The RiteCare® Childhood Language Center of San Francisco is a local operating unit of the California Scottish Rite Foundation, a 501(c)(3) corporation. Through the efforts of the members of the valley our center has been in operation since 2001.

The San Francisco-Burlingame Scottish Rite Childhood Language Center’s mission is to provide free services for children five to eighteen years of age with speech, language, and literacy challenges. Our center is a philanthropy of the Scottish Rite freemasons, established in 1970. Children who receive our services come primarily from San Francisco County, but also from San Mateo and Marin Counties.

Our goal is to improve our client’s communication abilities and help them to lead meaningful, productive, and fulfilling lives – both academically and socially.

We give priority to low-income families. We mainly serve children with mild-moderate deficits who are unable to qualify for services in the public schools. We do not serve children with behavioral problems or those with global developmental or cognitive delays. All children must comply with the center’s up to date vaccination requirements.

Jim Cartwright, MS, MFA, CCC-SLP – RiteCare Center Director

Jim conducts both individual and small group speech and language therapy and teaches creative writing classes at the center. A portion of his therapies and parent counseling sessions are in Spanish.

Jim has an MS in communicative disorders from San Francisco State University (1996) and an MFA  in creative writing from the University of Oregon (1988). He worked for the San Francisco Unified School District for ten years before becoming a clinician at the center in 2007. He is currently our director.

​Aside from his work at our center, Jim enjoys singing and songwriting, poetry writing, and is currently working on becoming an author of children’s and young adult literature. Furthermore, he enjoys speaking Spanish, dancing, going to the gym, and exploring a wide variety of music, literature, and art. He received a Certificate in Sound, Voice, and Music Healing from California Institute of Integral studies in 2007.

The center’s goal is to improve their client’s communication abilities and help them to lead meaningful, productive, and fulfilling lives – both academically and socially.

The center gives priority to low-income families. The center mainly serve children with mild-moderate deficits who are unable to qualify for services in the public schools. The services are not appropriate for children with behavioral problems or those with global developmental or cognitive delays. All children must comply with the center’s up to date vaccination requirements.

The Center provides:

Speech & Language Therapy

Writing Classes

Speech & Language Evaluations

Parental Training

Please see the Services Offered page….