VCS Foster Grandparent Program - VCS Inc.

VCS Foster Grandparent Program
VCS completed its first full year of operating the Rockland County Foster Grandparent
Program. The program recruits and trains income eligible seniors, 55+, as volunteer
Foster Grandparents and matches them with students who are struggling in school.
During 2010, seventy-two Foster Grandparents volunteered in eighteen educational
programs around the County, working with 1,250 special needs students. The total
number of hours of service added up to 61,831!
The program has many collaborative partners including the Rockland County Board of
Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES), Rockland Community College, Head Start
of Rockland, West Street Child Care Center and the following school districts: Clarkstown
Central, East Ramapo Central, Nanuet School District, North Rockland Central,
Nyack Unified and South Orangetown Central.
The Foster Grandparent Advisory Board, comprising people who have expertise in
areas of concern to the program (education, senior issues, data collection and
programmatic changes, information on new and retiring volunteers, site updates, etc.)
meets every other month during the academic year, September to June. Two active
Foster Grandparent Volunteers also serve on the Advisory Board. The Advisory Board
conducts an annual program evaluation, an invaluable contribution towards maintaining
accountability and transparency.
Foster Grandparent Program Advisory Council
Rhoda Appel, Susan Ball, Peter Blechman, Bernice Brady, Mildred Colter, Phyllis Eig,
Kathy Galione, Alice Gavin, Jill Halpern, Diana Herlihy, Dorina Maragliano, Pat Petch,
Dolores Reale, Marcia Scheer, John Sullivan, Alice Taylor, Doreen Thompson, Jeanne
Weiner
Throughout the year, staff plans and implements mandatory training programs for the
Foster Grandparent Volunteers in order to increase and hone their skills in the classroom.
Some of the programs provided in 2010 included computer skills, reading and
language skills, assisting children with disabilities, child development and various sitespecific
training focusing on the unique populations in certain sites.
During 2010, staff organized a theatre party, holiday party, start and end of school year
luncheons to which all of the Foster Grandparent Volunteers are invited. The Annual
Recognition Dinner, complete with dancing and awards, is attended by the Foster
Grandparents, the teachers and principals from the schools where they serve and other
friends and elected officials. This is definitely one of the highlights of the entire year!
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