On local television channel BronxNet’s Bronx Social Justice and Anti-Violence Forums, our CEO and President Bill Baccaglini sat down with host Daren Jaime to discuss The Foundling’s juvenile justice and mental health programs. Watch the interview below:
In a new Gothamist article, Dr. Ruth Gerson, The Foundling’s Senior Vice President for Mental Health Services, discusses the ongoing trauma that young students are facing as a result of the pandemic. One year in, young people continue to find it difficult to cope with the disruption, isolation, and stress that school shutdowns have brought on. “It can be very hard to have the psychological distance from it to try to unpack it and really do evidence-based trauma treatment,” she says.
In a press release, Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance, Jr. announced that beginning today, the non-profit organization The New York Foundling is supporting survivors of sex trafficking through its new child and youth sex trafficking intervention program, “the Phoenix Project.” The innovative program will serve approximately 50 to 70 young people ages 12 through 21 each year at locations across New York City.
Staten Island Advance recently profiled the work of our Staten Island Community Partnership, which has worked to address acute community needs that have arisen during the COVID-19 pandemic. Initiatives over the past few months have included food distribution, laundry cards, funds for necessities, a school supply drive, and even fun events for families.
“I know we have had a meaningful impact through our outreach and initiatives by the positive responses from residents. They have expressed such heartfelt gratitude when we connect that it brings both a smile and a tear to our faces. Just the idea that we are helping to feed dozens of families each week is so rewarding and we are so pleased that we can continue the food pantry through the Spring,” says director Chris Dowling.
In Generosity’s recent article on employment for people with disabilities in Philadelphia, reporter Jaya Montague looks at New York City’s workforce development efforts as a potential model. The article contains insights from The Foundling’s Mia Guidel-Joshi, who shares how “the climate of workforce development for people with disabilities in New York City is very collaborative.”
In a recent blog post, Youth Villages (which created the LifeSet program model) shares the story of Crystal – a young mother who has participated in our Mother/Child and LifeSet programs. With the support of Foundling staff, she has learned parenting skills to better support her children, moved into her own apartment, enrolled in college, and is now building toward a bright future.
As Hadiyyah Thomas, her LifeSet specialist, shares, “She is a young person who transformed in The Foundling’s programs; she matured.”
At The Foundling, we pride ourselves on our innovative approach to service delivery using the latest technology trends. In a new article from CIO Dive on IT innovation at The Foundling, Arik Hill, our Chief Information Officer, shares insights about our work with technology. “You need an established culture that values innovation,” he says. “Tying every technical effort back to the organization’s mission enables digital transformation.”
MedPage Today’s new op-ed focuses on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on two high-risk populations served by The Foundling – people with developmental disabilities and those in foster care. Written by two members of The Foundling’s leadership team – Dr. Joe Saccoccio, our Chief Medical Officer, and Sashoi Grant, our Vice President of Nursing – the article details the lessons learned in providing medical care to these communities, from the importance of educating on safety measures to maintaining a focus on mental health.
Read the op-ed below:
Op-Ed: Forgotten Populations and COVID — Learning the right lessons
by
At The New York Foundling — one of New York’s longest-serving non-profit organizations — we know all too well how COVID has upended countless lives across the city. The communities and populations we support, totaling 30,000 each year, have been hit particularly hard — from people with developmental disabilities to children and families in crisis.
We now know that COVID-19 is three times more likely to have fatal outcomes among people with intellectual and developmental disabilities than the general population. And the data tells us that most children in foster care have higher instances of medical and mental health diagnoses than children who are not in foster care — from asthma, to obesity, to long-term illnesses like diabetes — all putting them at higher risk for contracting the coronavirus without intervention. The communities in our care at The Foundling have faced immense challenges this year and are some of the most at-risk heading into the next few months.
While we may be entering a second wave and a dark winter, we do know what could be in store. We’ve been intentional about revisiting the most challenging moments of the first wave in New York, and reflecting on lessons learned. Medical care is a critical part of the history and legacy of The New York Foundling. And today, we continue to support hundreds of thousands of our neighbors — and during COVID, our work has not changed.
New York has learned some of the toughest lessons from the pandemic and stands to be more prepared as we head into a difficult holiday season. Gov. Andrew Cuomo himself addressed the current surge, saying, “We lived this nightmare. We learned from this nightmare. And we’re going to correct for the lessons we learned.”
With more than 37,000 COVID-related deaths in New York and over 200,000 new cases a day across the country, what have we learned, and how can we correct it?
Lesson #1: Continue to educate on and adapt to new safety measures. As the state proceeds with its plan to emphasize mask-wearing, enforce social distancing, and prevent overflow at hospitals, we must do our part to educate and support people with developmental disabilities, children in foster care, and children and families receiving preventative services.
And it’s not just why, but how we educate people that is so important heading into the winter. It’s important to find the right way to explain and demonstrate how severe the virus is, why social distancing is important. And with many people, especially those with developmental disabilities, unable to tolerate mask-wearing and other standard precautions, we must get creative to find new ways to keep ourselves and our clients safe. Staff at The Foundling have worked tirelessly throughout the year to find alternative safety measures for those who struggle to comply with the status quo, and will continue to do so.
Lesson #2: We need to prioritize mental health and emotional wellbeing, alongside physical health. In 2020, we learned that many of the people living in Foundling-run homes and residences for people with developmental disabilities faced difficulties understanding isolation. In instances of a positive case of COVID in a group home, there were times when the individual didn’t understand what was going on with their body, were unable to advocate for themselves, and when isolated, didn’t fully recognize why they couldn’t see their friends or loved ones. Supporting these individuals takes a tremendous investment from our staff in not just the physical, but also the emotional and mental wellbeing of our residents – in these difficult times, safety goes beyond physical health.
Lesson #3: We learned a valuable lesson on staying connected. Take, for example, families and children in the child welfare system, who we know are at a higher risk for contracting the coronavirus without intervention.
Compounding to these factors are the strict “shelter in place” orders — which not only affect the children who have been placed into safe, stable, supportive, and loving homes, but also have a devastating effect on children receiving preventive services, and children who live in under-resourced communities and neighborhoods across New York City.
Children in foster care and in preventive services already have heightened rates of anxiety and depression, and the winter cold, combined with a lack of one on one connection, only serves to intensify those issues moving forward – both from a public health and mental health perspective.
This winter will look very different from years past. Yet while we reflect on how much things have changed this winter, this is also a time to examine what we’ve learned. Let’s work together to find new ways to support each other so that we can all stay safe and healthy into the New Year.
Joe Saccoccio, MD, MPH, FAAP, is senior vice president for medical services, and Sashoi Grant is vice president for nursing, developmental disabilities, at The New York Foundling.
In a segment airing on local television channel BronxNet, OPEN Host Daren Jaime speaks with our CEO and President, Bill Baccaglini, to discuss how The Foundling has provided education, child welfare, and healthcare services to children and families in The Bronx throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Watch the full video below or learn more on BronxNet:
Food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic has been an issue for 1 in 10 Americans – and women of color are disproportionately impacted. A recent article from Essence reports on non-profit organizations and programs that are working to close this gap, including our Staten Island Community Partnership. “Amid Covid, [The Foundling’s] been providing food pantry meals to dozens of families,” reporter Donna M. Owens writes.
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