The Imprint reports on “The Reckoning: Transforming Systems to Achieve Family Justice and Integrity,” an initiative headed by The New York Foundling and other partner organizations, which has held gatherings over the past year dedicated to discussing how child welfare organizations can reduce the harm and trauma that the foster care system has caused for families, particularly those in Black and Brown communities.

“Reflecting a significant shift in the social services field, the discussions have focused less on how to remove kids quickly from homes where parents are accused of abuse and neglect, and more on how to “narrow the front door” to foster care.  More than 600 social workers, nonprofit executives and staff, legal experts and advocates for parents’ rights have joined the hours-long convenings that began in March,” writes The Imprint.

“We haven’t always gotten it right,” Melanie Hartzog, CEO of The New York Foundling said on stage at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem. “But now there’s an opportunity for us to build on that urgency, to really think about a different way of looking at what we call foster care.”

Read more at The Imprint

The independent, non-profit publication The Imprint featured The New York Foundling’s dedication to supportive housing, including youth transitioning out of the foster care system and into transitional housing or independent living. 

They note our programs as, “[…] a stand-out, gleaming alternative for youth aging out of foster care — providing not only otherwise unaffordable amenities, but a place to call home, alongside on-site social services.”

Our CEO & President Melanie Hartzog, two of our participants, and Bonnie Langer who oversees education and housing services at The Foundling spoke with the reporter.  They shared their experiences with the individualized and supportive programs and services developed at The Foundling. 

“We’re able to provide the type of support that young people need and deserve,”  Melanie Hartzog, The New York Foundling CEO & President.

Bonnie Langer focused on the importance of retention and on-site case managers, “By expanding those opportunities, we’ve really been able to give youth a larger voice in making those decisions.”

Read more at The Imprint

Karen Yi of WNYC reports on our Mother and Child program, which recently moved into a dedicated building in The Bronx’s Castle Hill neighborhood.

“A New York City foster care provider is trying a novel approach to help the young moms in its care: housing them under one roof in apartments equipped with washer-dryer machines and where they can access support staff 24 hours a day…The organization said its ultimate goal is to help young moms learn to live on their own when they age out of foster care. The new side-by-side buildings will allow the Foundling to expand its mother and child program that works with young moms. Organizers hope their new approach can be a model for others.”

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