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International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month: Lessons from a Career in Early Childhood Education and Behavioral Health
Every year, International Women’s Day (IWD) and Women’s History Month (WHM) serve as powerful reminders of the progress made toward gender equality—and the work still ahead. In 2025, the themes #AccelerateAction for Gender Equality (IWD) and Moving Forward Together: Women Educating and Inspiring Generations (WHM) work together in a way that gets to the heart of our twofold obligation: honoring the crucial role women play in shaping the future
Mar 75 min read


National Recovery Month: Seeing and Being the Hope
National Recovery Month is celebrated annually in September to recognize the progress that has been made and is possible in mental health and substance use recovery. This yearly observance has special meaning for me. It is a national reminder that the one thing that undergirds all recovery programs is hope: People can and do recover and find healing.
Sep 22, 20246 min read


Replacing Obstacles with Opportunities for Migrant Families—Especially the Children
By Tanya KrienVice President, Early Childhood Education A Head Start classroom at The Child Center of NY’s Early Childhood Corona Center,...
Dec 22, 20236 min read


RTF Clinical Coordinator Youngkwang Moon on Gender-Affirming Care and the Role of Social Workers
Earlier this summer, we shared with you sobering statistics regarding LGBTQ+ youth in America—and how critical it is that we support them, now more than ever. Clinical Coordinator Youngkwang (Young) Moon and the team at The Child Center Residential Treatment Facility (RTF) in Brooklyn are on the frontlines in this critical endeavor.
Aug 15, 20235 min read


Mental Health Awareness Month: The Crisis Among Our Children, Three Years After the COVID-19 Pandemic Began
As a multiservice organization that provides mental health treatment and support to young New Yorkers, before March 2020 we were busy, serving more than 40,000 New Yorkers annually through our behavioral health, early childhood education, youth development, and other programs across the city.
Apr 30, 20235 min read


World Mental Health Day: Five Ways to Truly Make Mental Health a Priority
The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted young people’s mental health—and adults’, too, if we’re being honest—so the World Health Organization’s World Mental Health Day theme of making mental health and well-being for all a global priority could not have come at a better time.
Oct 26, 20226 min read


Suicide Prevention Awareness Month
American adolescence is changing. Three decades ago, the biggest public health threats to teenagers came from binge drinking, drunk driving, teenage pregnancy, and smoking. All have fallen sharply in the United States. In their place are soaring rates of mental illness.
Sep 25, 20225 min read


Photo of the Month: #JustPay! Advocacy in Action
On Thursday, March 10, members of the Child Center team joined 1,500 fellow human services workers and their allies in City Hall Park for the #JustPay Rally.
Launched last fall, #JustPay is a citywide advocacy campaign among human services nonprofits like The Child Center to call on our elected officials to end government-sanctioned poverty wages for our workforce.
Mar 30, 20222 min read


A Perspective on Gender and Racial Equity: Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson Hearings
The nation was mesmerized in recent days by the Senate confirmation hearings of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Biden’s first nominee to the United State Supreme Court.
The importance of the Court to American life cannot be overstated — its decisions impact our government, our economy, our family lives. If confirmed, Judge Jackson would make history as the first Black woman to sit on the Court, a long-overdue breakthrough that is anxiously awaited by many.
Mar 27, 20223 min read


National Hispanic Heritage Month
Each year, Americans observe National Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15 to October 15, celebrating the histories, cultures, and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America.
Oct 3, 20213 min read


Mental Health in NYC: A look back at ThriveNYC and ahead to the Office of Community Health
Last month, my colleague Yudelka Ramirez, a family peer advocate with The Child Center of NY’s 0-5 Early Childhood Mental Health Initiative, and I attended a Mental Health Allies Reception, hosted by Mayor Bill de Blasio and First Lady Chirlaine McCray at Gracie Mansion.
Sep 6, 20214 min read


Seven Tips for Adjusting Infants, Toddlers, and Young Children to In-Person School and Child Care
By Michele Neuhaus, LCAT, LMHC, CCLSProgram Director, 0-5 Early Childhood Mental Health Initiative As New York City families prepare for...
Aug 31, 20217 min read


On International Women’s Day, #ChooseToChallenge Ourselves with Bold Change
Incremental change is no longer an option for those who seek to improve the lives of marginalized populations — and if we’re to be honest with ourselves, it never was. After a year of profound loss and social upheaval, the inequalities and deep, historic injustices we’ve been content to just live with have never stood out so dramatically.
Mar 7, 20214 min read


School Tips: How to Help Children Struggling with Remote Learning
As NYC schools shift between in-person and hybrid learning models during the COVID-19 pandemic, one thing is for sure: Remote learning will be around in some fashion for at least a few more months.
Dec 11, 20202 min read
Statement by The Child Center of NY CEO Traci Donnelly: We Stand in Solidarity
As an organization and community dedicated to service and to the potential of every child, it is The Child Center’s job to be there for families through trauma, sickness, and loss. This is our commitment every day, but it has taken on a profound meaning as we process a series of challenging and painful events.
Jun 4, 20202 min read


Northwell Pediatric Residents and The Child Center of NY Collaborate
Last Wednesday, pediatric residents of the prestigious Cohen Children’s Medical Center, Northwell Health came to The Child Center’s Corona Head Start location to provide primary medical services, including physical examinations; medical histories; height and weight measurements; vision, hearing, and nutritional screenings; and parental guidance to low-income families.
Jan 1, 20205 min read


Five Things to Know about the Salary Parity Deal for Early Childhood Educators
Earlier this month, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Council Speaker Corey Johnson announced a plan to raise pay for early childhood teachers. The tentative deal ensures that certified teachers who work in community-based organizations (CBOs) will earn the same starting salary as their Department of Education colleagues who teach in public schools. The increases will happen incrementally, with full parity being achieved by 2021.
Jul 30, 20195 min read


Mother’s Day Reflection: Child Center Programs Benefit from Program Moms
By Tanya Krien, Vice President, Early Childhood Education, Administration and Operations Our Corona Head Start students are working hard...
May 8, 20195 min read


Thank You, Sesame Street, for Tackling Homelessness
Sesame Street enjoys a well-earned reputation as a trailblazer not only in children’s television, but also in our society at large. From its portrayal and integration of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, (and) People of Color) characters in the 1970s to its more recent additions of characters with autism or incarcerated parents, it has a history of changing hearts and minds — as well as public policy.
Dec 20, 20187 min read


Aggressive Attendance Initiative Brings Success to “Failing” School
September is Attendance Awareness Month, and there’s no better place to spotlight the importance of attendance — and attendance efforts — than August Martin High School in South Jamaica, Queens.
Sep 25, 20188 min read
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