Our Work Continues Archives - The New York Foundling

There’s a Glimmer of Light Ahead for 2021

It’s hard to believe it’s been a year since COVID-19 shut down our city. This once-in-a-century pandemic shook our community and endangered the children, adults, and families we serve on a scale we couldn’t have predicted. We still mourn the loss of life here, across our country, and the world. And we long for the way of life we enjoyed before.

But we’ve been resilient, too. When COVID-19 disrupted everything we knew, and brought many aspects of our lives to a standstill, our work at The New York Foundling continued.

In the past year, our staff and community have shown tremendous dedication and strength. They overcame each and every challenge from social distancing, to navigating technology and technology accessibility, and found creative ways to adapt.

Foundling staff facilitated virtual visits between families to help maintain connection and advocated on behalf of families when the family courts closed. We kept students on track with their classes and gave everyone the tools to self-advocate when pandemic conditions created academic hurdles. The therapists in our Families Rising and our other alternative-to-incarceration programs delivered holistic treatment to families via telehealth. Staff working in our Developmental Disabilities programs alleviated the emotional burden of social distancing for the men and women in our residences and found ways to keep them engaged and active in quarantine.

We continued to provide School Based Mental Health services to help students confront the emotional burden of being away from their classmates, teachers, and friends, as well as the unique stressors and challenges presented by the transition from in-person to remote learning. The Foundling’s Medical Clinics, like other pediatrician offices around the country, never closed, and increased communication allowed families to receive information and support throughout the health crisis. And our Camp Felix at Home program kept camp magic alive for Foundling kids last summer.

The Foundling will continue to adapt as needed, although we are now seeing a promise for a better year ahead. We strive to be the beacon of light and support for the tens of thousands of children, adults, and families in our community as we navigate our way forward and out of the pandemic.

And there’s good news ahead.

Students are back at Haven Academy and our Day Habilitation sites for people with developmental disabilities have reopened—and vaccines are being administered to keep this population safe and healthy. Our frontline staff and other essential workers are also receiving their vaccines—which is even more good news we are able to share. In addition, Foundling-operated medical clinics are seeing more and more patients face-to-face, and Camp Felix is hoping to put in place an in-person camp this summer.

March 17, 2021/by Elefant Design

Blog, Child Welfare, Health and Behavioral Health, Our Work Continues

Our Work Continues: Providing Health Services to Children in New York City During the COVID-19 Pandemic

For over 150 years, The New York Foundling has worked in partnership with our neighbors to ensure that everyone can meet their full potential when facing challenging situations. This hasn’t changed, and our staff continue to provide life-changing and meaningful support in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. This series shares how The Foundling’s many programs are responding to the needs of their community.

In the final post for our blog series, “Our Work Continues”, we share how The Foundling’s medical clinics adapted their efforts and work to deliver essential health services to youth in foster care over the past five months. With clinics located in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island, The Foundling provides free medical services to all young people in Foundling foster care programs, as well as children in other agencies city-wide. Using a personalized, multi-faceted, and wide-reaching support model, The Foundling’s medical staff work as a team to improve the health and wellbeing of children each and every day.

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Across The Foundling’s four medical clinics, 38 medical staff care for nearly 700 children in foster care at any given time and track about 3,000 visits to the clinic each year. “We do the same kind of work a regular pediatrician’s office does,” says Kendra Morgan, a Nurse Practitioner, “but our clinics are designed specifically for helping children in foster care.”

Like pediatrician’s offices across the country, The Foundling’s clinics have remained open throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, but with safety measures in place to protect both staff and our patients. “We schedule telehealth appointments when possible, but many still need to be seen in person—particularly infants and children due for vaccinations,” explains Bonni Krauss, a Registered Nurse.

“Many children across the country are falling behind on their vaccinations because of COVID-19,” elaborates Margaret Dewar, Assistant Vice President of Medical Services. “But not our kids. Not if we can help it.”

Every family member coming into the clinic is screened before they come through the door and given a face mask if they aren’t wearing one already. Additionally, staff coordinate transportation if needed, so families can travel to and from their appointments safely.

“Managing fears and educating families about COVID-19 has been a large part of the work we’ve been doing since March,” says Margaret. “We sent letters and made phone calls whenever we received new information about the virus.”

Staff who work across The Foundling’s medical clinics attend weekly webinars and receive updates on New York’s guidelines as they evolve. They also make themselves available to families for consultations on nights and weekends. “We have after hours staff covering the phones 24/7, and we also give families our work cell phone numbers, too. We want our families to know that we are there for them to answer COVID-19-related questions,” Bonni says.

Both Kendra and Bonni agree that the increased communication between staff and the families has brought them closer together and is resulting in more positive outcomes. One patient, who found out she was pregnant during this challenging time, wasn’t really engaged with her prenatal care at first. “But Bonni was persistent in scheduling all her appointments, coordinating all her rides, and talking her through her fears surrounding being a new mother during COVID-19,” Kendra continues. “In the end, the patient went from not being engaged to being very engaged in her pregnancy, because she had Bonni to plan with and confide in. She knew she wasn’t alone.”

The health services staff has relied heavily on each other over the past five months. “Everyone was willing to help each other out and cover shifts across clinics,” says Margaret. For example, “one of our psychiatrists is also a trained pediatrician. She offered to fill in should the need arise.”

“We had a few patients test positive for COVID-19, but thankfully a lot less than we expected,” Margaret continues. “It was tough. We had to grapple with test shortages, PPE shortages, and adhere to the State’s frequently changing guidelines. The great collaboration we needed to happen in a time of uncertainty did happen. I am very proud of our team.”

July 31, 2020/by Elefant Design

Blog, Child Welfare, Our Work Continues

Our Work Continues: Supporting Deaf and Hard of Hearing Families with Communication and Advocacy

For over 150 years, The New York Foundling has worked in partnership with our neighbors to ensure that everyone can meet their full potential when facing challenging situations. This hasn’t changed, and our staff continue to provide life-changing and meaningful support in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. This series shares how The Foundling’s many programs are responding to the needs of their community.

Since 1982, The Foundling has been the only specialized provider of family support and prevention programs that serves the Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing community in all five boroughs of New York City The Foundling’s Family Services for Deaf Children and Adults helps keep children out of foster care by strengthening the family system and increasing access to available community supports. All of our therapists and interventionists are fluent in American Sign Language (ASL), and pre-COVID-19, they met with families in their homes and in their communities.

Since the onset of COVID-19, our team has been helping families overcome the hurdles that followed, ensuring that they stayed on their continued path to family stability.

The Foundling’s Family Services for Deaf Children and Adults is supported by 11 staff members, including therapists, interventionists, supervisors, and an interpreter. Since March, home visits shifted to videoconference – using platforms like videophone devices that simultaneously transmit and receive both audio and video signals over telephone lines, or online solutions like Zoom or Microsoft Teams. These weekly sessions run for 45 minutes or up to an hour and a half, depending on each family’s needs.

“We’re used to meeting in person,” says Diana Abayeva, a program interventionist. “It was a hard transition at first, because some of our families didn’t have smartphones or cellular reception. But thankfully we were able to resolve these technology issues.”

“Our families are managing just like the rest of us,” adds Diana. “Homeschooling their children on top of their parental and work duties or finding childcare when daycare was closed—it’s a challenge. And they want to get this right.”

“Some have reported loneliness and frustration at home, particularly when family members they’re quarantined with don’t know sign language,” therapist Kenya Bryant says.

That’s why program staff are working with the families to improve their communications skills and encouraging family members to learn American Sign Language. “And it’s working,” Kenya continues. “It’s bringing families closer together.”

Families have used this time to pick up new hobbies, and they’re reporting a heightened focus on practicing self-care at home.

And practicing self-care is needed: the virus has posed unique challenges to the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing community. “One of the downsides to our families’ ability to communicate during the pandemic is that people are wearing masks,” Diana explains. “Many people who are Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing rely on reading lips, but this is not possible with the speaker is wearing a mask. This hinders their ability to be independent.”

As an alternative, some Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing prefer to communicate in writing using the Notes app on their smartphones.

Another challenge revolves around doctor’s appointments. One family needed mental health services for their child, but the provider only conducted telehealth sessions through an encrypted videoconference platform. While the child logged into that platform, their mother, who is Deaf, had to join separately via videophone. She had a hard time keeping track of who said what across the different platforms during the appointment. Not being able to know what the doctor said about her child’s health—or what her child was saying about their own health—was incredibly emotional and frustrating. “I talked to the provider and convinced them to switch to Zoom and hire an interpreter to join the sessions to the conversation for the mother,” says Diana. “That worked out so much better.”

Getting credible and reliable news resources can be another challenge. “We have been directing them to vloggers and reporters who use sign language when posting daily news,” Kenya says.

In response to COVID-19, families have received donations such as household items, electronic devices for communication and remote learning, clothing, and money to purchase food. “We are doing everything we can to help get them through a tough time,” says Diana.

To learn more about how The New York Foundling is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York, visit our emergency response page. Stay tuned for more stories from the frontlines as we continue to support our neighbors on paths to stability and strength.

Read past posts in the ‘Our Work Continues’ blog series:

July 24, 2020/by Elefant Design

Blog, Education, Our Work Continues

Our Work Continues: Making a Difference in Early Childhood Education

For over 150 years, The New York Foundling has worked in partnership with our neighbors to ensure that everyone can meet their full potential when facing challenging situations. This hasn’t changed, and our staff continue to provide life-changing and meaningful support in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. This series shares how The Foundling’s many programs are responding to the needs of their community.

In Puerto Rico, The Foundling serves 1,500 children through Head Start and Early Head Start programs. Our Early Head Start program is home-based and serves expecting mothers, infants, and toddlers. The program promotes strong parent-child relationships and helps provide high-quality early learning experiences. Our Head Start program delivers high-quality early education and child development services to children ages 3-5 in San Juan, Cataño, Vega Alta, Coamo, and Toa Baja.

The families and Foundling staff in Puerto Rico have shown tremendous resilience and perseverance, despite the devastation caused by the 2017 hurricanes, a series of earthquakes at the start of 2020, and now, ongoing hardship as families try and stay safe and healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In response to devastation caused by hurricanes in 2017 and earthquakes in 2020, The Foundling’s Early Head Start and Head Start programs in Puerto Rico were already accustomed to delivering services in new and creative ways when COVID-19 hit. “How school and teaching is conducted here changed after Hurricane Maria,” says Carmen Villafane, Senior Vice President of the two programs. “We’ve had some practice with online learning and using digital tools.” Throughout the pandemic, our teachers have become more and more creative with their teaching methods. They’re finding new online learning and practice programs for students. They’re posting instructional videos on how to do the day’s activities, and they are recording videos of themselves reading stories and sending them to the families.

Since schools in Puerto Rico have been closed since March due to the pandemic, teachers and staff have also been sending care packages to students and their families with materials including scissors, paper, pencils, markers, glue, crayons, and other craft materials. That way, when teachers assign activities and projects to do, the families are able to complete them. “Without these materials, the children would lose the crucial skills they need to progress to the next step in their education,” Carmen explains. “So, we’re doing everything we can prepare them and ensure that nothing stands in their way of educational success.”

Activities are geared towards promoting children’s cognitive, social, and emotional growth for later success in school. The program delivers developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate learning experiences in language, literacy, mathematics, social and emotional functioning, science, physical skills, and creative arts.

Teachers host a weekly virtual class and support activities throughout the week. In addition to engaging children and parents, other members of the household are welcome to join as well. During this time together, everyone is able to participate in activities such as songs, stories, and crafts, as well as teacher-guided discussions about COVID-19 and general health and safety measures. “Off-screen, the parents have done a wonderful job working with their children on educational activities,” Carmen commented. For example, teachers will recommend an activity for parents to work on with their children at home, such as making homemade Play-Doh or “Plastilina,” and the parents will share their videos of family craft-time with the teachers.

Early Head Start, which provided home-based services to 36 families before COVID-19, is now held online. Vocational home visitors, who work with a child’s family to ensure their home environment supports their well-being and education, are trained to identify family needs in both online and in-person settings. They develop programming, handle assessments, and if a need arises that requires specialized care, they provide referrals to nurses, social workers, mental health professionals, or other community resources.

Throughout the year, and especially in times of crisis — be it a hurricane, an earthquake, or a global pandemic — the families served by our Head Start programs often struggle to have their basic needs met. “Food is too often in short supply,” Carmen notes, “It’s a common challenge our families face. But with the help of local charities and generous donations, we have been able to buy and supply grocery bags full of food to the families we serve.”

“I am so proud of my employees,” Carmen adds, “They have all gone the extra mile, which is what we need in this moment, and what we’ve needed in every moment since Hurricane Maria. Earthquakes still affect south Puerto Rico every day, and there’s no end in sight. And yet, despite the uncertainty, our staff wakes up every morning prepared and ready to serve. I couldn’t be more proud of them for their hard work and continued commitment. The Foundling’s presence here in Puerto Rico really makes all the difference.”

To learn more about how The New York Foundling is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York, visit our emergency response page. Stay tuned for more stories from the frontlines as we continue to support our neighbors on paths to stability and strength.

Read past posts in the ‘Our Work Continues’ blog series:

July 17, 2020/by Elefant Design

Blog, Juvenile Justice, Our Work Continues

Our Work Continues: Rehabilitating Youth and Families with Alternatives to Incarceration

For over 150 years, The New York Foundling has worked in partnership with our neighbors to ensure that everyone can meet their full potential when facing challenging situations. This hasn’t changed, and our staff continue to provide life-changing and meaningful support in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. This series shares how The Foundling’s many programs are responding to the needs of their community.

Youth who are tried as adults for crimes committed while under the age of 19 face the very real threat of being sentenced to adult prison with adult convictions that impact their futures. The Foundling’s Families Rising program is one of a select few that targets this high-risk population and provides them with evidence-based Functional Family Therapy (FFT) as an alternative to incarceration.

Families Rising works to reduce family conflict, substance abuse, recidivism, and violent behavior in the long term. In addition to its historically high rates of treatment completion, the program has demonstrated a significant impact helping participants with viable alternatives that avoid incarceration and a criminal record, leading them to stay in school and avoid re-arrest. The program is also estimated to save taxpayers millions of dollars each year in incarceration costs.

Throughout COVID-19, our dedicated Families Rising team has continued to provide FFT treatment and support to youth and their families.

Before youth can be screened into programs like Families Rising, which is a rehabilitative alternative to incarceration, they have to wait for a court referral. With criminal courts closed due to COVID-19, referrals of youth to The Foundling’s Families Rising program have decreased dramatically. Virtual court hearings are at a minimum, reserved only for the highest-risk cases.

But for the many young people who are already enrolled in Families Rising, therapy sessions have continued during COVID-19 but in a telehealth format. “We’ve had more instances of rescheduling,” says Kimberly Sweeney, a Families Rising Supervisor. “Because of COVID-19, we cannot rely on popping up at someone’s home for a session, so we are now addressing potential attendance struggles as a clinical matter in therapy sessions.”

Negative peer influences, fights with family, and impulsive decision-making are the most common trouble factors for youth. “Kids do what other kids are doing,” says Kimberly, “Since other kids are staying home due to COVID-19, the kids we help are, too. So that works to our advantage.”

Family involvement is an incredibly important factor in the program’s success. “One of my kids wasn’t going to school,” Kimberly explains, “But then his older brother came home from college early because of COVID-19. Our client started logging into the remote learning platform and began sending screenshots of the work he was doing to both myself and his school counselor. His brother was such a good influence. He reinforced all the skills and good behaviors we were trying to teach.”

And moments like this one couldn’t happen if youth are tried as adults and put in adult prisons. “Flooding the criminal justice system isn’t going to help kids make better choices, go to school, or improve their family and community relations,” Gomattie states, “It’s not going to fix recidivism.”

“If the risk of punishment at Rikers was enough to encourage people to behave differently, then it would have worked already,” adds Kimberly, “Families need more support addressing maladaptive behaviors, so their kids don’t end up in Rikers.”

“We need more programs like Families Rising—programs that actually address the issues that got the kid arrested in the first place,” Gomattie continues, “If we don’t treat the root causes, how are we going to produce any real lasting results?”

To learn more about how The New York Foundling is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York, visit our emergency response page. Stay tuned for more stories from the frontlines as we continue to support our neighbors on paths to stability and strength.

Read past posts in the ‘Our Work Continues’ blog series:

June 26, 2020/by Elefant Design

Blog, Education, Our Work Continues

Our Work Continues: Closing the Achievement Gap for Older Youth in Foster Care

For over 150 years, The New York Foundling has worked in partnership with our neighbors to ensure that everyone can meet their full potential when facing challenging situations. This hasn’t changed, and our staff continue to provide life-changing and meaningful support in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. This series shares how The Foundling’s many programs are responding to the needs of their community.

Four years ago, a partnership was created by The New York Foundling which brought together New York City’s Administration of Children’s Services (ACS) and the City University of New York (CUNY) with the goal to help more young people in foster care attend college and earn a college degree. This partnership is more commonly known as The Dormitory Project. The program provides a wide range of supports – academic, social, financial, and professional – to ensure students graduate from college. Students are supported by College Success Coaches, who live alongside them on CUNY campuses across New York City and are deeply attuned and trained to respond to the challenges and stressors that young people in foster care face. The Dormitory Project also includes academic support led by a team of tutors who ensure that each student is prepared to do well in their classes, develop effective study habits, choose a major, and identify a long-term academic plan.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, The Foundling’s dedicated staff have worked tirelessly to help students adjust to remote learning and support those who are facing further hurdles and obstacles so they have an equal shot at educational success.

Before COVID-19, the achievement gap between students in foster care and their peers was already significant. Now, says Joni Rivera, who oversees The Foundling’s Dormitory Project, “students and staff face challenges exacerbated by COVID-19.” Staff spent the first month of the outbreak trying to get students access to technology, adjust to a remote learning format, and stay on track with their courses. But it’s been tough.

“Not only are they switching over to remote learning, they also had to worry about finding a place to live mid-semester and move,” says Joni, “It had an impact on their learning.”

In March, when CUNY campuses shut down, The Foundling’s staff helped its Dormitory Project students find new places to live for the short term—this ranged from family and friends, to foster families, and if that wasn’t possible, limited housing at Queens College remained available.

“CUNY has been incredibly supportive through the pandemic,” says Elizabeth Tremblay, who currently acts as the director of The Dormitory Project, and is an Associate Vice president for The Foundling’s School Based Mental Health Services. “When we couldn’t find alternative summer housing for about 40 students, CUNY graciously agreed to keep one of their dormitories open and house them there. CUNY is also letting our students store some of their belongings in secure places on campus, especially since many have moved into housing arrangements where there isn’t a lot of extra space.”

All tutoring sessions and meetings with College Success Coaches are now done online. Students connect with them on a weekly basis for career counseling, educational advocacy training, and help navigating personal and peer conflicts. Students are also hearing from their tutors on a daily basis, which is an increase from the weekly sessions that took place before COVID-19. Typical tutoring sessions last one to two hours, depending on the students’ needs.

However, the transition from in-person meetings and learning to remote formats was harder for some students than others. “Some students were stressed and frustrated,” says Joni, “It was just difficult in the beginning.”

However, tutors were able to reel in struggling students and get them back on track. “Overall, we saw an increase in student engagement and participation,” Joni continues, “and real progress with students advocating for themselves. That is, students talking to their professors about problems they were having, asking for extensions, and make-up work.”

As a result, the program reported a lot of A’s and B’s on student final exams and – in very exciting news – thirteen students graduated this spring: ten with associates degrees, and three with a four-year degree. These results “really shine a light on how important it is for older youth in foster care to have someone in their lives who will advocate for their education,” Joni says.

CUNY is now offering credit/no credit courses, and program staff are helping students decide which to choose, as well as register for summer and fall classes. Online learning will continue through the summer and possibly also the fall.

“The work we do has a profound effect, especially during these difficult times,” Joni adds, “A huge push from our staff brought students who fell off the map back around. If it weren’t for them, these struggling students might have dropped out. So, we’re really giving these kids a fighting chance.”

“But our students are resilient, too,” Elizabeth says, “COVID-19 has highlighted that with support and the right people around them, older youth in foster care can acclimate to change and achieve successful outcomes in education no matter what their circumstances.”

To learn more about how The New York Foundling is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York, visit our emergency response page. Stay tuned for more stories from the frontlines as we continue to support our neighbors on paths to stability and strength.

Read past posts in the ‘Our Work Continues’ blog series:

June 12, 2020/by Elefant Design

Blog, Health and Behavioral Health, Our Work Continues

Our Work Continues: Community Services Keep Staten Island Families Connected

For over 150 years, The New York Foundling has worked in partnership with our neighbors to ensure that everyone can meet their full potential when facing challenging situations. This hasn’t changed, and our staff continue to provide life-changing and meaningful support in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. This series shares how The Foundling’s many programs are responding to the needs of their community.

The Staten Island Community Partnership, an initiative of the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) operated by The Foundling, works hand-in-hand with residents, community groups, service providers, and local government to encourage and develop new approaches to solving issues facing children, including child abuse and neglect. The partnership aims to weave a safety net for families with family-centered and community-based services that provide impactful and educational opportunities. Together with those closest to the challenges at hand, the partnership engages community members to understand their strengths and needs and create sustainable solutions that produce positive change.

Similarly, Healthy Families Staten Island is a free, home visiting program designed to help new and expectant parents meet the challenges of parenting and ensure the healthy development of their children. The program is designed to help prevent child abuse and neglect by promoting positive parenting skills and parent-child interaction. Participants are also connected to community resources that help to strengthen their families.

Throughout COVID-19, our dedicated staff have continued to provide meaningful engagement and support to residents of Staten Island.

The Foundling has been serving the community of Staten Island for decades. The Foundling’s Staten Island Community Partnership (SICPP) and Healthy Families Staten Island program (HFSI) are two programs that work closely together to support the North Shore Staten Island community. Together they aim to reduce the number of children and families involved in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems through preventative measures and support.

“We’re basically the glue that bands together a network of community-based organizations, and the core of what we do is finding and solving local issues.” Christopher noted, “We have ambassadors who are our eyes, ears, and feet within the community, who are trained to identify potential trouble spots. Some we’ve identified in the past include things like teen vaping, gang action, and understanding sexual consent. We’ll then either design interventions to address those issues or refer individuals to existing programs or The New York Foundling for help.”

Due to social distancing and stay at home orders, it has been more challenging than ever to monitor people’s well-being. “Most of what we know is through word of mouth,” says Valarie Taveras, The Foundling’s Assistant Vice President overseeing both SICPP and HFSI.

“With everything shutdown, one of the issues we’ve seen in teenagers is they are getting bored,” Christopher said. “All the usual summer activities, extracurriculars, and job opportunities that were available to them before aren’t around now to keep them busy and out of trouble. So, we’ve had to get creative about virtualizing our events to keep community members in touch and engaged.”

For example, SICPP now partners with other organizations to host game-oriented virtual academies where teens can meet and interact through supplemental educational activities online. By the end of June, SICPP will be distributing 200 board games to families to help pass time during the summer months.

“We have an annual Fatherhood Fun Day event coming up that’s been completely virtualized,” Christopher says, noting the event will include a DJ and other entertainment for dads to participate in virtually with their families. Various organizations will be present to explain their work and services.

Throughout May and June, SICPP has also been supporting the North Shore with a grocery distribution program. Every week, the Partnership orders a large delivery of meat, fruits, vegetables, and other essential foods to organize and distribute. “So far we have given out 50 bags out each time, and expect to distribute even more in the weeks to come,” Christopher says.

“I’d like to give a special shout out to Khristian Taveras, another Foundling employee,” Valerie added, “He has consistently received the dry and frozen goods since the initiative’s inception. Without his help, the effort would have been delayed.”

Similarly, SICPP’s Laundry Initiative, “Washing away COVID,” has generated nearly 500 emails and registrations of interest. In partnership with Clean Rite Laundry Centers, 375 laundry cards worth $40 each will be distributed amongst the community. SICP is also piloting a program with ACS and Lyft that will supply $30 in rideshare credits for transportation and MetroCards, and taking on an “assistance grant” initiative to provide direct relief.

While SICPP works with all age groups, HFSI specifically helps soon-to-be and new mothers prepare for motherhood. Through intensive home visits, now conducted virtually, HFSI provides mothers with the coaching, tools, and skills they will need as a parent. The program starts prenatal, or at the latest when the child is three months old, and ends when the child is 4-5 years old.

“Many of the mothers we see are transient or here alone in the country,” Valarie explains, “They don’t necessarily have access to family support, information, and resources about having and raising a child. Motherhood is scary and nerve-wracking as it is, and then you add those factors. So, we are here to help them.”

“I was nervous at first about the transition to virtual home visits, but it was seamless,” Valerie continues, “We’ve had to adapt some of our events to fit a virtual format, but overall, not being in an office has been the only real difference.”

Such virtualized events include regular playgroups and HFSI’s annual baby shower. For the latter, packets full of traditional baby shower games and gifts were distributed to the mothers ahead of the event. Since the annual baby shower typically serves attendees food, HFSI also provided Target gift cards so they wouldn’t miss out on the perk.

“Even though all our events are virtual now, the Staten Island community is still excited to participate and stay connected.”

To learn more about how The New York Foundling is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York, visit our emergency response page. Stay tuned for more stories from the frontlines as we continue to support our neighbors on paths to stability and strength.

June 8, 2020/by Elefant Design

Blog, Developmental Disabilities, Our Work Continues

Our Work Continues: Perseverance and Compassion in our Homes for Adults with Developmental Disabilities (Part 2)

For over 150 years, The New York Foundling has worked in partnership with our neighbors to ensure that everyone can meet their full potential when facing challenging situations. This hasn’t changed, and our staff continue to provide life-changing and meaningful support in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. This series shares how The Foundling’s many programs are responding to the needs of their community.

While some adults with developmental disabilities are able to live independently, or in the care of a close family member, others require more intensive round-the-clock services tailored to their level of need. For these people, many of whom have complex medical needs, The Foundling provides supportive and nurturing housing that is fully integrated into the surrounding community. The Foundling provides residential services for people with developmental disabilities in all five boroughs of New York City and in Westchester, Rockland, and Orange Counties.

We help the people in our residential programs engage with their community, gain more autonomy, and participate in gainful activities – from day programs to volunteer work and paying jobs.

As we featured last week, the incredible residential services staff of our Developmental Disabilities Division have selflessly worked the frontlines since the pandemic began, adapting to every challenge they have been faced with, while also providing round-the-clock support to the people in our care.

Across all of our residences, we’ve heard countless stories of staff working tirelessly – and often beyond their usual schedule – to fill the needs in our programs. Direct Support Provider Sandra Thompson, for example, did not hesitate to cover an overnight shift the day a client in the residence where she works received confirmation of COVID-19 infection. “She had just become an American citizen and felt it was her civic duty to go in and help wherever needed,” Assistant Vice President Mary Pell Bidwell, supervisor for Sandra’s residence, shared.

Similarly, Brian Montilla was asked to temporarily relocate his work to a residence that was hit hard by COVID-19. As one might imagine, this was a difficult request to make, as Brian would be going from a familiar workplace where no clients were COVID positive to a home that had multiple cases of sick residents and staff. In addition to an unfamiliar location, he did not know any of the residents or staff, and had to quickly adapt in a crisis situation with new and different stressors.

“Brian is a team player,” Assistant Vice President Renee Pili shared, “and, as usual, he politely accepted the directive and provided support at the other location for over a month as the situation there stabilized. Through all of this, Brian performed his duties calmly, professionally, and with a smile.”

In the same vein, Felecia Sloan immediately adjusted her schedule to fill shifts after our day habilitation programs closed. Felecia went above and beyond to arrange a socially distant celebration for a resident who was hospitalized on his birthday. Thanks to Felecia’s initiative, via a video call, the staff and residents sang happy birthday and watched the candles be blown out.

“Our staff have really gone above and beyond to uplift the spirits of our residents,” Mary Pell continued, “Von Hemert, one of our residence managers, connected with the community to receive deli food donations for residences. She personally picked up the donations and delivered them to residents!”

Staff members Diaka Doumbouya and Reginald Mason have displayed the same degree of creativity and thoughtfulness. “Diaka brings her skills as a beautician to the residence and pampers the ladies who are accustomed to going to the hair salon,” Assistant Vice President Thelma Adams Moore said, “And Reginald has served residents roast duck with stuffing and all the fixings. He also does smoothie bars and engages them in the kitchen with meal preparation.”

Residence Manager Liv Lauser received PPE donations from the city government to protect residents.

Despite the incredible pressure they’ve endured, these staff members – and many others – have displayed incredible compassion and creativity. Thank you to the valiant staff of our residential services for their selfless service.

To learn more about how The New York Foundling is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York, visit our emergency response page. Stay tuned for more stories from the frontlines as we continue to support our neighbors on paths to stability and strength.

May 29, 2020/by Elefant Design

Blog, Developmental Disabilities, Our Work Continues

Our Work Continues: Perseverance and Compassion in our Homes for Adults with Developmental Disabilities (Part 1)

For over 150 years, The New York Foundling has worked in partnership with our neighbors to ensure that everyone can meet their full potential when facing challenging situations. This hasn’t changed, and our staff continue to provide life-changing and meaningful support in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. This series shares how The Foundling’s many programs are responding to the needs of their community.

While some adults with developmental disabilities are able to live independently or in the care of a close family member, others require more intensive round-the-clock services tailored to their level of independence. For these people, many of whom have complex medical needs, The Foundling provides supportive and nurturing housing that is fully integrated into the surrounding community. The Foundling provides residential services for people with developmental disabilities in all five boroughs of New York City and in Westchester, Rockland, and Orange Counties.

We support the people in our residential programs as they work to engage with their community, gain more autonomy, and participate in gainful activities – from day programs to volunteer work and employment.

On any given day, hundreds of staff from The Foundling’s Developmental Disabilities Division are reporting to work at 104 separate supportive residences across the New York metropolitan area. Each home houses several individuals, and is staffed by direct care workers and nurses. With so many in people in every home, the possibility of a COVID-19 outbreak among our staff and the people we serve has been a critical focus of The Foundling since the onset of the pandemic, especially as many of these residents live with complex pre-existing conditions or are otherwise immunocompromised.

The dedicated nurses who work with our residents have fought tirelessly since March to keep their community healthy. They rely on the incredible perseverance and commitment of the direct care staff in every home to ensure that the residents – many of whom have suffered trauma from isolation and abuse – are comfortable and happy at home, despite these challenging times. Our Developmental Disabilities division staff members have faced incredible challenges and heartbreaks over the last two months, but they, have and continue to go above and beyond to bring joy and hope to the residents in their care.

There are hundreds of stories of perseverance and compassion from our many residences for people with development disabilities.

When our residents could no longer visit the barbershop or salon for a haircut, staff from The Bronx to Staten Island stepped in – including Ricardo Wright, Jeremiah Harris, and Okechukwu “Stanley” Nwanyanwu – and established makeshift barbershops, cutting residents hair for both hygiene and fun.

Elsewhere, staff members went above the call of duty in efforts to fill in for staff who were sick, taking care of a loved one, or unable to come to work. Their colleagues took on additional shifts and worked non-stop with no questions asked, knowing that their clients needed them. Nichole Guions took on extra shifts and stayed late even while caring for her fiancé, who was ill with the virus at home. Randy Brown, meanwhile, even slept at the residence where he was assigned, to be sure he would be there if any of the residents needed him.

With the return of warm weather, our residential staff have sought to comfort residents by planning barbecues and cookouts.

There are countless stories like these to share, but Renee Pili, Assistant Vice President of Residential Services, summarized the sentiment best:

“In times like these, it is very easy to succumb to frustration, anxiety, and fear. The easy way out would be to run, hide, and leave the worrying to other people. But that has not been the case for our residential managers and staff.”

Renee elaborated that despite incredible personal challenges, staff have risen above the call of duty, “Many have endured illnesses and passings, have embraced new roles as teachers for their children, or are living separately from their families, because they work with sick residents and do not want to risk bringing the virus home.

“They have faced crisis after crisis, and yet our people remain united and strong. They keep persevering—not only adapting to challenging new work routines but offering support to the individuals in our residences in new and creative ways. They are valuable team members, and I cannot express my gratitude enough.”

We are humbled daily by the care that our team gives to make others’ lives better. Thank you to all of our residential staff. Stay tuned next week for more updates from our Developmental Disabilities Division.

To learn more about how The New York Foundling is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York, visit our emergency response page. Stay tuned for more stories from the frontlines as we continue to support our neighbors on paths to stability and strength.

May 22, 2020/by Elefant Design

Blog, Health and Behavioral Health, Our Work Continues

Our Work Continues: School Based Mental Health Services still Mitigating Crises

For over 150 years, The New York Foundling has worked in partnership with our neighbors to ensure that everyone can meet their full potential when facing challenging situations. This hasn’t changed, and our staff continue to provide life-changing and meaningful support in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. This series shares how The Foundling’s many programs are responding to the needs of their community.

The Foundling’s School Based Mental Health Services team embeds staff within partnered New York City public schools to identify and address the individual mental health needs of students. Trained staff work with the school to develop and monitor intervention plans for in-school counseling as well as provide referrals out to community-based services.

The program works to educate families about emotional wellness while identifying children and teenagers in need of mental health services. In each partner school, staff aim to promote engagement with families, establish physical environments that encourage participation in services when needed, create processes that facilitate prompt referral, and incorporate evidence-based treatment practices.

Launched in 2014, the School Based Mental Health Services program is based on a growing body of evidence showing that an integrated focus on academics, health and mental health services, social services, expanded learning opportunities, positive youth development, and family and community supports are critical to improving student achievement. Schools that utilize this approach are often referred to as community schools.

In the face of COVID-19, our dedicated clinicians and support staff are adapting, so they can provide the same level of services to young people, their families, and the school community.

As of April, the School Based Mental Health Services team has provided Telehealth treatment to 212 students and families, 277 therapeutic sessions, and helped schools respond to six community member mental health crises. Unsurprisingly, these statistics are on par with our impact when schools are in session, demonstrating the team’s adaptability as well as the essential nature of the program.

Last year, the School Based Mental Health Services program served approximately 1,000 kids across its 30 partnering elementary, middle, and high schools. “We are in every New York City neighborhood except Brooklyn, which we hope to expand into,” notes Assistant Vice President Elizabeth Tremblay.

Assistant Vice President Bonnie Loughner, who oversees the program alongside Elizabeth, adds: “We are there to help the greater school community meet their students’ social-emotional and academic needs. If any kids are starting to rise to the level of depressed or anxious, we’re there to teach them skills to work through their symptoms.”

Should a crisis situation arise, the School Based Mental Health Services team is ready. When the pandemic began, Elizabeth and Bonnie sat down with their team to assess how their crisis response might change. “We’re following the same procedures as before, but instead of it being in-person, it’s all done via Telehealth now,” Bonnie explains.

“It has been exciting to see the clinicians and youth adapt to telehealth,” Stephanie Riley, a program supervisor, expresses, “the staff have been so open and creative in trying new engagement strategies such as scavenger hunts and incorporating them into therapy.”

Crisis cases typically involve self-harm or suicidal thoughts. In those situations, the program’s staff are the school community’s first responders. “Pre-COVID-19, the student would be brought to our assigned rooms at the school for a full, in-person assessment,” Elizabeth says, “But the advantage of having to do that assessment by video now is that we actually get to see the student’s home. That allows us to work with the family and create an even better safety plan—one that’s tailored to the student’s specific home situation in that moment.”

But mental health doesn’t just exist in the therapy room or on video conferences. The program also works closely with the PTA and school staff to bring mental health resources and awareness to the broader school community, including workshops for students, parents, and teachers. Workshops focus on topics like mental health stigma, behavior management in the classroom, identifying suicidal ideation, and anxiety management techniques. “All our workshops are done virtually now,” Bonnie says, “We’ve also pre-recorded staff trainings for teachers to use.”

Before COVID-19, the program staff would also conduct classroom observations and work with teachers to incorporate social-emotional learning into the classroom. Though this is now difficult, staff have had many teachers contact the program to manage their own stress and to learn how to better support students during this time.

Despite the many challenges posed by the pandemic, recently, the team launched a new partnership with The Foundling’s charter school, Haven Academy. The new initiative will bring the evidence-based model, Incredible Years, to Haven Academy scholars. Used in other elementary schools served by the School Based Mental Health team, Incredible Years is designed for 4 to 6 year-old children, and uses puppets and roleplaying to teach academic and social-emotional skills like sharing and persistence.

“We’re using video vignettes and roleplaying scenarios via videoconference,” Bonnie explains, describing the evidence-based therapeutic interventions they provide. A version designed for parents has similar content, but it teaches the parents how to apply those lessons with their 6 to 12 year-old children at home. Both groups last approximately 16 to 18 weeks, encouraging families to create healthy households where mental health concerns are destigmatized.

“Overall, we’ve seen increased school engagement,” Bonnie says, “School staff and administrators were harder to track down before, but now that everyone is working from home, a lot of schools are having weekly meetings with us. Pre-COVID-19, those meetings were only taking place once, maybe twice a month. It makes me really hopeful for the future that we are setting new expectations for more regular meetings and communications.”

To learn more about how The New York Foundling is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York, visit our emergency response page. Stay tuned for more stories from the frontlines as we continue to support our neighbors on paths to stability and strength.

May 15, 2020/by Elefant Design

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