Posts Tagged ‘Charles Loring Brace’ (Feed)

 

The United Kingdom Takes A Cue From The Children’s Aid Society’s Community School Model – September 30th, 2009

Members of the Children, Schools and Families Select Committee of the UK Parliament visited New York City to study first-hand The Children’s Aid Society Community Schools. The 13 members of Parliament toured Community School I.S. 218 in Washington Heights – greeted by the principal, June Barnett, as well as members of the National Technical Assistance Center for Community Schools (NTACCS). The Children’s Aid Society operates the NTACCS to assist educators, community leaders, funders and policymakers in adapting The Children’s Aid Society school model.

UKCSThe members of Parliament toured the student wellness center, family room, orthodontic clinic, classrooms and auditorium, and heard presentations about community schools and services provided there. They had much to see and learn: in 2010, all of the schools in England will become extended schools, which are based in part on Children’s Aid’s full service model. On their fast-paced tour, the group posed questions about school-based services, parent involvement, narrowing the achievement gap, and inspiring student self-esteem and motivation — all integral parts of The Children’s Aid Society’s model.

There has also been a valuable link between The Children’s Aid Society and Scotland for 10 years, with our successful model contributing to the implementation of similar schools there. Scottish educators keep abreast of Children’s Aid’s Community Schools developments with yearly visits. Education, like the child who is ready to learn, has no boundaries!

The community schools strategy works in part because parental involvement yields results, as does providing children with enriched learning during out-of-school time. And on-site medical, dental and mental health services are all a part of the legacy of The Children’s Aid Society founder Charles Loring Brace’s vision. Children do better in school when the major influences on their development — family, school and community resources — work together.

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The Children’s Aid Society Helps New York’s Newly Homeless Families – September 21st, 2009

Every year, waves of newly homeless families are put out onto New York’s streets. This last July The New York Times reported that due to the economic downturn, city officials expect a larger surge this year than ever before.

Image courtesy of The New York Times

Image courtesy of The New York Times

The city’s homeless population is already up more than 20% over 2008, and officials soon expect an all-time high of 10,000 families in the city’s shelters. This severely affects children, who comprise nearly 40% of homeless New Yorkers.

In 1854, Charles Loring Brace was so moved by the epidemic of child homelessness that he founded New York’s Children’s Aid Society to provide shelter for children in need. Today, Children’s Aid works tirelessly with its family support services, on the same principle: that stable families foster stable children and a better future!

Children’s Aid supports families through our Carmel Hill Project, which serves families in three renovated apartment buildings. The Pelham Fritz Transitional Apartments are a Tier II shelter for homeless families. Since 1990, the complex has sheltered more than 900 families while acting as a neighborhood anchor for social services. And housing assistance is just one piece of the puzzle – our Office of Public Policy and Client Advocacy helps families resolve housing issues through legal assistance, financial help, and public advocacy.

Want to help build stable communities and stable families? Help The Children’s Aid Society continue its work to make sure every child has a safe home. Donate today.

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The Children’s Aid Society Celebrates 75 years of Family Homemaker Program – September 4th, 2009

Since 1933, New York’s Children’s Aid Society has provided crucial support for families facing crises in their lives.  The Family Homemaker Program is a very specialized service that was established under the auspices of The Children’s Aid Society and the Junior League of New York to meet the needs of families facing urgent circumstances and the possibility of losing their children to foster care. Family Homemaker Program is celebrating 75 years of continuous service; the oldest such program still operating in the United States.

cas94The homemakers are certified Para-professionals, trained to take over care of the family’s children and help manage home life in times of upheaval, an important service for keeping families who live in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx. The families served are referred to The Children’s Aid Society through two New York City agencies: the Administration for Children’s Services and the Human Resources Administration. Currently, The Children’s Aid Society employs 125 homemakers, serving approximately 105 families with their 315 children daily.

Areas of service include:

Household Management – from helping with children and housework, to guidance and support for parents on better ways to run the house and constructively solve problems

Family Support Counseling – providing deeper emotional support and problem-solving on a broader scale, so that families receive comprehensive and coordinated support.

Advocacy – together, homemakers and social workers help families to access services for stability, perhaps connecting them to public assistance or public health insurance if they qualify.

Our homemakers uphold Charles Loring Brace’s philosophy: every child needs a strong family in order to thrive. Keeping children and families safe and together remains Children’s Aid’s Family Homemaker Program’s mission today. Here’s to the next 75 years!

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New York’s Children’s Aid Society Provides Solutions for Kids “Aging out” of Foster Care – August 12th, 2009

ageout8-12 copyThe foster care system across the US is immense. The United States Department of Health & Human Services reports that nearly 800,000 children were served by foster care system services in 2007, (the last year statistics are available). What happens to these children when they “age out” of the foster care system is an ongoing concern. Many experience failure; a quarter of foster-care youth will be incarcerated and more than 20 percent will be homeless before age 25, according to statistics reported in 2007 by the public-policy group Pew Charitable Trusts.

Charles Loring Brace, founder of The Children’s Aid Society knew the value of a stable and nurturing family. Today, Children’s Aid finds homes for more than 500 children each year. And for those who turn 18 in the foster care system in New York, thus “aging out”. The Children’s Aid Society in New York provides additional support so that youth do not lose ground from progress already made.

The Next Generation Center (NGC) is a one-stop center designed to meet the needs of young people transitioning to adulthood and self-sufficiency. NGC provides support, guidance, training and opportunities to young people ages 14 to 24, with a focus on youth in foster care and those who have aged out of foster care. It offers leadership and life skills training, job readiness, educational tutoring, legal and housing assistance, and many more services. Foster care remains one of The Children’s Aid Society in New York’s largest service divisions, and is among its highest priorities. To learn about becoming a foster parent, please visit here. 

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Orphan Train Heritage Still Lives Today – August 10th, 2009

The legacy of the famed Orphan Trains that began during the first days of the Children’s Aid Society in New York lives on today. An estimated 150,000 children took part in the Orphan Train Movement from 1854 to 1929, giving them new lives and a bright future by removing them from the poverty and danger of the city streets. orphanstrains8-10

Charles Loring Brace, the founder of the New York’s Children Aid Society was the leader of the Orphan Train model. He believed that in order to give children a chance of escaping a lifetime of suffering, that they should be placed with morally upright farm families. Charles Brace’s work with the Orphan Train movement is fascinating history – living history – as the lives and legacies of his efforts continue today.

The Orphan Train Heritage Society of America Inc (OTHSA) is an organization formed in 1987 to provide a clearinghouse of information of the lives and legacy of the Orphan Train experience. OTHSA maintains the Orphan Train Riders Research Center, a museum with an archive of newspapers, census records, oral histories, letters, and photographs pertaining to the Orphan Train accounts. These genealogists and historians seek to salvage and share information on the Orphan Train riders, and the extended biological families that are alive today.

An estimated 30,000 children were homeless in New York City in the 1850s, when Charles L. Brace began this historic effort. That’s a lot of personal stories, and after a century and a half, generation after generation of families tie their roots back to the Orphan Trains. For more on the stories of Orphan Train riders, click here.

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The Children’s Aid Society in New York: A Pioneer and Still a Leader of Medical Treatment for Children – August 3rd, 2009

A recent study states that the medical needs of 6.2 million U.S. kids go unmet every year. Initiatives to address this problem need to target both coverage and access to health care, concludes the study originally published in Pediatrics.The Children’s Aid Society in New York has not only pioneered health care for children for over 150 years, but also has emphasized that the key to a child’s success is easy access to health care.drcas83

Charles Loring Brace, founder of  The Children’s Aid Society stated that “When medical care is convenient and accessible, more children live healthier lives.” This may be why, along with support from the New York Times, in1872, The Children’s Aid Society employed teams of nurses and physicians to visit sick children in tenements, establishing the model for Visiting Nurses Services.

  • And why in, 1901, The Children’s Aid Society employed the first school nurse in any New York City school.
  • And why in, 1906, the first free school dental clinic in the United States was established by The Children’s Aid Society in New York (and why, by 1913, there was a dental clinic in every one of its schools).

And it’s also why today every child who comes into one of The Children Aid Society’s school and community clinics receives comprehensive and coordinated examinations and treatment. The health and mental health services of New York’s Children’s Aid Society remains on the cutting edge of children’s services. Many of its successful program models are replicated across the nation; adapted by public schools throughout the U.S., and across the globe.

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New York's Children's Aid Society Fights Stress and Generations of Poverty – July 22nd, 2009

cas7-22In the 1850s in New York City, orphan asylums and almshouses were the only “social services” available for homeless children. But Charles Loring Brace, the founder of  The Children’s Aid Society, was determined not to choose between the squalid slums and New York City streets or the orphan asylum. He was convinced that the institutional care of the day stunted and destroyed children, and decided that all children needed families in order to grow into happy and productive adults.

Sociologists have studied and described the constant stress of poverty. By lifting a generation of New York City children out of the stress of poverty, The Children’s Aid Society was lifting future generations from poverty too. The challenge remains today, as reported in a Cornell University Study, and published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.  The studies found that there is an adverse relationship between poverty and memory, demonstrating that the stress of poverty can affect the way that a child’s brains develops.

Believing that healthcare, education and a wholesome family atmosphere were the keys to brighter futures, The Children Aid Society’s progressive ideas have translated into far-reaching services and reforms for poor and homeless children, working women and needy families. Through the work of The Children’s Aid Society, needy New York City children and families have avoided much of the daily stress and suffering of poverty, and over the last 150 years, generations have been lifted up.

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Mentoring Self Esteem and Building Success in Life with The Children's Aid Society in New York – July 17th, 2009

hoopEducators and parents agree that high self-esteem and respect for others helps youth accept responsibility for their actions, and take pride in their accomplishments. Positive self esteem in teens helps gives them control of their lives. Nathaniel Branden, Ph.D., a well known psychotherapist, defines self esteem as ‘being able to experience oneself as…coping with the challenges of life and of being worthy of happiness.’ That sounds a lot like Charles Loring Brace, the founder of New York City-based Children’s Aid Society, who believed that children had the right to a happy and productive life. Mentoring programs have proven to be especially helpful in fostering self-esteem.  Through mentoring, self esteem develops and responsibility for oneself, family and community follow.

Youth Empowerment for Success, or the YES Mentoring Program, was founded in New York in 1992 in conjunction with The Children’s Aid Society to address the needs of the adolescent males coming through the Family Court system. YES for Girls was created in 1997. The award-winning YES Program is a unique collaboration that addresses the educational, social and emotional needs of this at-risk population. By fostering pride and self-validation, YES mentors guide youth towards positive self-identity.

Healthy self-esteem is a child’s armor against the harsh challenges of the world. Kids and teens who feel good about themselves seem to have an easier time handling conflicts and resisting negative pressures. You can help kids become involved in this experience - YES is looking for energetic, committed men and women to be part of the YES team. For more information, click here.

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Founder of The Children's Aid Society, Charles Loring Brace understood the Power of Education – June 19th, 2009

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For over 150 years The Children’s Aid Society has been a leader in assistance to needy children, with the ultimate goal of helping them become healthy and productive adults. Founder Charles Loring Brace believed that by filling the gaps between what children deserve and what life has dealt them, they would prosper. Education has been an anchor of The Children’s Aid Society; Today, Children’s Aid continues to be an education leader, operating community schools in New York City in partnership with the Department of Education.

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Charles Loring Brace knew that the role of the education system should provide more for children than the typical education provided in the 19th century; it should offer a community of support and multiple services to the child. The phrase “the child is the father of the man” coined by William Wordsworth, was a popular phrase in the 19th century and was surely embraced by Charles Loring Brace. It speaks to the growth to adulthood requiring a strong foundation in childhood.

The schools operated by The Children’s Aid Society in New York City are open early, close late, and are open evenings, weekends and summers. These community schools serve as more than a place where children attend classes. With a familiar and nourishing environment, children can also receive medical and dental care, speak to a counselor about a problem, stay after school to build reading skills, play chess, work on a computer, take art and music lessons, get help with homework, practice sports and attend summer camp: “school days” that provide a strong foundation to aid in growing to prosperous adulthood. And parents find a new center of their community.

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2009 Report: 15,000 Youth are Homeless in New York City: The Children's Aid Society's Housing Programs Fight Back! – June 17th, 2009

This spring the Coalition for the Homeless released its annual “State of the Homeless 2009″ report, an assessment of homelessness in New York City. The report finds that there are currently more than 36,000 homeless New Yorkers sleeping in municipal shelters each night – including an astonishing 15,500 children. The report states that high unemployment and rising housing costs were major factors that led to a serious increase in families ending up in shelters in 2008 and in the first quarter of 2009.cas-aptbuilding6-14

It was the homelessness of impoverished children who lived on the streets of New York City that helped propel Charles Loring Brace, founder of The Children’s Aid Society, to action in 1853. Today, more than 150 years later, The Children’s Aid Society in New York still believes that every child belongs with a family in a safe place that he or she can call home. We provide many services for housing youth and their families, including:

  • The Carmel Hill Project provides social services to residents in three renovated apartment buildings on West 118th Street.
  • Children’s Aid Society’s Pelham Fritz Apartments, provide apartments for homeless families on the road to permanent housing.
  • The Children’s Aid Society’s Office of Public Policy and Client Advocacy helps families resolve housing issues by providing legal and financial assistance.

According to the Coalition for the Homeless’ report, data from the past two New York City recessions points to continued growth of unemployment and high housing costs, which will increase homelessness in New York City throughout 2009. With growing need,The Children’s Aid Society’s programs are more critical than ever.

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