Olivia’s Story
Two years ago, Joanne Blum received a call from her sister (whom she hadn’t seen for years) telling her that Olivia, her newborn great-niece, had been placed in foster care. Olivia was born with positive toxicology for cocaine and opiates and had been taken from her...
NYC First Lady Chirlane McCray visits JCCA’s Family Resource Center
Parenting a child with mental health challenges or special needs is never easy, but it helps when you can connect with the right resources and talk to others going through similar challenges. That’s what brought six dads from JCCA’s Family Resource Center together...
Cy Orfield and Dwight Thomas Receive LGBTQ Awards
On September 15, two JCCA staff were among the awardees at the NYC Administration for Children’s Services LGBTQ and Ally Awards Ceremony. JCCA Vice President of Foster Home Services Cy Orfield and Milieu Trainer and Youth Crisis Specialist Dwight Thomas received...
Growing Young Readers
Parental engagement is extremely important in a child’s learning process, school readiness and ability to have a successful school experience. Research shows that children who start school able to work at grade level are more likely to reach their full educational,...
Thanks to a terrific father figure, Daquan is on his way to college
Daquan, 18, has been at Edenwald Center (a JCCA residential program for boys with emotional and behavioral difficulties) and a student at the Edenwald school for 4½ years. He just became the first student from Edenwald to receive a Regents Diploma, and has just...
Back to School!
Generous donors including UJA-Federation, Camp Ramaquois and the Highwater Women donated more than 1,000 backpacks to JCCA kids recently to make sure they are ready for school. Filled with supplies, the backpacks have been distributed to school-age children in...
“I felt all the love”: Antony “Terell” Jackson
Terell didn’t take his education seriously until he came Brooklyn Democracy Academy (BDA) in Brownsville, Brooklyn. JCCA’s small, academically rigorous transfer high school (in partnership with the NYC Dept. of Education) is designed to reengage and support students...
CEO Perspective: …and the 2016 Gold Medal in parenting goes to Nellie and Ron Biles!
Simone Biles, a champion gymnast, is poised to win gold at the Olympics. The unsung heroes in her story—like those of so many children who achieve greatness in athletics, the arts or academia—are her parents. True, Simone showed an early talent. But her parents...
CEO Perspective: Reflections on My First Year Plus
This has been a rewarding, professionally inspiring and – because of the incomparable commitment of our staff to our clients – heartwarming first year as CEO of JCCA. I have had the opportunity to meet and get to know many of you and the people we serve, learn about...
The Bomback Family: Giving Time, Resources and Heart
Tema Bomback is a full-time mother of her four children and volunteers at their schools. She is also a volunteer at a cottage on JCCA’s Pleasantville Cottage Campus, where she helps young boys who are developmentally delayed. Mark, her husband, is a screenwriter for...