September 9 is Grandparents Day, one of those holidays that’s seen as cluttering up the calendar and a ploy by the greeting card industry. It shouldn’t be. In my line of work, I see a lot of families in which, for a variety of reasons, parents are unable to care for their young children, and it’s the grandparents who step in to fill the role of primary caretaker. According to census figures, 2.7 million grandparents nationwide are raising grandchildren, up 7 percent from 200

At The Child Center of NY, our primary concern is always for the whole family — and how it affects the children’s overall well-being. So when I hear about high-profile cases of domestic violence, my first thought is always how the situation affects the children: those directly involved (e.g., the abuser’s children) as well as those with no direct involvement but whose sense of the world is being formed by what they hear of it — especially from the people they love and trust.

Far Rockaway lost a giant of the community last year with the death of the incomparable Manny Fiallo Jr. Manny was a larger than life figure who, at the same time, managed to be relatable and approachable, and always had time for you — no matter who “you” were. In a neighborhood that’s seen more than its share of violence, less than its share of opportunity, and was on the verge of losing hope, Manny stood up to change things.

I once had a patient who survived the September 11th terrorist attack on the Twin Towers. He was the only one in his office who did. For four hours, his wife couldn’t get in touch with him and believed him to be dead. Both suffered from extreme depression afterward—but both were too ashamed to acknowledge it.

When we picture families paying tribute to Mom on Mother’s Day, we don’t tend to envision the celebration in a prison. But that scenario is a reality for many American children, and an out-of-reach dream for others.

Women’s History Month is one of those observances that everyone knows about every year, but few people take notice. While that should never be the case, it is especially important that this is not one of those years. Perfectly encapsulating all that’s gone on in the past 12 months, the 2018 Women’s History Month theme is “Nevertheless, She Persisted,” honoring women who fight all forms of discrimination against women.

The Child Center of NY is on a path of self-assessment, taking a serious look at our customers, where and how many there are, how we are doing in delivering services, and most important: Are we making a measurable impact?

The whole nation, it seems, has been in mourning these past few weeks due to gun violence. Here in our own community of the Rockaways, the heartbreak has been intensely personal, as we have lost two 15-year-old boys, Trevor Rhudd and Youssef Soliman, in the past two months to senseless gun violence.

On December 18, 27-year-old Korean “K-pop” artist Jonghyun, lead singer of global boy band SHINee, was found unconscious in an apartment in Seoul. He was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital, where he was immediately taken. The cause was suicide.

A victim of bullying wants, above all, for the torture to just stop; most victims also would like to see their tormentors pay, or at least understand the agony they caused. Netflix’s hit series 13 Reasons Why, a binge-worthy, suspenseful drama that chronicles the final months of a troubled teen who ends up taking her own life, offers suicide as a satisfying way to achieve both — and a new study indicates it might be having devastating consequences.

Just in time for Mental Health Awareness Month, CNN reported last weekend on an alarming rise in children hospitalized with suicidal thoughts or actions. To those of us in the mental health field, the news was troubling and disheartening, but not surprising. At The Child Center of NY, which has been providing mental health services to children and families for more than 60 years, we’ve seen the increase firsthand across our clinics and other behavioral health programs.

Our organization is a vital partner with government in providing services in the community; government relies on our expertise in creating and delivering programs, and we in turn rely on government contracts for many of the services we offer. Through this partnership, government obligations are met and our mission is moved forward.

I am thrilled to announce that The Child Center of NY will serve as the new provider for the Redfern Community Center in Far Rockaway, Queens.

On behalf of everyone at The Child Center of NY, I want to express my deepest sadness on the passing of former Queens Borough President Helen Marshall.

With all the recent press surrounding criminal justice issues—including President Obama’s record number of sentence commutations and his substantial piece in Harvard Law Review about the need to replace a policy of ongoing punishment with a policy of second chances—where is the mention of incarcerated mothers?

Robert Cizma is all about comprehensive services and wraparound treatment, having had the opportunities over his 30-year+ career to view client needs at every level.  His extensive experience in behavioral health services, as a line worker on up to his current position as Vice President of Health Homes and Integrated Care for The Child Center of NY, has provided him with a unique perspective. The new position, initiated with Robert’s hiring, creates a fifth program area for t

“Last week, Governor Cuomo announced a new Enhanced Middle Class Child Care Tax Credit that will help more than 200,000 middle class families make their child care more affordable. For many of the nearly 22,000 children and families The Child Center of NY serves per year, limited access to low-cost programs can force parents to choose between providing safe, quality child care arrangements and work.

People can’t stop talking about President Obama’s farewell address, which sure is saying something, because presidential farewells are typically regarded as snoozers. (President George W. Bush’s staff reportedly had to beg networks to air his.) There’s no question that part of the reason why Obama’s remarks were water cooler-caliber was because they were uncommonly eloquent

While recent coverage of the Clinton Foundation has focused on whether donors got special treatment, one thing that keeps being repeated as a saving grace is the foundation’s reputation for low administrative costs. “Overhead” is indeed a dirty word in the nonprofit world. This supposedly self-evident truth is why governments at every level have increasingly resorted to underfunding its contracts with social-impact organizations.

Last month, with the support of one of our Parsons Advisory Board Founders Marc Haken and NYC Councilman Rory Lancman, The Child Center of NY presented a free anti-bullying event at our Parsons Community School (CS) in Flushing. The event was the brainchild not of program officials or community leaders, but rather of middle-schoolers who serve on our Parsons CS’s Youth Council. They said their community needed it.