About Us
Forestdale, Inc. is a not-for-profit, non-sectarian voluntary agency that offers comprehensive services to children and families.
Formerly known as the Brooklyn Home for Children, Forestdale has a rich history of community involvement.
The agency began in 1854 as two separate institutions: the Brooklyn School Association and the Industrial School Association of Brooklyn, Eastern District. These schools provided academic education, as well as training in domestic duties and life skills to indigent children in New York City. The two institutions merged in 1927 to form the Brooklyn Home for Children, offering residential care and a wide range of social, educational, and medical services to orphaned children. The Brooklyn Home for Children relocated to its current site in Forest Hills in 1941. In the 1970’s, child welfare experts decided the emotional needs of children were better met in homes rather than institutions. Therefore, in 1980, the institutional services were discontinued and all children were served in foster homes with the goal of finding a permanent and loving home for each child.
Subsequently, in 1988, the agency was renamed Forestdale. Forestdale has a Board of Directors that consists of 15 civic and community leaders, 7 of whom live in Queens communities.
Forestdale currently provides foster boarding home services for children from birth through age twenty-one, to children who are victims of abuse and neglect, and for whom placement outside the family is deemed necessary by the Family Court or voluntary placement has been requested by the birth parents.
In providing and operating a preventive program, Forestdale incorporates the principles of strengthening families, keeping them intact, and helping each individual within the family become more self-sufficient, while at the same time providing services to reduce the risk of abuse, neglect and/or placement of a child into the foster care system.
Our fatherhood Initiative, established in 1998, has been recognized as a pioneer in serving non- custodial fathers who want to be involved in their children’s lives. We reach 300 men in the borough of Queens. Workshops include how to parent; behavior and anger management; self awareness and communication skills. Additionally we help the young men continue their education and seek gainful employment.
Each year, the City of New York ranks foster care agencies based on several factors, including the service provided, reporting requirements, etc. For the fiscal year 2001-2002, Forestdale was ranked #5 out of 43 foster care agencies, and for the fiscal year 2002-2003, Forestdale ranked as the #1 foster care agency in the City of New York. We are currently rated “excellent” by the City of New York.