City data reveals a record number of New Yorkers are experiencing homelessness. Throughout the city, The New York Times reports, “charter schools are serving fewer homeless students, proportional to their total enrollment, than traditional public schools.” However, The New York Foundling’s Mott Haven Academy in the South Bronx prioritizes seats for homeless children and children in foster care. READ MORE
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
NY1 anchor Pat Kiernan visited Haven Academy on November 15, to celebrate the launch of his debut children’s book, GOOD MORNING, CITY, to first-graders at The Foundling’s charter school, Haven Academy, located in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx. 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
This Thanksgiving is very special for the Gillian and Orlando McAllister’s family as they officially add two more seats to their table this year. The East New York, Brooklyn couple recently finalized the adoption of 9-year-old twins Timothy and Antonio, who they’ve known since the boys were 3-years-old. The McAllisters met the boys in 2010 when they were placed in McAllisters’ home by the New York Foundling. The arrangement worked out so well that the couple constantly checked on the twins even after they were removed. 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
Children as young as 13 can be tried in adult criminal court for serious crimes in New York state. But instead of redirecting troubled kids, prison hardens them. That’s why the New York Foundling offers an alternative, Families Rising, a diversionary option that mandates family therapy in exchange for delayed sentencing and avoiding a criminal record entirely if the program is completed successfully. The program also costs significantly less than housing an inmate at New York City’s Rikers Island: $8,400 versus $167,731. READ MORE
Crains covered The Foundling’s 2nd annual Fall Fete! View photos here.
“‘Dentro de nuestras muchas obligaciones con estos jovencitos, tal vez ninguna sea más grande o más importante para su bienestar y felicidad a largo plazo que proporcionarles una oportunidad y el apoyo necesario para lograr un título universitario,’ manifesto el presidente de la organizacion The New York Foundling, Bill Baccaglini, que promovió la unión de CUNY y ACS en este programa. READ MORE
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