said. “While only given one-week notice, in accordance with the WARN Act, we provided the affected employees with 60 days’ severance.”
“At the time of closure, there were no unaccompanied minors in our care — no children were displaced,” he said. “We are continuing to provide other services for the Office of Refugee and Resettlement, in addition to our ongoing foster care, mental health and transitional housing programs for system-involved children.”
Over the past 20 years, Crittenton cared for more than 18,000 unaccompanied minors, providing shelter, case management, mental health services, medical services, parenting support and trauma care, as well as vetting services for children to be safely reunited with family in the United States, according to Yost.
Crittenton is joining a wave of hospitals, health care providers and others across the state that have collectively laid off thousands of employees over the past year because they’ve been stripped of billions of dollars in federal and state funding for health care and other federal assistance. The catalyst for the cuts comes from the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, or HR 1, signed into law last summer by President Donald Trump.
The jobs listed in the EDD layoff notices include behavioral specialists, child care workers, food service managers, instructional aides, medical assistants, program directors, recreation workers, a refugee resettlement worker and therapists.
The filings were made as part of the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act — commonly referred to as WARN — which is required when an employer lays off more than 50 employees. All affected employees are notified at least 60 days before their terminations are scheduled to occur.
The organization provides trauma-responsive services, including foster care, residential care, mental health counseling, transitional housing and family preservation programs.
Florence Crittenton Services of Orange County Inc. reported $45.6 million in revenue in 2025, according to a filing made with the IRS in 2025, according to Candid, which tracks IRS filings of nonprofits.