WELCOME!

Thomas F Carr & Associates was incorporated in 1990, around the professional practice of Tom Carr, who was primarily a "Court Investigator"; appointed by District and Juvenile Courts in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, pursuant to M.G.L. Chapter 119 Sections 21 & 24, to "independently" and "impartially" investigate child abuse and neglect cases brought before the Court.

The corporate organization also included provisions for offering education and consultation to other professionals in the field, as well as arranging "supervised visitation" for children with their siblings and non-custodial parents, a long time interest of Carr’s.

The corporation, as reflected in it’s Articles of Incorporation, also intended to commit itself to "do any other work related to the welfare of children in the Commonwealth and before the Court". We maintain this commitment; "to Michael, Eric, Aaron, and the other children in the Commonwealth who learned about violence, drug abuse, abandonment, sexual assault, despair and death, before they ever got a chance to learn anything about life".

The late President John F. Kennedy once observed that; when written in Chinese; the word "crisis" is composed of two characters - one represents "danger" and one represents "opportunity".

Our philosophy is one of making opportunities out of crisis. We employ a holistic, multidisciplinary and systemic approach, to the development strategies for understanding and dealing with interconnections and interrelationships to problems and systems. "Seeing the big picture". This is different from other methods of dealing with crisis, for example constantly reacting to crisis, or "problem solving". We attempt to understand events, and "reframe" them, in a way that we can understand and deal with the issues; and will ultimately lead to "possibilities for the future".

We also maintain a commitment to the fact that children belong with their families, that they need continued relationships with their family and extended family, but that they must also be safe and able to grow and develop to their full potential.

Thomas F. Carr and Associates Inc. although having done international and national presentations on a wide variety of child welfare related topics, also will participate in local events and agency workshops. We can form a faculty for conferences and formulate training within an agency, or individually. We work to "train the trainers", and can do this for individuals or agencies wanting to develop thier program.

We also have the faculty to help set up multidisciplinary teams for agencies, and to remain as necessary to consult for smaller institutions.

Thomas F. Carr, LMFT, LMHC, has a Master’s degree in Psychology (Counseling), and is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Licensed Mental Health Counselor, in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Tom is a Diplomat of the American Board of Forensic Counseling and a 2001 recipient of the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations', Ellis Island Medal of Honor.

Tom is a specialist in the fields of Child Welfare, Child Abuse, and Court Investigations, previously qualified as an expert witness in diverse areas including (but not limited to) "Child Abuse and Neglect", "Child Welfare", "Sexual Abuse", "Home Studies", "Safety Planning", "Permanent Planning" and in the "Provision of Services to Children and Families".

Tom has more than twenty years of extensive experience dealing with abused and neglected children as lecturer, presenter, workshop leader, Court Clinician and Supervisor of Social Workers. Additionally Tom has experience as therapeutic counselor, working individually with children and their families, and in making assessments for Courts as Court Investigator, Guardian ad Litem and Expert; in more than one thousand cases in Juvenile, District, and Probate Courts.

Assisting the Court in investigations and evaluations for a spectrum of cultures Tom has had a longtime interest in working with different cultures; including extensive work with Cambodian and Vietnamese families.

Tom and his associates have acted as facilitators for visitation in domestic dispute cases, and conducted home studies for the Court's consideration of placement of children not only in the Commonwealth, but in twenty states, Puerto Rico and in Canada.

Tom and several associates have also been involved in the Pastoral Response Assistance Team Inc. [PRAT], a non-profit organization for which Tom is the President/Director. PRAT aids in professionally assisting in "Pastoral Responses" to the issue of sexual abuse in the church, and in other institutional settings.

Tom’s work as a Marriage and Family Therapist primarily centers around working with families with young adults and children, but Tom does see clients individually, primarily children, but sometimes adults. He also takes on juvenile sexual victims and offenders, as his time allows.

Tom also works as Investigator, clinician, Case Manager, and Guardian ad Litem on Munchausen by Proxy cases.

He is certified as a trainer for the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination [MCAD].