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Community Services

Community Programs Reopening Plans
As we work to ensure continued support for the children and adults supported in our Community Programs through Covid, please see the following documents in accordance with the Office for People With Developmental Disabilities: Day Habilitation Safety Plan and Pre-Vocational Programs Safety Plan.

All of us have dreams and goals. The focus of our community programs for people with intellectual / developmental disabilities is helping children and adults on the autism spectrum, with a traumatic brain injury, cerebral palsy, or other cognitive disabilities achieve their own meaningful goals.

Some aspire to get a job or live independently. Others want to make new friends and explore the world around them. We believe that a life of healthy interdependence is important for all, and so, we help people to build a strong circle of support they can count on in pursuit of their goals. Our programs combine recreation, creative arts, volunteer work, life skills, pre-vocational training, and job coaching in a mix that helps each person fulfill their own aspirations. Working with people one-on-one to determine what their goals are, we then provide the resources they need to achieve them.

Adult Day Habilitation

Hiking, creative arts, a trip to a museum or a day helping others — for the people in our Day Hab program, each day brings new opportunities to learn, socialize, and enhance their life skills. Day Hab participants come together in small groups to expand their horizons and participate in their community. Individual Service Plans, based on the strengths and desires of each participant, are woven into each day’s activities.

Through education and exposure to new experiences, each person is engaged through various methodologies. Community integration is a key component. Whether learning to socialize with peers at the YMCA, volunteering at the local animal shelter, or participating in a Zumba class at the community center, the men and women of the program engage with the greater community and build skills in various areas of their lives. Art also plays an important role. A boy who doesn’t use spoken language to communicate may draw in bright colors to indicate a feeling of happiness. Then, staff can use that cue to help identify why he is happy in that moment and promote opportunities for similar moments. No matter the skill level, men and women get to experience activities of their choice that help to enrich their days and make a meaningful difference in their lives.

Hands on Training

Our Pre-Vocational program provides actual hands-on training for people with a desire to work. Through volunteering, professional skill building and other work-related activities, men and women learn the culture of the workplace including how to interact positively with co-workers, and expectations about dress and timeliness. They can then build confidence in their mastery of various skills through practical on-the-job experiences on our campus — in the cafe, delivering the mail — or by volunteering in other programs.

Supportive Employment

Once someone has completed pre-vocational training and is ready to work, we help them find a job that is personally fulfilling — one they will be happy to have for years to come. For all the people we support, we provide job coaching and on-the-job mentoring as well as assistance looking for the right job. Some people may be also trained in the specific skills needed by an employer.

“I work at TGI Friday as a hostess, and I want to keep working there for a long, long time because I really like my job,” says Crystal Vargas, who is proud of being part of a team helping people have a good dining experience.

In our Supported Employment Program, she learned the skills needed to land her job. Like all participants in the program, she was assigned a job coach who worked with her onsite to learn the workplace culture and make sure she was comfortable in her new job. Her dedication, combined with the support of her coach, soon led to a promotion from rolling silverware to greeting guests.

Children’s Recreation Programs

Who wants to stay home on the weekend? Not the children we support! They’d rather participate in sports, creative arts, dance, music and field trips.

On weekends, the children’s recreation program is ready with opportunities to have fun. Children socialize with peers and gain a greater sense of independence through the opportunity to build skills and socialize with others of similar abilities, which is critical to children with special needs. Through recreational activities, children learn vital socialization, communication, and safety awareness skills, as well as improve their self-care skills. In addition, children receive guidance and support from a psychologist, nurses, nutritionists, speech therapists and communication specialists. Families and caregivers get a break, too, confident that their children are in safe, nurturing hands.

Community Habilitation

Our support is also delivered right to the door of those who need it – when they need it. On weekday afternoons or evenings, staff visit the homes of children and adults with intellectual / developmental disabilities to help them learn the specific skills they want to master, such as brushing their own teeth or traveling on the subway. Through one-on-one coaching, we segment activities such as creating a food shopping list or a budget for the week into achievable steps so they can be motivated by the joy of their success each step of the way.

Our support doesn’t end with helping people with intellectual / developmental disabilities. We train parents, grandparents, and siblings to support socialization skills and activities of daily living. These in-home visits also give caregivers much needed respite, time they can spend with their other children or running errands.

Person-Centered Support

We are strongly committed to identifying each person’s strengths, dreams, and aspirations. Those strengths and aspirations provide the roadmap for each person’s journey to a better quality of life. In doing so, we exceed the standards for Personal Outcome Measures (POMs) set by the Council on Quality and Leadership (CQL), whose guidelines we follow.

COMMUNITY SERVICES

The Center of the Group

When eight-year-old Bruce first joined the Rising Ground recreation program for children with developmental disabilities, he had trouble following instructions and controlling his emotions. As with many children on the autism spectrum, Bruce was not sure how to relate to the other kids. He would talk to them only when necessary during a game and would often do things to make the others angry. Now, after five years in the program, Bruce is a very different young man. He jokes and laughs with the staff and the other children. He has learned to remain calm when he gets upset and knows how to talk to staff in a quiet voice.

IN THE WORDS OF HIS TEACHER

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Preschool Special Education Services

Rising Ground Preschools Reopening School Plan
As we work to ensure continued education and support for the children in our Ames Early Childhood Learning Center (Yonkers), Brownell School (Bronx), and Children’s Learning Center (Manhattan) through Covid, please see the full reopening plan online here or download the following documents for the 2020-2021 school year: our full reopening plan and addendum, our remote learning plan, internal contact tracing protocol, and a testing notification, as well as our 2021-2022 Full Reopening Plan in English and Spanish and our Code of Conduct in English and Spanish.

Encouraging Progress

Every child deserves the opportunity to learn and thrive. Our Preschool Special Education programs make sure children with special needs and developmental delays get that opportunity, too.

We create a warm, trusting environment where children feel comfortable to explore the world around them and develop social and emotional skills so they can thrive and grow. Children in our Preschool Special Education programs have varied challenges, including speech impairments, learning disabilities, neurological impairments, developmental disabilities, emotional/behavioral challenges and autism.

Setting and Achieving Goals

No matter what the challenge, we help children progress toward their personal goals, such as learning to make eye contact, controlling aggressive behaviors and communicating through sign language. We meet each child’s specific developmental and learning objectives through play, individual instruction time, and classroom activities. Trained teachers tailor classroom activities to each child’s unique learning style, personality, strengths and challenges.

Whether in integrated classes alongside their typically developing peers or in small, specialized classes, students also receive individual or group occupational, physical, and speech therapy and the counseling needed to support their development.

For those with more significant needs, specialized preschool classes – with six, eight or ten children and a teacher and two teaching assistants – provide the intensive services children need.

40% of our special-education preschoolers in integrated settings move onto Kindergarten needing less intensive or no special education services.

Supporting Parents

Because supporting a child with special needs brings unique challenges, we help parents learn too. Through conversations with teachers about daily activities and approaches to meet their children’s particular needs, we give parents the tools they need to continue supports at home so every child can achieve his or her potential. Parent support groups offer a safe space in which parents can discuss the challenges they face with other parents and share solutions.

Program Features

New York State Certified Teachers
Teacher assistants in every classroom
Small, specialized classes for children with more significant needs
Spacious, well equipped, modern facility
Indoor and outdoor play areas
Nutritious breakfast, lunch and snacks

Family and Parent Support

Support and training for parents and families in how to support children with special needs.
All services available to children and families in English and Spanish.
Bilingual classrooms.
Serving children from New York City and Westchester County.

Therapeutic and Clinical Supportive Services

Speech therapy
Occupational therapy
Physical therapy
Individual and group counseling

Multiple Locations

Rising Ground offers special education services at locations in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Yonkers. Our Children’s Learning Center in Manhattan specifically supports young children exhibiting early signs of autism. To learn more, contact our Preschools:

Marion & George Ames Early Childhood Learning Center
463 Hawthorne Avenue, Yonkers, NY 10705
914-375-8820

Dr. Katharine Dodge Brownell School
450 Castle Hill Avenue Bronx, NY 10473
718-430-7938

Children’s Learning Center
1751 Park Avenue, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10035
347-758-9128

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Early Head Start

Even before birth, a child changes the world for parents. And parents make the world for their children. We help make sure that every child has a good start, from prenatal care for moms to exciting opportunities for children to learn as they grow.

Every child should be well prepared for school. Yet, children born into low-income families and high-needs neighborhoods often lag behind their higher-income peers because their environments have fewer resources. In the first few years – when intellectual, emotional and social development progress most rapidly – this disadvantage grows.

Our Bronx-based Early Head Start program meets the needs of our communities by giving children and their families the resources, knowledge, and skills to close that gap and build a solid foundation for a successful future.

Ensuring the Earliest Steps to Success

For Infants, Toddlers and Pregnant Women

The path to success begins at birth so we support pregnant women with prenatal education to ensure they have access to all the medical and other services they need to give birth to a healthy baby. Then our bilingual Early Head Start program provides critical early childhood services to children from birth to 3 years old when their physical, educational and social-emotional development start. We support children in Family Child Care settings as well as providing Home-Based visiting services depending upon the needs of each family.

At each of our Family Child Care sites, up to four children explore a wide array of enriching social and educational activities as well as eat nutritious meals and snacks. Home visiting services focus on supporting parents as they learn to guide healthy child development and foster pre-literacy skills as well as nurture the parent-child relationship.

Children in both programs receive hearing, vision and dental screenings and families are provided with referrals to free/low-cost health clinics, food banks and other social services as needed.

Family & Parent Support

Support and training for parents and families so they can fully participate in and contribute to the development of their children.
Referrals to job training, assistance with housing, access to health and mental health services, educational supports and other social services as needed.

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Residential Treatment Center

Structure for Success

Our Residential Treatment Center, located on a serene 33-acre campus along the Hudson River in Yonkers, provides 24-hour residential care to youth who require intensive therapeutic and educational support. We help youth cope with mental-health challenges, emotional difficulties, developmental disabilities, and challenging behaviors and/or the trauma caused by abuse and neglect. In a therapeutic setting, residents learn effective problem solving, healthy coping skills, and adaptive behaviors. Self-esteem is enhanced as is their ability to trust others and relate positively to the world.

Our program provides structure and support to youth who have long histories of placements in psychiatric hospitals and other mental-health facilities but have not yet accomplished all the progress they wish to make. Attendance at the Biondi Middle & High School is coupled with recreational and therapeutic activities and clinical services to help each youth strengthen his or her ability to participate in the community and to return to a less restrictive environment as quickly as possible.

A Home Away from Home

We create an environment that is welcoming and homelike. Youth live in cottages that provide a warm, supportive home in which to move their lives forward. Here, each youth has the ability to decorate his or her own room, participates in meal planning and has a say in the activities that residents participate in. We take the time to learn each youth’s likes, dislikes, dreams and personal goals, and we respect them.

Personalized Support and Interventions

Our approach isn’t one-size-fits-all. We develop an individual treatment plan for each youth that includes specialized therapeutic supports tailored to specific challenges and a choice of personalized activities, and after-school and weekend recreation. Each youth participates in therapy — individual and group — as well as in a behavior modification program to help them develop the tools they need to succeed.

Going Beyond the Basics

Treatment is not our only goal. We also want graduates to be good neighbors and good citizens, so we provide community service opportunities through partnerships with the Yonkers Police Department, the Food Bank for Westchester, and other community partners. To ensure academic success, we have an After-School Learning Center that focuses on preparation for the Regents exam, credit recovery and academic enrichment.

Achieving Success Beyond Our Doors

As a result of the supportive, individualized treatment they receive, many of our residents are successfully able to the return to their homes in the community, graduate from high school, and go on to job skills training and employment. Youth with mental health challenges and disabilities gain the skills needed to live as independently as possible and thrive.

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Biondi Elementary School

Biondi Reopening School Plan
As we work to ensure continued education and support for the children in our Biondi Education Center through Covid, please see the full reopening plan online at BiondiSchool.org or download the following documents for the 2020-2021 school year: our full reopening plan and addendum, our remote learning plan, internal contact tracing protocol, Covid-19 Screening Questionnaire, and a testing notification.

The Biondi School is an accredited, nurturing, therapeutic learning environment dedicated to providing a holistic education, emphasizing academic, physical, cultural diversity and social foundations. Highly invested staff recognize that our students are unique individuals whose developmental needs, abilities, interests, styles of learning and experiences must be enriched to ensure their future success.

Some Kids Need a Boost

Not all students learn the same way. Some students face challenges that make it more difficult to learn. They may struggle to focus. Or are easily frustrated. If they feel they are unsuccessful in learning, a downward spiral can take over. For students like these, a smaller school with more individualized instruction, and a faculty and staff especially trained to serve students with emotional disorders and learning disabilities, offers hope and opportunity for a young student to successfully learn. Biondi Elementary is that school.

Giving Kids a Fresh Start

Biondi Eementary

At Biondi Elementary, children with emotional disorders, learning disabilities, and other challenges who were falling behind, not receiving the attention or support they needed, have a fresh start and a chance to learn skills to succeed in the classroom – and the world around them. With support from teachers in classrooms no larger than 12 students per class, students learn to overcome their frustrations, improve their self-esteem, and build academic skills.

Faculty and staff create a nurturing, positive environment in order to engage young people. Using the evidence-based Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) method reinforces students’ strengths and increases positive behaviors to build confidence and inspire achievement.

The Right Environment for Growth

Biondi Elementary School is the right environment to support the educational and personal growth for those who need it the most:

To get kids on track to go to and graduate from high school, Biondi Elementary School is a fully-accredited, non-public school offering a rich curriculum of academic and creative arts skills.
To give each child the individual attention they need, class sizes are small, with at least 1 teacher and 1 teaching assistant for every 12 students.
To promote advancement, we use methodologies proven effective with students who have had difficulty learning to read or are behind.
To encourage expression and enhance a sense of self, students participate in art, and other activities suited to their interests.
To help parents provide the support their children need to thrive, we provide coaching and workshops to build their skills.
To help parents take a more active role in their child’s development, we support an active PTA.

The Therapeutic and Clinical Support Children Need

Students receive comprehensive support:

Licensed social workers support the well-being of students and work closely with families as needed.
Licensed clinical psychologists help structure the school experience and provide therapy for students who need help.
Board certified psychiatrists assist students with wide ranging clinical challenges and administer medications as needed.
Crisis prevention/intervention specialists help students in stressful circumstances.
Registered nurses tend to students’ medical needs.

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Biondi Middle & High School

Biondi Reopening School Plan
As we work to ensure continued education and support for the children in our Biondi Education Center through Covid, please see the full reopening plan at BiondiSchool.org or download the following documents for the 2020-2021 school year: our full reopening plan and addendum, our remote learning plan, internal contact tracing protocol, a testing notification, and our Sports Program Safety Plan.

Personal Support for Individual Success

The right support in the appropriate environment is critical to everyone’s success. When students have not found the support or environment they need in traditional public schools, our Biondi Middle and High School offers them individualized attention so they can increase their confidence, which helps them learn and achieve academic and personal success. By identifying what motivates and excites each student, we differentiate our program elements to engage students as active participants in their own learning process and foster individual student success.

A New York State Education Department accredited, year-round special education school, the Biondi Middle and High School provides educational and therapeutic support to both residential and day students from the New York City and Westchester areas who have behavioral and emotional challenges, learning disabilities, or intellectual/developmental disabilities. Students enjoy the opportunity to join our Young Men’s Academy, Young Women’s Academy, or our Academy for Career and Occupational Studies. We help our students overcome severe academic deficits and complete high school, prepared with the academic and vocational tools they need to enter college and career. Our graduates are ready to succeed.

Well-Rounded Education

In small classes and with individualized attention, students at the Biondi School participate in a full academic program and receive therapeutic support to address behavioral challenges and increase their emotional stability and coping skills.

Certified teachers, licensed and certified psychologists, social workers, and crisis intervention specialists work with students and parents to set academic, social and behavioral goals, and work on solutions to challenges. Using the evidence-based Positive Behavior and Supports (PBIS) method, our culture celebrates achievement as we focus on student strengths and increased positive behaviors.

Non-academic courses and activities play a large role in strengthening self-confidence and giving students the tools to succeed. Participation in art, music, computer and science labs, team sports as well as field trips to artistic performances, museums and other enriching opportunities open students’ eyes to new learning experiences that enhance what is learned in the classroom. These richly diverse experiences encourage them to develop skills, work with others and increase self-esteem through accomplishment.

Preparing for the Future

Students have the opportunity to earn a Regents diploma — which can lead to college enrollment — as well as pursue vocational studies to enter the workforce directly upon graduation. Many of the students we support come to us several grade levels behind in reading and math. No matter the challenge, we work with students and their families to determine the best pathway to a successful future through the various offerings within the New York State Core Curriculum. Then we help them start down that path by providing academic and vocational training.

For students who want an alternative pathway to success, we offer vocational and work-study opportunities in many areas, such as cosmetology, HVAC and plumbing, and our upcoming culinary arts. We will soon expand to retail customer service, barbering and graphic design.

With our holistic supports, 100% of Biondi High School graduates go on to college, vocational training programs or employment after graduation. They are well prepared to succeed on their own, personalized path to success.

The Biondi Education Center is pleased to participate in the Smart Schools Funding Program of the New York State Education Department. Click here to view our application. If you have comments on the application, please email Dr. Angela White at AWhite@RisingGround.org.

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BIONDI MIDDLE & HIGH SCHOOL

From Bullying to High Fives

Just a few years ago, Bryan hated going to school. He was regularly bullied and, to avoid the fights, he often just skipped class. He didn’t expect to graduate. then he transfered to the Biondi School everything changed. The teachers and staff gave him the support he needed to regain his confidence. He found he liked class and made the Honor Roll. He loves his cosmetology vocational training program and has made many friends. He’s also learning valuable skills and gained high self-esteem from his job at Applebee’s, which he got thanks to the support of his teachers.

BRYAN

Justice for Youth & Families

Understanding Causes Means Better Solutions

Life can throw up roadblocks that seem insurmountable. Abuse, neglect, or serious trauma may lead young people to make poor choices and to involvement with the juvenile justice system. Many of the youth we support come from families and communities that face challenges with poverty, violence and lack of educational resources. But the cycle doesn’t have to continue. Youth in our juvenile justice programs discover their inner strengths and demonstrate tremendous resilience.

With support and new opportunities, youth learn to make positive decisions. Both our residential and our community-based juvenile justice programs give them a chance to rise above the obstacles they face so they can change the trajectory of their lives.

Brain research tells us that cognitive development continues until age 25 and beyond. The young people we support are still developing. While being held accountable, they can also learn new skills and how to make positive decisions in the supervised and nurturing environment of our programs.

When the Court refers youth to our programs, we give them a chance to discover the root causes of their delinquency, examine the choices they have made and acquire the tools they need to make better choices. They can start down a new path, one that leads to a productive, healthy life.

Ask Troy, 16, who said, “I am more than one bad decision that I made one day.” We gave him another day, other options — like learning to control his anger, finishing his high school diploma, and pursuing his dream of becoming an airline pilot.

Creating a Supportive Culture

Using the Missouri Approach, a proven model to reduce recidivism, we create a supportive community of peers within our residential programs. Youth hold one another responsible for their actions, and the community of peers helps each other hone skills in making positive choices.

Youth participate in individual, family, and group therapy as well as continue their schooling. They learn how to resolve conflicts and deal with challenges while working toward their middle and high school diplomas. Through community partnership opportunities and therapeutic recreation, our youth also discover new talents and build self-esteem.

Rising Ground is committed to providing safe environments for youth in our care. To support this commitment Rising Ground has created Safe Environmental Standards to ensure its Limited Secure Placement (LSP) program. Read more here.

Our community-based respite program uses an evidence-based model to reduce recidivism for youth who would otherwise increase their involvement with the juvenile justice system. It is an effective alternative to incarceration.

Look Forward, Not Back

Everything the young people in our program do is focused on successful re-entry into the community. We help them keep in touch with the positive aspects of family by bringing parents and caregivers to see them. With a clear understanding of themselves, recidivism drops.

In our juvenile justice programs, young people gain the confidence and skills they need to rise above the challenges they face.

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Unaccompanied Migrant Child Program

Journey to Hope and Opportunity

Each year, thousands of unaccompanied children cross our borders, fleeing violence, abuse, and neglect. After traveling as much as 1,500 miles to reach safety in the U.S., we provide them with the emotional and medical support needed by unaccompanied children, who have no one to advocate for them.

The next step in their journey takes them to a short-term shelter, such as our Passage of Hope Unaccompanied Migrant Child program. After their grueling journey, we help these children be children again. In a nurturing environment, we provide what they have been missing — enough food, clothing, and the opportunity to play and learn.

We provide clinical, therapeutic, educational and case management services while working to link them with family members or other sponsors in the United States. Our goal is to provide these courageous children, who have experienced incredible trauma, with the support, nurturing and care that they need to move forward with their lives and to thrive.

Preparing for the Next Step

As part of our program, we help reunite the children with the family members or other sponsor they are searching for. We make sure that their new homes will be safe and nurturing by conducting home studies of those who have been waiting for them to arrive. While waiting for a permanent place to live, the children learn about American culture, they learn English, and they attend school. At Passage of Hope, children move from danger to safety, from fear to hope.

Be a Foster Parent

Children from birth to age 14 stay with foster families in the community while we work to reunite them with family or sponsors here in the United States. To learn more about become a foster parent with the Passage of Hope program, download our flyer here or contact us at 914-375-8940 or POH-Homefinding@RisingGround.org

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Mother & Child Program

Family Is What You Make It

Imagine a teenager who hasn’t had a nurturing family of her own, who has been abused and neglected and suddenly becomes the mainstay of a family, responsible for the healthy development of a new baby.

Our Mother & Child program helps teen mothers in foster care create the strong families they may have never had and provide their children with love, guidance, and security. In a safe, nurturing environment, these young women learn to create lasting bonds with their children, develop parenting skills to ensure that their children are prepared to be successful, with the confidence they need to get ahead in their own lives.

The mother-and-child families at our residence in the Bronx may not be traditional, but they are grounded in the positive parenting practices of mothers who are dedicated to success in their own lives despite backgrounds that may include abuse, poverty, and homelessness.

Each mother and her child has a private room — a home of their own to decorate as they like, a place to be together as a family. Common areas provide opportunities for peer support and recreation, including a playroom so mothers and their children can play together. A study room gives young moms a place to focus on their schoolwork, and an onsite nursery ensures that their children are cared for by staff in a loving, familiar environment while mom is at school or work.

Building on Personal Strengths to Create Loving Families

Our Mother & Child program helps teen mothers, who are just starting to plan their lives and with limited experience themselves being nurtured or cared for, learn parenting skills from the basics, like diapering and bathing a baby, to the more complex, such as how to read with their child or set boundaries.

While learning to be nurturing parents, our moms are also building the self confidence needed to move forward in their own lives, whether that means finishing high school or getting a job.

With the help of a multidisciplinary team using the Bright Beginnings/Personal Best model, these young mothers learn how to cope with the life’s challenges, from money management to good nutrition. In doing so, they learn that they are competent, capable and, finally, important to someone.

Ensuring a Strong Foundation for Children

With nurturing moms taking care of them, the children in the Mother & Child program are off to a good start in life. Their mothers know how to help them learn so they have the pre-literacy skills needed to do well in school and to become confident, competent students. The Mother & Child program makes sure they have medical care and the formal preschool education they need to thrive and grow. They’ve got a healthy family.

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Foster Care & Adoption

Every Child Deserves a Loving Home

Home and family are the center of every child’s life. But what happens if that center falls apart? Who do children turn to? That’s where we enter. Our Family Foster Care program provides safe and nurturing care in the homes of trained foster parents to children who temporarily cannot be with their birth families. At a time when it is needed most, we provide the caring support a child needs and, most importantly, deserves.

Grounded in our roots as an orphanage founded in 1831, we have been looking after and caring for children who have been unable to live with their parents for more than 185 years – offering the commitment, encouragement, and resources that help guide a child’s and his/her family’s future toward a positive path. While working to ensure that the comprehensive therapeutic and educational needs of children are being met during this traumatic time in their lives, we concurrently work with birth parents to get them the help they need so they can be reunited with their children.

Supporting Each Child’s Well-Being

Working together, our team of social workers and other trained staff make sure each child has the individualized support needed to get through this difficult time and cope with the impact of possible parental abuse or neglect. We place children with families in their own communities —with relatives or close family friends whenever possible — to provide continuity in their daily lives and so they can stay in the same school with people they know. And we provide and link children with everything from individual counseling and educational tutoring to behavioral supports and recreational activities to support their well-being.

We recognize the importance of well-informed, well-trained caregivers who can nurture and support children and teens. Our foster parents are part of a support team that makes sure everything possible is being done to help children with all their needs – healthcare, education, social activities, confidence-building. Foster parents receive intensive training so they understand how children respond to trauma and how to nurture healthy relationships. And we back them up — we can be reached 24/7 to help deal with any issue that comes up.

Planning for the Future

From the moment a child comes into our care, we immediately begin to work toward permanency – a plan for a permanent home for every child. Family team conferences – which include each child (when old enough), birth parents and foster parents – to create a plan for support and permanency occur within the first week of placement. And while we support children in foster homes, we work intensively with birth parents to get them the help they need to be reunited with their children – anger management training, domestic violence support, substance abuse counseling. We offer additional assistance through the use of various evidence-based practice models to tailor the services and supports we offer.

All of our efforts have resulted in a history of success, reunified healthy families, stronger connections to community networks and lasting relationships with foster parents. In fact, we have been ranked as a citywide leader by New York City for reaching 100% of our goals in creating permanent and kin/relative connections for children in foster care with approximately 65% of our families achieving reunification after working diligently with our team.

And our work doesn’t stop when families are back together. We also provide transitional and continuing support to birth families to ensure bumps in the road with reunification are addressed in real time.

Specialized Care for Teens that Need It Most

Our Treatment Foster Care Oregon Program (TFCO) is a specialized foster care program that supports youth ages 12 to 17 with significant behavioral or mental health challenges. TFCO is an evidence-based treatment program based on many years of research that helps to both promote and support a teen’s relationship with his/her family. Because TFCO values each family’s potential to provide guidance and support for their child’s positive adjustment, this treatment program helps us to provide family-driven care that works toward the important goal of reunification. Though this model, we help break down any road blocks to communication between teens and their parents, and teach families various parenting strategies that support and guide a teen’s positive behaviors. Caseworkers are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for questions, consultation and support.

Adoption: Creating New Families

While we make every effort to reunite children with their birth parents, sometimes, birth families cannot give their children a healthy, safe and permanent home. When this is the case, we find loving adoptive homes for children— no matter their age. In fact, most children in our program who cannot be reunited with their birth families are adopted by foster parents with whom they have been with for an extended period of time and already have an established, loving relationship.

In preparation for adoption, we make sure that children and their new families have all the supports they need to stay on track in school, in good health, make friends and achieve their dreams and goals.