News Archive: June 2009

June 20, 2009: New Report: "Removing Barriers to Successful Kin Caregiving in NYC"

The NYC Kincare Task Force, co-chaired by JBFCS and MFY Legal Services, has released a new report, "Removing Barriers to Successful Kin Caregiving in NYC."

The 20-member Task Force was established in 1992 in recognition that the services needed by caregivers raising relative-children require collaboration among many systems far beyond the traditional aging network or the child welfare systems.

This report focuses on programs serving kin caregivers who access services from NYC agencies (DOE, DOHMH, ACS, NYCHA, HRA, DFTA and Family Courts) to best support the children they are raising. The goal of the report is to identify barriers to services and collaborate to improve the quality of these services. Specific recommendations for kincare programs are included in the report.

For more information, contact: Dr. Deborah Langosch, LCSW -- Co-Chair NYC Kincare Task Force, dlangosch@jbfcs.org or 212-632-4760.

Download 32-page Report (PDF format)

June 18, 2009: JBFCS Program Young People Attend The Songwriters Hall of Fame 40th Annual Dinner & 2009 Induction Ceremony

The Songwriters Hall of Fame’s mission is to celebrate and honor the contributions of great popular music songwriters who have written the soundtrack for our nation’s history, while developing new writing talent through workshops, showcases, scholarships and digital initiatives.

Award-winning songwriter, and 2008 Inductee, Desmond Child, invited youth from the JBFCS Hawthorne Cedar Knolls program to attend the celebrity-studded award ceremony at the Marriott Marquis Hotel.

Mr. Child’s foundation — ManUp4Kids — is just getting off the ground and is committed to bringing kids to cultural experiences while connecting them to their own parents and/or positive role models.

Desmond Child with his invited guests from Hawthorne Cedar Knolls
Jon Bon Jovi, Desmond Child w/ HCK young people	Richie Sambora & Jon Bon Jovi w/ HCK young people

June 11, 2009: UJA-Federation of New York Launches Connect to Care Initiative

Paul Levine, JBFCS Executive VP and CEO, welcomes representatives of Jewish communal organizations on June 11th, 2009 at UJA-Federation of New York to launch JBFCS as the lead agency in Manhattan, Riverdale, and Brownstone Brooklyn for UJA-Federation of New York's Connect to Care Initiative. Connect to Care takes aim at the impact of the economic downturn in the Jewish community throughout all of New York City. It brings together a new basket of resources and service providers to deliver employment and career counseling, legal and financial counseling, as well as emotional and spiritual support.

Paul Levine, CEO JBFCS

To get help in Manhattan/Bronx/Brownstone Brooklyn, call us at 212.399.2685 ext 206, email connect-to-care@jbfcs.org or visit www.jcprograms.org/connect-to-care

For further information about UJA-Federation’s Connect to Care, and locations of other centers, call UJA-Federation’s J11 Helpline at 1.877.UJA.NYJ11 (1-877-852-6951); or visit www.ujafedny.org/connect-to-care.

June 1, 2009: McCormick Foundation, Major League Baseball Grant $250,000 to the JBFCS Center For Trauma Program Innovation

Today the JBFCS Center for Trauma Program Innovation begins a new initiative within the City University of New York (CUNY) system to provide peer-to-peer outreach by veterans to other veterans. This novel approach allows veterans to gain access to affordable mental health services for themselves and their families and strives to combat its stigma through peer support. Called "Home Again, Reaching Out," this breakthrough project is being supported with a $250,000 grant from the McCormick Foundation and Major League Baseball — as part of their "Welcome Back Veteran’s" initiative.

"Through mental health services, we help to alleviate stress to veterans and their family members by helping them identify coping strategies, decrease trauma reminders, improve familial communication patterns and cope with the uncertainty of having a loved one in harms way," says Caroline Peacock, LMSW, Director, Veterans and Families Initiative, JBFCS Center for Trauma Program Innovation.

"Home Again, Reaching Out" strives to bring information, support and mental health screening to veterans in a safe community — the CUNY university system. JBFCS will partner with the CUNY Office of Veterans Affairs to provide peer outreach.

For more information about Home Again: Veterans and Families Initiative, contact Caroline Peacock at cpeacock@jbfcs.org or (646) 957-0853.

Helping Veterans and Their Families Heal

Returning home from war should be a service member’s comfort. Unfortunately, after long months of separation, many Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and their families find themselves struggling to readjust into relationships, parenting, education and civilian employment. In the meantime, veterans may find it difficult to accept mental health services without shame.

"Home Again, Reaching Out" is a creative plan of reaching veterans and their families in response to the well known stigma of accessing mental health services. It provides services to children, spouses, partners, aunts, uncles, cousins and any other family members who experience stress from their loved ones’ military service. Peer advocates provide psycho education, screening, support and referral to fellow student veterans.

Background

"Home Again, Reaching Out" is based on "Home Again" — a JBFCS family-focused outreach, community education and mental health program offered to Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom veterans and their families in the Bronx. The project provides affordable readjustment and reintegration support through individual, couples and family therapy. "Home Again" was established in 2008 with grant support from the New York State Health Foundation

According to a recent study outlined in the May/June issue of Health Affairs, focusing on mental health care in the United States, veterans get inadequate treatment or no treatment at all for post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. The Rand Corporation researchers said more needs to be done when they return home. "Home Again" was designed to address this need.

The McCormick Foundation is a nonprofit organization committed to strengthening our free, democratic society by investing in children, communities and country. Through its grant making programs, Cantigny Park and Golf, museums and civic outreach program the Foundation helps build a more active and engaged citizenry. It was established as a charitable trust in 1955, upon the death of Colonel Robert R. McCormick, the longtime editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune. The McCormick Foundation is one of the nation’s largest charities, with more than $1 billion in assets.

Major League Baseball Charities is a not-for-profit corporation that provides support to local, national and international tax-exempt organizations to directly conduct or sponsor activities for the promotion of good health, physical education, public safety, medical research, literacy, educational or charitable purposes. In addition to supporting Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA), the Official Charity of Major League Baseball, MLB Charities provides support to a number of other national charitable initiatives, including Little League Baseball, the National Urban League and the Jackie Robinson Foundation. The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball pays all administrative expenses for MLB Charities.