Spence-Chapin Services to Families and Children and New Yorkers For Children Announce New Program to Help Children Transition From Foster Care to Permanent Homes
Post-Permanency Support Program provides essential post-adoption/guardianship services to families, improving outcomes for children
New York, New York, May 19, 2022—In an effort to ensure that children make better transitions from foster care to permanent homes, Spence-Chapin Services to Families and Children and New Yorkers For Children announce the Post Permanency Support Program (PPSP). The PPSP is designed to help lay the foundation for the expansion and implementation of post-adoption/guardianship programs in New York City— and in so doing improving the lives of potentially thousands of children and families in the long term whose needs are not being adequately addressed following an adoption or placement into kinship guardianship.
Created and supported by Spence-Chapin Services to Families and Children (Spence-Chapin) and operated by New Yorkers For Children (NYFC), the PPSP brings together a variety of partners from NYC’s child welfare landscape to help prevent dissolution of adoptions/guardianships through the foster care system. The services provided by the PPSP are especially needed now as state-funded post-permanency services and subsidies have been slowly diminishing over the past decade. NYFC will manage the day-to-day operations of the grant, track data and outcomes, and identify a research organization to conduct an evaluation (study) of the program outcomes.
“Through this project, together with our partners, we hope to help children and families exiting the foster care system by providing them with much needed and consistent support to avoid re-entry into care and ensure their stability and success,” said Kate Trambitskaya, Chief Executive Officer of Spence-Chapin.
“We are thrilled to partner with Spence-Chapin to help bring this important program to New York City. The PPSP has the opportunity to transform the child welfare landscape in NYC by elevating successful approaches to permanency which could serve as a model for additional investment in these critical services,” said Saroya Friedman-Gonzalez, Executive Director of New Yorkers For Children.
In addition to building awareness of the need for services, each year the PPSP will provide services to 100 families, both adoptive families and those participating in the Office of Children and Family Services’ Kinship Guardianship Assistance Program. Families can access a wide range of services, including adoption/guardianship- competent programming, trauma-informed care, peer-to-peer support groups, mentorship opportunities, a variety of workshops, and more. The program places a high emphasis on evidence-based practices that can be scaled up, allowing for the greatest impact.
The Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) is a partner and advisor for the program, furthering its goals to ensure children leave foster care to forever families and receive needed support.
“The Post Permanency Support Program (PPSP) will be an invaluable resource to families after children leave foster care through adoption or guardianship,” said Jess Dannhauser, Commissioner of the New York City Administration for Children Services. “Thank you to Spence-Chapin and New Yorkers for Children for creating this new program and to your commitment to the well-being of children and families. We know that families will benefit tremendously from the innovations and learnings from this new grant-funded program.”
Three qualified providers have been selected as subgrantees to operate PPSP: MercyFirst, New Alternatives for Children (NAC), and the Council on Adoptable Children (COAC). In addition to serving individual families, the PPSP will create a learning community, pool knowledge from various agencies, expand the knowledge base in the child welfare field, and build capacity among foster care agencies and other service providers.
“We are delighted to join NAC and COAC to implement PPSP, and we are grateful to ACS, Spence-Chapin and New Yorkers For Children for the opportunity to be a thought partner on this important initiative,” said Renee Skolaski, President & CEO of MercyFirst. “Throughout our 128-year history in social services, MercyFirst has evolved to meet the ever-changing needs of children and families, and we look forward to applying that depth of expertise here, as we provide adoptive and KinGap families access to the support and resources they need to build a strong foundation and thrive post-permanency.”
“NAC is pleased to be the recipient of a Post Permanency Support Grant from New Yorkers For Children to expand our adoption and guardianship services to families transitioning out of foster care. This collaboration enables NAC to build on our 37 year history of providing pre and post adoption and guardianship services to families caring for children with complex medical conditions and developmental disabilities. Many children that transition out of foster care are at heightened risk for health problems, learning disabilities, developmental delays and mental health difficulties. The families who open their hearts and homes to children need to know that support services will be available throughout their child’s youth so they can proactively navigate these risks,” said Arlene Goldsmith, Executive Director of NAC.
“As an adoptive parent of two wonderful children I am aware of the needs of families and children as we navigate our journey through adoption. I cannot imagine the world of adoption/ foster care without this PPSP. Throughout this pandemic, families and children have felt isolated and alone. Stress and anxiety [have] increased as we all maneuver our way back to some sense of normalcy. Now more than ever families and children need our continued guidance and support to reach much needed stability in their lives,” said Joanne Buttaro, Executive Director of COAC.
Hopeland, a leading organization working to prevent parent-child separation, will help New Yorkers For Children and Spence-Chapin communicate about the importance of post-adoption services.
“We are so excited to collaborate with New Yorkers For Children and Spence-Chapin to amplify the impact of the Post Permanency Support Program in New York City,” said Deborra-lee Furness and Nicholas Evans, Co-Founders of Hopeland. “Hopeland’s vision is for every child to have a safe, loving family. The children that have traveled the path to adoption have experienced many challenges in their short lifetime and need extra support to be able to thrive. That is why we are delighted to be a part of this groundbreaking program and believe by working together in unity with the same core mission, we can add the important support that every family needs.”
About Spence-Chapin
Spence-Chapin has been offering exceptional adoption and family services for more than 110 years. Its mission is to help find loving families for children whatever their needs or circumstances and provide counseling and lifelong support for all children and families to whom they have been born or entrusted. Spence-Chapin’s roots date back to the early 1900s with the pioneering work of Ms. Clara Spence and Dr. and Mrs. Henry Chapin, who established nurseries for infants abandoned on the streets of New York City, led humanitarian efforts, and created families through adoption. Spence-Chapin has since expanded to include other comprehensive support programs. The organization’s award-winning efforts have served more than 25,000 women, children, and families through domestic, international and special needs adoption, post-adoption support, and humanitarian aid programs such as the Granny Program. Find out more at spence-chapin.org.
About New Yorkers For Children
New Yorkers for Children improves the well-being of youth and families in the child welfare system with an emphasis on older youth aging out of the system. NYFC provides direct educational, financial and emotional support and develops programs to fill gaps in the system in partnership with foster care agencies, community organizations, and the NYC Administration for Children’s Services. New Yorkers for Children is working toward a city where child welfare organizations have an abundance of resources to care for youth and families at risk or in need of support to lead safe, healthy, and rewarding lives. Find out more at newyorkersforchildren.org.