The current agency that I volunteer for is The Children’s Village. It was founded in
1851. Their mission over the years has not changed. They have always made it their goal to help childrens become educationally proficient, economically productive, and socially responsible members of their communities by working in partnership with families to help children in their journey. In 1851-1954 The New York Juvenile Asylum was created to help, house, educate and find a home for many young boys and girls roaming the streets of New York. In the 1920 The New York Juvenile Asylum was moved to Dobbs Ferry, New York where it became an all boys school and was renamed to The Children's Village. As time progressed, The Children's Village became more integrated and expanded it services throughout New York City.
• Describe the agency’s purposes and its long-range goals
At Children's Village they are motivated to guide children's to develop strong
relationships with family, friends and mentors. Some of the long-range goals that are expected to be accomplished is to ensure that all youth have supports after leaving our care. It is very important specially in foster care that a child has a place to go, whether it is with a family member or in a residential house.
• Describe its current programs and activities
There are three keys to a child’s success: education, work, and lifelong relationships
according to the Children's Village website (2017). There are over 25 different programs they offer that are aimed to keep children safe and families unified. The ultimate goal of all of their programs is to prepare youth to be successful as adults. There are community programs such as
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foster homes: when a child is put into foster care, CV work to get him or her home as quickly as possible, family support: help parents navigate the foster care system and helps them and teen outreach. Another major goal is to prevent youth from being returned to state custody or being incarcerated . When teens return to the community from foster care or incarceration Children's Village is there to help with the difficult transition. By supporting teens and their families the likelihood that teens will remain out of care and go on to be successful adults increases. Furthermore, the Children’s Village aims to all kinds of children and families. The Children’s Village is an organization that has served immigrant youth. As part of its commitment to helping unaccompanied immigrant children reunite with their families, the Division of Immigration Services provides Home Study and Post-Release Services to children preparing to leave ORR shelters across the country, including at The Children’s Village (The Children's Village, 2017).
• Who are the agency’s clients or service users?
The Children's Village has different clients and service users. The agencies clients can
vary from communities, to families and individual children. They do so by insuring that the children's family work together with the agency to create educated childrens. They also work to help build financially stable individuals and becoming positive members of their communities.
• What have been some of the agency’s major accomplishments?
According to the Children's Village website (2017), they track educational success, work experience, family reunification, housing stability, avoidance of arrests, and other measures that indicate how well youth are achieving goals. Following are some of our recent outcomes: 98% of youth moved into permanent housing after exiting one of the supportive housing programs, 93% of youth avoided re-arrest as a part of the Harlem Justice Community Program. In 2013
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Children’s Village was recognized for their management capabilities and won the Gold Prize New York Community Trust Nonprofit Excellence Award.
• What are the qualifications of key staff members in the organization?
The minimum education requirement to work in foster care is a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW). However, many employers can prefer to hire candidates with a Master of Social Work (MSW) to work in a foster care system. Ms. Gaffney is the Assistant Vice President for Community Foster Care, according to Hunters BSW supervisors she has gone to endless training and is more than happy to share her knowledge with everyone around her.
• Provide/create an organizational chart: