Programs
Foster Care and Adoption places children in danger of abuse, trauma or neglect in supervised foster care homes. We currently serve 430 children in 280 foster homes. In most cases the birth parents are able to make the progress needed for the child to be returned to them in the first six months. In the remainder of cases, more time and resources must be devoted to create a permanent placement for the child – either a return to the birth family or a permanent adoption by the foster family or other relative.
Preventive Services is a program to support and assist fragile families to stabilize them and prevent children from being removed and placed in foster care. Forestdale caseworkers conduct a thorough initial assessment of the family and the home environment and determine if there are drug or alcohol issues affecting the family. Case workers put a service plan in place and meet with the family at least twice a month to provide counseling and assist with getting essential services. Families usually stay in the program for eighteen months but can stay longer, up to three years, if necessary. We currently have 60 families in our care.
Youth Development helps more than one hundred youth between the ages 14 to 20 to prepare and take the steps to productively lead their lives outside of the foster care system. Based on their need, these young people can receive advice and support to work through personal issues, take care of their health, or get important resources including mentoring, tutoring and housing. The staff teach a variety of life skills including money management, home management and communication skills to assist these teens to define and move towards their personal goals – i.e. going to college or finding a job.
In 1998 Forestdale started The Forestdale Fathering Initiative, one of the first New York City programs to reach non-custodial fathers. This program was built on feedback from the mothers in the foster care program who noted that the presence and support of fathers (even fathers who do not live with their children) are vital to the well-being and development of their children. Staff now help 350 fathers a year to get their lives on track and reconnect with their children. Staff provides counseling, parenting skills classes and assistance to find educational and job training programs.
The Infant Mortality Reduction Project informs and supports mothers to reduce the very high infant mortality rate, more than twice the city rate in some of the poorer Queens neighborhoods such as Jamaica, Elmhurst and Far Rockaway. A trained community worker conducts one-on-one health outreach, leads parent educational workshops and offers home visits and referrals to clients who are clearly troubled and need additional social support. She takes an active part in two health-based coalitions, one that works throughout New York City and a Queens-based coalition. In less than a year, she has been able to reach close to 1000 community residents with education and support services.
The Reinvestment Program is a newly created New York City funded program that provides extra resources to reduce the length of time children spend in foster homes. Caseworkers work closely with families to identify needs and link families to community-based networks to provide long-term social service support that effectively stabilize the families, post-foster care. Appropriate housing, family and individual counseling, mentoring and work training programs can also be combined with parenting classes to further strengthen families.
Clinical and special needs: All the children in our care suffer from trauma as a result of being removed from their families. The level of trauma varies depending on a variety of factors including the age of the child, the time of the removal, the emotional stability of the child and the circumstances of the removal. Sometimes, children with exceptional physical needs or living with serious chronic disease such as cerebral palsy or HIV/AIDS require foster care and we place and care for them. We make sure the foster families have the additional training and support they need to care for these children. Forestdale is known and recognized for its Queens-based network of medical providers who deliver outstanding and comprehensive medical, specialty, and dental services to all the children in our care.