The Foundling's Agency Operated Boarding Homes (AOBH) are community-based residences for children, teens and young adults who require more intensive social and medical services than traditional or therapeutic foster care settings provide. The Foundling has AOBHs in Manhattan and Queens, where round-the-clock staff lives with the youth and support them in:
- Developing socialization skills
- Nurturing peer relationships
- Learning self-responsibility

The Foundling manages specialized Mother/Child AOBH residences in the Bronx. With the support of nurturing staff, young mothers pursue educational and personal goals while learning how to care for their infants and toddlers, all in preparation for successful, independent living.

The Foundling operates a Diagnostic Reception Center (DRC), called Stephen’s House, on Staten Island for teenagers who have severe behavioral or emotional problems. The Foundling’s staff of professional social workers, case workers and medical and mental health specialists evaluate and diagnose each teen’s needs to determine the programs and services that would be most helpful, with the goal of returning the youth to a stable family as quickly as possible.

While in the New York Foundling Diagnostic Reception Center, youth receive:

-  Short-term medical services if needed
-  Psychiatric, social, and educational assessments and treatment
-  Referrals to foster care or other placement with return to family whenever possible

In some cases, an adolescent’s parents may participate in The Foundling's support services to learn how to maintain a positive, safe environment to which the he or she may return. If it is determined that the teen cannot be returned to the home safely, The Foundling works with family members, foster parents and community organizations to find an alternate, family-like setting in which the youth can live safely and have the best chance to thrive.

Teenagers are referred to The Foundling’s Diagnostic Reception Center by the New York City Administration for Children's Services (ACS).

Stephen's House was named after firefighter Stephen Siller who lost his life on September 11, 2001.  The state-of-the-art facility provides a home-like setting to 24 teenagers who have been removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect.

The Foundling’s Group Homes for children on Staten Island and in Queens and Rockland County provide a comprehensive network of services for troubled children and youth in a structured and nurturing community. Children may enter our group homes because of emotional disorders, behavior problems, and developmental disabilities. New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) refers children to The Foundling’s community-based group homes.

The Foundling’s specialized residential programs, staffed by skilled professionals, provide family-like settings in which children with complex needs may live and thrive.

Commerford Maternity Residence

For teenage girls with traumatic family histories, having a baby can appear to be a fairy-tale solution; the opportunity to create their own ideal family. These girls, 14 to 21 years old, invariably lack positive role models and support systems. The Foundling’s Commerford Maternity Residence helps young mothers-to-be to avoid the dysfunctional or abusive patterns of their own childhood by offering parenting training and psychological counseling. Classes are conducted with peer groups in a dormitory setting, where girls are encouraged to set realistic educational and career goals, save money, and if possible, live independently after their babies are born.

Mother Child Residences

When girls who have spent most of their lives in the foster care system find themselves mothers at a tender age, they urgently need a support system to teach them what they have never been exposed to: positive parenting. The Foundling's Mother Child programs in Manhattan, Staten Island and the Bronx help these mothers set and achieve educational and personal goals while teaching them to properly care for their babies. The Foundling's Mother Child DeSales Residence, AOBHs, and Group Home offer:
- Playgroups with infants
- Job skills training
- Parenting classes to develop childcare skills
- Counseling from child-life specialists and psychiatrists
- Help with setting and reaching educational goals
Though some are able to establish a safe home with relatives, most of these young mothers remain in the Mother Child homes with their babies until they are 21.

The Foundling’s Supervised Independent Living Program (SILP) provides a transition to independence for young adults who are aging out of foster care. The goal of the Program is to provide youth with the experience of living on their own while still supporting them in achieving this milestone. The Program serves 10 young people, age 18-20, including young mothers and their babies, and serves as a final step before discharge from foster care.

The youth in the Program receive case management services from a social worker and announced and unannounced visits from program staff in order to support them in their move towards independence. All program participants are high school graduates or have their GED and work full- or part-time. Many also attend school.

For more information please call 718-551-3548.

The Foundling’s Youth Enhancement Services (YES) supportive housing program was created to meet the needs of young adults (ages 18-26 years) who are aging out of foster care. This population is at great risk of homelessness and supportive housing programs focus on removing barriers to independent living.

Residents live in apartments in two Brooklyn neighborhoods and enjoy the comfort of a beautifully furnished apartment that they share with an apartment mate. Each resident will have his/her own bedroom while sharing the living, dining and bathroom quarters.

With the assistance of Foundling YES staff, residents will develop individual plans that will address their needs and help them set and achieve realistic goals. In order to foster a stable, supportive home environment, case managers will provide a comprehensive array of services including:
- Personal Assistance with learning daily living, financial management, and medication management skills
- Crisis Intervention
- 24/7 On Call Staffing
- Advocacy and Referrals for:
-health/medical care
-domestic violence, substance abuse counseling and treatment
-job readiness/employment services and educational/vocational training
Recognizing and building on their own strengths, residents will take advantage of educational and employment opportunities to increase their self-sufficiency. Ultimately, these young men and women will transition from the program to live independently as productive members of the community.

The Program is open to youth who have aged out of Foundling foster care programs as well as youth in the community who meet eligibility criteria for the Supportive Housing program. To apply to the Program, the youth, or someone on his/her behalf, must first submit a Supportive Housing Application online to the Human Resources Administration, who will determine eligibility.

For more information, read our comprehensive Supportive Housing brochure or call The Foundling’s Supportive Housing Program at 347-689-1037.

The Foundling's services in Rockland County include a non-secure detention home for five co-ed adolescents, ages 13-17. These teens have come into the juvenile justice system and are remanded by the court to live in this facility in Spring Valley. The Family Court system utilizes the non-secure option for those youth that may not require the highest level of care.

The primary goal of the Non-Secure Detention Shelter is to provide a temporary residence for boys and girls during the time it takes for the Family Court to study their respective cases and come to a final disposition. The length of stay in detention should be kept as short as possible, with a maximum of 45 days, after which they may enter a juvenile detention center or be returned to their homes. All efforts are made to protect the child from an unduly long state of indecision and anxiety about the future.

During this time, The Foundling provides:
- housing
- social work support
- connections to the local community
- counseling and group interaction to assist the child in understanding and working on the problems that required court intervention

In preparation for the child’s next home, whether it be a foster boarding home, school, child care agency or his/her family’s home, the staff utilizes a behavior modification program to help the child:
- acquire inner controls
- assume responsibilities for his/her own actions
- internalize that each behavior has a consequence

The Foundling’s Project Turning Point provides a safe haven and the chance to pull together the shattered lives of runaway or homeless adolescents and young adults, ages 16-21, many of whom have been living in the streets for extended periods. Project Turning Point provides:
- temporary shelter, up to 30 days
- highly individualized ongoing counseling
- trained social workers who assist teens with legal advocacy, education, and career planning.

These preventive services address issues of emotional and physical abuse and abandonment, as well as medical and mental health problems.

The Foundling works with community outreach groups, homeless shelters, and police departments in New York City and neighboring counties to identify young people in need. A young adult can contact Project Turning Point directly. While we provide direct services to youth in Rockland Country, we field calls from across the country and will offer referrals and contact numbers to programs in the caller’s area.

If you are a community organization and want to make a referral to the program, call 845-623-3461.

If you are a runaway or homeless teenager in the New York City area and need help,
call the Project Turning Point 24-Hour Hotline at 845-623-6939.