About

ChildBuilders has been serving the Houston community for over 50 years. Founded in 1974 by a group of child advocates dedicated to improving mental health services for Houston’s area children, the core of ChildBuilders' work has evolved from expanding treatment options for children with mental illness to preventing the abuse and trauma that contributes to mental illness in today's youth.

Our Mission

...is to promote mental health and prevent abuse by empowering children, parents, and educators with assertiveness skills, emotional control, empathy, resilience, and the ability to resolve conflict nonviolently.

Our Vision

We envision a community where all children are respected, nurtured, and protected.

OVER 1M Children

Since our inception, we have reduced the risk of trauma and increased resilience in over one million students by supporting over 34,000 educators, caregivers, and parents in Greater Houston. In FY2025, our message reached over 48 thousand children and adults.

Voices of our Partners

“I believe that your program will save so many lives and will resonate for generations of families to come. It is a noble work….”

“…The students in many classrooms began to use language like, 'Stop, I don’t like that,' and treating each other with more kindness when the teachers reinforced the lessons.”

“We actually had a kindergartner share that another six y/o touched him inappropriately and we were able to handle this with his family.”

“A first grader disclosed sexual abuse using the verbiage that was taught in the program.”

One of the strengths of the program is teaching appropriate boundaries, how feelings affect others, engaging with neutral presenter.

“I hear positive feedback from parents who report that they hear their children using the assertive, empathetic language and applying the strategies with siblings and on play dates.”

…To me, this is a key in helping our students find and create meaning in their lives, and of course to create good future parents…

…My students' young lives are marred by loss: divorce, abuse, drugs and alcohol. ChildBuilders' courses help me mend their hearts, create hope, and instill values and goals, so they can determine their own destiny.…

"If you never tell someone [about the abuse], they're going to keep on doing it. That's why I could tell my principal or my mom or my teacher."

Our Strategy

ChildBuilders develops and implements primary prevention programs to achieve our mission and realize our vision. Our strategy is informed by extensive research in child abuse prevention, nurturing parenting, and positive school climate. Over many years we have brought our prevention efforts in close alignment with with recommendations from respected institutions in the United States.

At some point in their lives, most children will experience adversity, and often these experiences cause trauma (Szalavitz & Perry, 2010). One of the strongest risk factors for developing a mental illness is trauma. Trauma can negatively affect developing brain structure and function, stress responses, and attachment.

We cannot prevent all childhood adversity. Instead, we arm children with skills that can reduce their risk of trauma, increase their resilience to traumatic events, and increase their awareness of their own rights and responsibilities when it comes or keeping themselves and their communities safe.

For more information on our guiding principles, please visit the following resources.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2019). Preventing adverse childhood experiences (ACES): Leveraging the best available evidence. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Link

Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2020). Protective factors approaches in child welfare. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Children’s Bureau. Link

The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). https://casel.org/

Our History

The seven women in this picture came together in 1972 over a hamburger lunch. Their shared concern: Houston was becoming a world-class city but lacked treatment facilities for children with serious mental health disorders. Their concern became a mission as they began to work with local agencies and organizations to mobilize resources to fill this gap. This led to the birth of CAN-DO-IT (Children: Action Now Developing Options in Treatment) in 1974. CAN-DO-IT became a catalyst for merging money, manpower, and facilities to meet the needs of seriously mentally ill children.

In 1978, the first dream became reality when Bayou Place was established on the DePelchin Children’s Center campus. Bayou Place was the first residential treatment facility in Houston for children with serious mental health needs. In the following years, the organization was renamed Houston Advocates for Mentally Ill Children (HAMIC) and continued to advocate for treatment options for children with serious mental health disorders.

In 1991 , HAMIC began to pivot to the other end of the spectrum – prevention of mental health disorders – with the creation of the Parents Under Construction™ program (PUC). The goal of Parents Under Construction was to promote mental health by teaching preschool – high school students parenting skills they would need in the future. Considered a primary prevention program (i.e., stopping poor parenting practices and abuse before they could start), PUC continues to be widely adapted in schools throughout Houston and as far away as England and Latvia. The program is proven effective in numerous evaluations and received several awards.

The twenty-first century brought a new name to the organization (ChildBuilders®) and expansive program growth and reach. We Help Ourselves (WHO®), an anti-victimization program, was added in 2001 and Relationships Smarts PLUS® and Love Notes in 2007. These programs helped prevent trauma and promote mental health by empowering children to form healthy relationships (Relationships Smarts Plus and Love Notes) and protect themselves from abuse (WHO).

In 2014, ChildBuilders responded again to the community’s need for cutting-edge curriculum and developed Stand Strong, Stay Safe to help children learn how to protect themselves from physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, and bullying. Shortly thereafter, ChildBuilders created Build to Nurture to prepare children with the social and emotional skills needed to become caring, nurturing, and contributing members of their families and communities.

In addition to Parents Under Construction, Relationships Smarts Plus, Love Notes, Stand Strong-Stay Safe, and Build to Nurture, ChildBuilders offers workshops in cyber-bullying, recognizing and reporting child maltreatment, and other mental health and personal safety related topics. Throughout the decades, ChildBuilders has remained dedicated to the mission of our founders, who envisioned a world where all children can thrive.

1974

Originally known as CAN-DO-IT, ChildBuilders was founded to help children with severe mental illness find treatment options in Houston.

1978

CAN-DO-IT funds the first children’s mental health residential treatment facility in Houston - Bayou Place at Depelchin Children’s Center.

1991

Parents Under Construction is created to teach children today the parenting skills they will need in the future.

2000

ChildBuilders becomes the official name of the organization.

2014

Stand Strong • Stay Safe® is created to empower children to recognize abuse, set healthy boundaries, act assertively, and get help.

2015

Build to Nurture is created to prepare children to become caring, nurturing, and contributing members of their families and communities.

Remembering Muriel Folloder Phillips,
Our Founding Mother and
Continuing Inspiration

As the mother of a child with serious mental health needs, Muriel was determined to establish a treatment facility in Houston so her son could helped locally. An idea that started over a hamburger lunch became CAN-DO-IT (now ChildBuilders), and Muriel was the driving force behind it. She remained deeply involved with the organization until her death in 2016 at the age of 94. Among her many contributions to the organization were leading fundraising efforts, recruiting board and staff members, championing programs, and advocating for children at the state legislature. Not a day went by that Muriel didn’t call ChildBuilders staff to make a suggestion or offer to help.

Beloved by the Houston community, she received many humanitarian awards for her achievements on behalf of children with mental health needs. Those who were fortunate to know her will always remember the sparkle in her eye, her strength in conviction, her compassion for those less fortunate, her passion, and her fearlessness in speaking out for children. Years ago, Muriel had hamburger necklaces made for her and the other founders. When she passed away, the hamburger necklace was buried with her. The world is a better place because she was here.