The Children's Aid Society has been helping New York’s children and families achieve better lives since 1853.

9/11 First Responders

After 9/11, The Children's Aid Society was on the front lines, reaching out to thousands of people directly impacted by the World Trade Center attack, with short-term emergency relief combined with long-term support services. The agency’s quick response on September 11 was a natural extension of its overall mission: to help New York City’s children and families in need.

More than 5,000 individuals and families turned to the agency for

• emergency cash assistance,
• mental health counseling,
• benefits enrollment assistance,
• legal referrals,
• healthcare referrals

...and more.

Over time, Children’s Aid’s work came to focus on some of the most vulnerable victims of 9-11: surviving families of low-income, non-uniformed workers, the severely injured, and service workers who lost their jobs – providing highly personalized care to these families, identifying their individual needs and tailoring individualized plans of service.

In the five years since, Children's Aid has continued to provide support to families affected by the disaster.

Social Service Innovators

The places and faces of poverty in New York have changed much since 1853 and Children’s Aid has changed too. Whether in the old Five Points slums, the Lower East Side, Harlem, Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant, the South Bronx or Staten Island’s impoverished North Shore, Children’s Aid has adapted its methods, targeted its resources and often moved its facilities to meet the needs of each new community, each successive generation. From 1853 to 2006, one big thing hasn’t changed. Then as now, Children’s Aid provides direct help to children at every stage of development; then as now, it advocates for change in the conditions and policies that keep families trapped in the cycle of poverty.

The Children’s Aid Society serves children and families directly through its more than 45 locations throughout New York City, offering

• after-school programs through our 12 community centers and 21 community schools;
• youth development, college preparation and leadership training for teens reaching high school graduation or aging out of foster care;
• parent resources, workshops and learning opportunities to engage the whole family;
• Head Start and Early Head Start programs that provide positive foundations for children;
• foster care and family planning services;
• medical, dental and mental health services that reach thousands of uninsured families;
• theatre, dance, music and visual arts programs that engage youngsters in positive expression;

and much more. Through both service and advocacy, over the years Children's Aid has achieved real change in the delivery of services to children. Many of its programs have become nationally acclaimed models for meeting the needs of children and families.

How You Can Help

You can help New York’s children too. Click here to support The Children's Aid Society, and here to inquire about volunteer opportunities at a New York City location .