Foster Care Program

The Center's family foster care program began in 1988, the culmination of years of effort to create a service that allows children in Sunset Park who require foster care to remain in the neighborhood and to receive necessary family supports so that they return to their homes as soon as possible. The family foster care program encourages deep partnership between the birth parent(s) and foster families. The goals of the program are to offset the trauma of separation from primary attachments and to maximize opportunities for remediation and reunification.

Nicholas Scoppetta, former Commissioner of the Administration for Children's Services in New York City, noted that the Center's family foster care program has served as “the pilot program for Neighborhood Based Services for New York City and perhaps the rest of the country”. Mr. Scoppetta had stated that the agency's family foster care program was “one of the most effective catalysts for moving the system in the right direction…”*

The Center's foster care service model is based on providing help to overcome barriers to effective parenting and supports to promote greater parental competency. Equally central is our focus on supporting meaningful community involvement in networks of friends and social services, with the goal of promoting ongoing family stability.

After children leave foster care, birth parents and children can continue with their social worker, now as "preventive service" clients, for as long as they need. Although city regulations require only a three-month trial discharge status for the family, most of the families remain involved beyond the three months in order to continue to benefit from the support during a crucial transitional time in the family's life. If the birth family relocates outside of the neighborhood, the family is given the choice of remaining involved at the Center or if they desire, or being connected with services closer to their new home.