Blog Archives - Page 22 of 36 - The New York Foundling

The New York Times: What It’s Like to Be a Teacher in 2020 America

The New York Times recently profiled one of our teachers at Haven Academy:

“Jardy Santana, 34, teaches English at Mott Haven Academy Charter School, a school predominantly serving families involved in the child welfare system in the Bronx, which is run in partnership with the New York Foundling. She has been teaching for 12 years, including 10 at Mott Haven, and this year has been her hardest.

For her, the onset of remote learning last spring brought a weighty realization: Each student has very different needs in the virtual classroom.”

Read more at The New York Times

This article was also featured in three additional media outlets:

October 6, 2020/by Elefant Design

The New York Times: Finding Help to Take Their Next Steps

The most recent installment of The New York Times’ Neediest Cases profiles Denisha, a participant in our Supportive Housing program. She had a turbulent home life growing up, and spent much of her adolescence in the foster care system. Her love of school, however, was always a constant. With The Foundling’s support, Denisha has been able to continue her academic journey and now, as a teacher, is inspiring others.

Read more at The New York Times.

October 2, 2020/by Elefant Design

Blog, Child Welfare

Understanding Cultural Norms in the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community

Each September, cities and states across the country recognize and pay tribute to Deaf and Hard of Hearing Awareness Month. It’s a time when there’s greater attention and focus on members of this community, a celebration of their cultural norms and traditions, and a deeper understanding of how they communicate with one another.

For nearly 40 years, The New York Foundling has been one of the only specialized providers of family support and prevention programs for New York City’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing community. Members of our staff who work with Deaf or Hard of Hearing children and adults are fluent in American Sign Language (ASL), and in many cases, are also Deaf or Hard of Hearing themselves. The services we provide at The Foundling improve family relationships and dynamics, empower each person to be more independent and expressive in what they need to grow stronger, and help families and individuals advocate for services and support.

There’s a strong sense of community and belonging among those who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing. A unique aspect of their culture is the tradition of giving someone a personal “name sign” instead of fingerspelling out the person’s name.

“A name sign can only be given by a Deaf person, or member of the Deaf community, and typically is meant to be representative of something specific about the individual,” says Anna Poiarkoff, Clinical Model Accessibility Coordinator for Deaf Services at The Foundling. In the video below, Anna shares the poignant story of how she received her name sign. We hope you’ll watch and be inspired to learn more about Deaf culture.

For more information on The Foundling’s Deaf Services, check out our program page and our recent blog post: Our Work Continues: Supporting Deaf and Hard of Hearing Families with Communication and Advocacy.

September 30, 2020/by Elefant Design

Blog, Child Welfare

Empowering School Staff and Students to Report Child Abuse

Our award-winning Child Abuse Prevention Program (CAPP) has reached nearly 600,000 elementary school students in New York City since 1986. The program teaches up to 20,000 children every year to recognize, resist, and report abuse and neglect using life-sized puppets during in-school workshops. Over the last 34 years, the program has shown its effectiveness in helping children escape abuse.

This school year will be very different in many ways, but one thing that won’t change is The Foundling’s work to protect some of our City’s most at-risk children. The CAPP program operates on the understanding that school staff are often the first to notice signs of neglect or abuse and report it. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in children being out of school for months, and The Foundling and CAPP want to ensure that children are still safe, despite these challenging times.

Before the effects of COVID-19 came to New York City, the CAPP team performed their Child Safety Workshops all school year long in school libraries or gymnasiums for large groups of third and fourth graders. With the limitations on in-person gatherings and the drastic change to school operations, our team has pivoted to a virtual format for this coming school year, aiming to reach thousands of students even if our Workshops can’t be performed in person. As part of their annual curriculum, students whose parents have opted for in-person learning in New York City will watch a pre-recorded video of the CAPP workshop with their teacher and a school counselor. Staff from The Foundling will be “with” the students virtually on camera– watching alongside them. The team is also developing plans to work with students are attending school completely virtually.

“Stephen,” is one of the CAPP puppets who speaks with students about physical and sexual abuse, and provides children with the tools they need to decipher between safe and unsafe touch. Although he can’t meet with students this year, he did have this message to share as kids begin their remote learning:

“Before each virtual workshop, all participating schools will receive training on how to speak with children who disclose abuse and neglect,” said Marion White, Program Director of CAPP. “The workshop is incredibly important, especially today with many children not attending school in-person—not only does the work give children a prevention education—it also gives children who may have already experienced abuse the chance to get help.”

Click here to learn more about The Foundling’s Child Abuse Prevention Program.

September 22, 2020/by Elefant Design

Child Welfare, Media Coverage

Hypebae: For the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Clear Face Masks are More Than an Aesthetic Choice

Hypebae reports on the proliferation of accessible PPE that allows the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community to better communicate. “We jointly designed a clear face covering to ‘unmask’ masked communication with the deaf and hard of hearing community,” Goldstein said. Sprayground, another brand expanding into the clear face mask category, makes an entirely transparent version featuring two valves, one on each side of the face, that single-use filters can be inserted into. Founder David Ben David shared that the brand has partnered with The New York Foundling’s Family Services for Deaf Children program and will donate masks for distribution in the New York City area.

Read more at Hypebae.

September 21, 2020/by Elefant Design

NYF

Health and Behavioral Health, Media Coverage

City & State: Virtual Healthy New York Summit

The Foundling’s President and CEO, Bill Baccaglini, spoke at City and State’s Virtual Healthy New York Summit. The virtual conference, which focused on COVID-19’s impact on New York healthcare policies, brought together decisionmakers and experts from all sectors to identify challenges posed by the pandemic and propose solutions to improve health outcomes for New Yorkers.

Appearing on the event’s “Addressing Health and New York’s Most Vulnerable Populations” panel, Bill Baccaglini addressed the impacts of COVID-19 on the communities we serve. “We can’t go back to business as usual… we learned that tech can be our friend here if we use it wisely. This is not an either or, this is an integration. The mental health issues emanating from this pandemic in disinvested communities will be with us for years to come.” He also advocated for the continued use of tele-health, which has seen positive results in the past few months. “I think if we stick to the traditional clinic-based approach, we’re going to miss something big,” he stated.

Watch the full video below (the panel featuring Bill Baccaglini starts at 1:58:45):

Learn more about the Virtual Healthy New York Summit at City & State here.

September 17, 2020/by Elefant Design

Child Welfare, Events, Other, The Vincent J. Fontana Center for Child Protection

Preventing Abuse and Neglect in Our Lifetime: A Virtual Conference

The New York Foundling and the National Initiative to End Corporal Punishment proudly presents:

Preventing Abuse and Neglect in Our Lifetime: A Virtual Conference

Thursday, October 15, 2020 and Friday, October 16, 2020

Co-sponsored by:

American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children
US Alliance to End the Hitting of Children
Academy on Violence and Abuse
Prevent Child Abuse America
Stop Spanking

Keynote Speakers

Joan Durrant, Ph.D.
Child-Clinical Psychologist and Professor of Community Health Sciences, University of Manitoba
“The Global Movement to End Corporal Punishment of Children”

David Finkelhor, Ph.D.
Director, Crimes against Children Research Center; Co-Director, Family Research
Laboratory; Professor of Sociology, University of New Hampshire
“The End of Spanking in Historical and Sociological Context”

David Hansell, JD.
Commissioner, NYC Administration for Children’s Services
“Supporting Children and Families Now and in the Future: Lessons from COVID-19”

Melissa Merrick, Ph.D.
CEO, Prevent Child Abuse America
“The Power of Prevention”

Pricing and Registration

Pricing

General Admission:
Day One (October 15, 2020): $25.00 | Day Two (October 16, 2020): $25.00
Both Days: $50.00

American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children members: You will receive your discount automatically when registering.
Day One (October 15, 2020): $15.00 | Day Two (October 16, 2020): $15.00
Both Days: $30.00

US Alliance to End the Hitting of Children, and Academy on Violence and Abuse members: Please email FontanaCenter@nyfoundling.org to request your discount code.
Day One (October 15, 2020): $15.00 | Day Two (October 16, 2020): $15.00
Both Days: $30.00

New York Foundling Staff: The event is free for Foundling staff. Please email FontanaCenter@nyfoundling.org to request your entry code.

Registration:

Please click on the links provided to register:
Day 1 Only | Day 2 Only | Day 1 and 2

Once you have registered, you will receive an email with a link to your event portal which contains all the appropriate zoom links.

For questions, please email FontanaCenter@nyfoundling.org

Event Program

Day One: October 15, 2020

All times are in Eastern Standard Time

10:00am – 10:10am
Welcome: Viola Vaughan-Eden, Ph.D., MJ.; Professor and Ph.D. Director, The Ethelyn R. Strong School of Social Work, Norfolk State University

10:10am – 11:00am
Keynote Speakers:
Joan Durrant, Ph.D.; Child-Clinical Psychologist and Professor of Community Health Sciences, University of Manitoba
“The Global Movement to End Corporal Punishment of Children”
David Finkelhor, Ph.D.; Director, Crimes against Children Research Center; Co-Director, Family Research Laboratory; Professor of Sociology, University of New Hampshire
“The End of Spanking in Historical and Sociological Context”

11:00am – 12:00pm
Workshop: “Recent Research Trends and Topics”
Presenters: George Holden, Ph.D.; Professor and Chair of the Psychology Department at Southern Methodist University
Elizabeth Gershoff, Ph.D.; Amy Johnson McLaughlin Centennial Professor, University of Texas at Austin

12:00pm – 1:00pm: Lunch

1:00pm – 2:00pm
Workshop: “Spare the Rod: The Intersectionality of Race, Religion, and the Raising of America’s Children”
Presenters: Victor Vieth, JD, MA.; Director of Education and Research, Zero Abuse Project
Darrell Armstrong, DDiv, MDiv, EdS-MFT.; Pastor, Shiloh Baptist Church

2:00pm – 3:00pm
Workshop: “Let’s Talk about Race, Culture, Corporal Punishment and Child Abuse Prevention”
Presenter: Stacey Patton, Ph.D.; Research Associate Professor, Institute for Urban Research, Morgan State University

3:00pm – 3:15pm: Break

3:15pm – 4:15pm
Workshop: “No Hit Zones: A Promising Solution to Ending Corporal Punishment”
Presenter: Stacie LeBlanc, MEd, JD.; CEO, The UP Institute; President, American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children No Hit Zone National Committee

4:15pm – 4:30pm:
Closing Remarks: George W. Holden, Ph.D.; Professor and Chair of the Psychology Department, Southern Methodist University

Day Two: October 16, 2020

All times are in Eastern Standard Time

9:00am – 9:15am
Welcome: Bill Baccaglini, CEO and President, The New York Foundling

9:15am – 10:15am
Keynote Speaker:
Melissa Merrick, Ph.D.; CEO, Prevent Child Abuse America
“The Power of Prevention”

10:15am – 10:30am: Break

10:30am – 11:30pm
Workshops: Separate links will be given for the individual workshops once you have registered. Each workshop has limited capacity. You can enter another workshop if your first choice is full.

A. What’s New in Child Sexual Abuse Prevention and How to Make it Work for You
From Erin’s Law to Sex-Wise Parenting, innovations in child sexual abuse prevention policy and practice are available to help keep children safer. This workshop will review current innovations in policy and practice, and end with a focus on how professionals in child welfare and protection can support parents to promote sexual health and safety in their homes and community.
Presenter: Janet Rosenzweig, Ph.D.; Author, The Sex-Wise Parent; Executive Director, American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children

B. Preventing Child Maltreatment in New York State
This session will provide an examination of prevention efforts in New York State. The workshop will focus on the primary prevention of child sexual abuse, corporal punishment and neglect. The role of ACES and resilience in preventing child maltreatment and toxic stress will be discussed. Presenter: Timothy Hathaway; Executive Director, Prevent Child Abuse New York

C. Prevention of Psychological Maltreatment
Psychological maltreatment/emotional abuse is the least understood and most pervasive form of child maltreatment. This workshop will enable participants to define the term and will describe the FAIR system, an approach to assessment allegations and substantiation determinations that is now in use across the U.S. armed services. Our research has found that this approach to assessment and substantiation results in significant declines in subsequent maltreatment as compared with typical approaches. The implications for child welfare systems and families will be explored. Presenter: Amy Slep, Ph.D.; Professor, New York University

11:30pm – 12:30pm: Lunch

12:30pm – 1:30pm
Keynote Speaker:
“Supporting Children & Families Now and in the Future: Lessons from COVID-19”
David A. Hansell, JD.; Commissioner, NYC Administration for Children’s Services

1:30pm – 1:45pm: Break

1:45pm – 2:45pm
Workshops: Separate links will be given for the individual workshops once you have registered. Each workshop has limited capacity. You can enter another workshop if your first choice is full.

A. Effective Program Models for the Prevention of Child Maltreatment
This workshop will highlight effective program models for the prevention of child maltreatment. There are quite a few prevention methods useful to effectively address and mitigate various types of child maltreatment. We will review the risk factors, the absence of which could be considered protective factors. Examples of highlighted models are home visiting interventions, parent education programs, school and child-care based interventions, and community level interventions. Finally, there will be a discussion regarding barriers to child maltreatment prevention programming in the context of historically oppressive systems.
Presenter: Darcey Merritt, Ph.D.; Assistant Professor, New York University

B. Work in The Education and Child Welfare Intersection
Jessica Nauiokas is the co-founder and head of school at Mott Haven Academy Charter School. She will be discussing lessons learned from the first-of-its-kind charter school for child welfare-involved children and youth in grades Pre-K – 8. Haven Academy is a public charter school that utilizes a specialized trauma-sensitive curriculum to help close the achievement gap for children in foster care and the child welfare system, some of whom have been victims of trauma, abuse, or neglect. The revolutionary school will be discussed in depth during this workshop.
Presenter: Jessica Nauiokas, B.S.W., M.Ed.; Principal, Mott Haven Academy Charter School

C. Professionalizing Roles to Prevent Abuse & Neglect for People with Developmental Disabilities
This workshop will examine important career pathways and stepping stones in professionalizing the role of Direct Support Professionals (DSP), to prevent abuse and neglect. We will explore Core Competencies and access to educational opportunities, which will also increase retention. By offering access to information and education in an enjoyable and engaging way for DSPs and other professionals supporting people with developmental disabilities, DSPs can obtain the necessary prerequisite skills to provide support to people in the way they choose to be supported.
Presenters: Renee Pili; Assistant Vice President, DD Division, The New York Foundling MaryBeth Witkop; Assistant Vice President, DD Division, The New York Foundling

3:00pm-3:30pm
Closing Session: Haven Kids Rock Video and Q&A
Haven Kids Rock is a music program that was created for at-risk kids in the New York City child welfare and foster care systems. Rock guitarist Jimi K. Bones and musician and casting director Nefertiti Jones founded Haven Kids Rock in 2008 to provide children with a creative/enriching/therapeutic outlet. The weekly music program resides within Mott Haven Academy Charter School in the South Bronx and shares a close partnership with The New York Foundling.

September 16, 2020/by Elefant Design

Education, Health and Behavioral Health, Media Coverage

Center for New York City Affairs: Despite Covid-19’s Emotional Traumas, Student Mental Health Services Dry Up

The New School’s Center for New York City Affairs reports on the lack of mental health resources available to New York City students this school year, including insight from our CEO, Bill Baccaglini.

“As kids finally resume classes – remotely this week and in classrooms next – they will find that many social workers and other mental health care providers have disappeared from school budgets.

“We’re turning off the spigot to kids with serious needs,” says Bill Baccaglini, the executive director of the nonprofit New York Foundling, which runs mental health programs in 22 public elementary, middle, and high schools, mostly in Upper Manhattan and the Bronx.”

September 15, 2020/by Elefant Design

Blog, Developmental Disabilities

Celebrating Our Direct Support Professionals

By Renee Pili, AVP, Developmental Disabilities Division

Direct Support Professionals Week is September 13-September 19. To meet some of our DSPs, make sure to follow us on social media. You can find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

The New York Foundling’s Developmental Disabilities programming has doubled in size in recent years. This growth makes me proud to work at The Foundling and shows just how powerful and committed our organization is to fulfilling needs across the community. Today, we provide Residential Housing, Community Habilitation, Day Habilitation, Employment Services, Nutritional Services, and Clinical Services to 1,000 men and women across New York City and surrounding counties.

We wouldn’t be able to do this work without our incredible team of Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) who help our program participants achieve the highest quality of life possible. Bringing love and compassion to their jobs every day, Foundling DSPs have brightened the lives of the people we serve during a year that has posed enormous challenges.

The essential and critical role our DSPs play in shaping the lives of the people we serve cannot be overstated. They do so much more than what’s in their job description. They connect with program participants on a personal level as they would with members of their own family. DSPs at The Foundling show up early and stay late. They will run to the pharmacy in the middle of the night – or drive hundreds of miles to help facilitate a family visit in another state.

In previous years, Foundling DSPs traveled with residents on vacations. One group flew to West Palm Beach, Florida for a week! Many of them had never flown on a plane before, been to the beach, experienced nightlife, or stayed in a resort. Another group of residents spent over a month and a half in a house on Lake George while their residential home was renovated, and their DSPs took two-week shifts to make it happen. The group got to enjoy the walkable lake town, watersports, mini golf, arcades, and steamboat rides. Our residents were able to have these wonderful experiences because of their DSPs’ willingness to be with them.

Most of our staff work full-time and meet with our program participants four to five days a week. Each person in our care has different needs and abilities, so our team is trained to provide a wide range of supports. Some people need 24-hour care—assistance eating, bathing, and dressing. Others may need help cooking a healthy meal, doing laundry, or maintaining friendships and relationships with others. For those seeking employment, DSPs will take them to job interviews and work with them on resume building, workplace etiquette, meeting deadlines, and travel training.

This year, when the pandemic hit, our team of DSPs educated all 1,000 program participants in mask wearing and social distancing—it has since become an ingrained part of their day-to-day routine. Many worked overtime to cover shifts when colleagues got sick—some working round the clock. A few DSPs even volunteered to transfer to a residence where residents and staff member tested positive for COVID-19, because they needed help. And staff did everything they could to keep morale up. One house manager slept at one of his rental apartments so he wouldn’t potentially infect his wife, son, and mother-in-law.

With all the time they spend together, with everything they’ve experienced this year, our Direct Support Professionals really have become like family to the men and women who call The Foundling home. For some, the DSPs are the only family and friends they have. Ironically, it’s when a person becomes less and less reliant on a DSP over time that we know we are achieving success.

Our DSPs have shown again and again that they will do whatever it takes to give the individuals in our care happy, healthy, well-rounded lives. Their generosity and their commitment know no bounds. And I am proud to call them my colleagues, now more than ever.

September 10, 2020/by Elefant Design

Invisible Children - Washington Examiner

Child Welfare, Media Coverage

Washington Examiner: Invisible Children

Washington Examiner reports on how the COVID-19 pandemic has led to decreased reports of child maltreatment across the country, with insight from The New York Foundling:

“Bill Baccaglini, the president and CEO of the New York Foundling (the city’s oldest foster care agency), said he is “very concerned that once the clouds lift, that we will see a spike in reports.” He told me, “I have a bunch of friends in the domestic violence world. They are already seeing it now.” The Foundling also runs a school in the Bronx that serves children who have spent time in foster care and who are at risk in other ways. Baccaglini said the “stressors of the last four to five months will hit those kids’ families harder than your family or my family. And sometimes, the reaction is to strike out at the most vulnerable. Those tend to be kids.””

Read more at Washington Examiner.

September 3, 2020/by Elefant Design