Children's Aid Expands Family Wellness Domestic Violence Services in Harlem and Washington Heights

September 17, 2009

Contact:
Ellen Lubell, The Children's Aid Society, (o) 212-949-4938, (c) 917-854-6864
Emily Crossan, The Children’s Aid Society, (o) 917-286-1548, (c) 201-344-5742

NEW YORK, September 18, 2009 −The Children's Aid Society's Family Wellness Program has expanded its services for families struggling with domestic violence into Washington Heights, East Harlem and Central Harlem, thanks to a new grant from the NYC Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD). The program has now placed full-time Case Planners in community-based sites in each of these neighborhoods. This DYCD grant also supports existing Children’s Aid domestic violence services in the South Bronx.

Since 2001, Children’s Aid’s Family Wellness Program has provided group and individual counseling, education and advocacy for all members of families affected by domestic violence, including survivors, abusers and children and adolescents exposed to abuse. This new grant from the DYCD Healthy Families initiative will allow Children’s Aid to provide more concrete, community-based assistance for families with current or past domestic violence so they may obtain the services from Children’s Aid they need as well as the public benefits and services they require to achieve safety and stability. This may include domestic violence counseling for adults and children, safe and affordable housing, legal services, health care, emergency financial assistance and any other necessary services.

To learn more about Children’s Aid’s Family Wellness program, please visit: http://www.childrensaidsociety.org/familysupport/domesticviolence, and listen to our podcast on Family Wellness http://media.childrensaidsociety.org/podcasts/achieving-family-wellness.

To speak with our staff and for more information, contact the Family Wellness Program administrative offices at 212-503-6842.

The Children’s Aid Society (www.childrensaidsociety.org) was founded in 1853. It is one of the nation’s largest and most innovative non-sectarian agencies, serving 150,000 of New York’s neediest children and their families with a network of services that includes community schools, neighborhood centers, camps, adoption and foster care services, arts programming, teen pregnancy prevention, counseling, education, health and recreation. The Children's Aid Society is a founding member of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and the vast majority of Children’s Aid sites are Boys & Girls Clubs. For more information, please call 212-949-4938 or email ellenl@childrensaidsociety.org.

###