The Northeast Guidance Center grew out of the joint concerns of the League of Women Voters and The Junior League of Detroit. These groups sought to address the lack of quality community mental health care services for children living in Northeast Detroit.

Their efforts resulted in the foundation of the Northeastern Wayne County ChildGuidance Center in 1963. Under the direction of the Detroit-Wayne County Community Health Board, the clinic changed its name to The Northeast Guidance Center in 1969.This change better reflected the widening scope of their services to at-risk children and families and an expansion to include the provision of community health services. In 1972, services broadened further with Drug Treatment and Child Day Care Treatment programs.

In 1964, the Assistance League to the Northeast Guidance Center was formed to provide financial and volunteer support and to promote the interests of the NEGC.

Today, The NEGC is the sole resource of its kind for more than 200,000 residents in its service area. Each year it reaches out to approximately 5,000 adults and children through numerous programs designed to resolve a broad range of behavioral issues. These issues sometimes include: depression, schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder, severe anxiety, post-traumatic stress, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, defiant behavior, peer and family difficulties and school problems.

In 2002, the NEGC became part of the CareLink Network, Inc., a non-profit, one of three managed care organizations that care for the mentally ill of Wayne County, Michigan. The mission of CareLink is to provide comprehensive, community-based support to children, youth and adolescents with serious emotional disturbances and adults with behavioral health issues in a manner that promotes values choices.
County and State funds, as well as private fees and contributions, provide financial support for NEGC programs. No person is refused service because of an inability to pay.