Crime doesn’t happen in isolation. It’s about networks, like the block you live on and the web of relationships you have. That’s where Families Rising comes in: Delivered by the New York Foundling nonprofit, the initiative offers an alternative to incarceration of New York City youths who have been tried as adults. These young people get delayed sentencing and the possibility of avoiding a criminal record in exchange for going into Functional Family Therapy, an evidence-based approach that’s had highly replicated success. READ MORE

Ms. Zapien is part of a new initiative at the City University of New York that aims to beat the low graduation rate for young people who grew up in foster care. She hopes to finish an associate degree, move to a four-year college and go into medicine. Fifty young people are part of CUNY’s foster initiative, which school officials hope will serve 200 students over four years. They live on the Staten Island campus or at Queens College. The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation gave a three-year, $2.5 million donation to pay for remedial classes, advisers and social activities to help them feel connected so they stay in school. READ MORE

“Haven Academy began because the New York Foundling recognized that kids in the child welfare system get underserved in traditional school settings,” said Jessica Nauiokas, principal and founder of the school. “They get moved from home to home and in each one of those moves they end up needing to go to a new school and before you know it they are behind in their academics and overidentified for special education needs.” READ MORE

Crains covered The Foundling’s 2nd annual Fall Fete! View photos here.

From 2003-2006, Iris often looked after Destiny Paradiso, the daughter of a family friend. She took care of Destiny when her grandmother, who served as the child’s guardian, worked. But when Destiny was placed in the foster care system at age eight, Iris lost contact with her. Destiny was in her seventh foster home on the day Iris noticed her photo on the foster care agency’s website in 2010. She was one of more than 10,000 children in the foster care system in New York City, a number that now dropped slightly to about 8,800. “I’ve found her,” Iris told Michelle from the living room floor. “I found my daughter.” READ MORE