2010: Second Chances - Children's Aid and Family Services

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Message
FROM THE PRESIDENT & CEO AND BOARD CHAIR
A new beginning is a powerful gift to those we
serve. Thanks to you, our donors and volunteers,
the agency has been able to give thousands of
vulnerable children and families second chances
throughout our 112-year history. Simply put,
together we change lives. For example, the fragile
babies with complicated medical needs receive the
gentle love and nurturing of specially trained foster
parents in our Medically Needy Infants and Toddlers
Foster Care program. We give them a second chance
at a healthy and happy childhood. For low-income
families struggling to provide the essentials for their
infants and toddlers, we help reduce their anxiety and
give them another chance at peace of mind through
our Baby Basics program.
The theme of second chances is perhaps most
often seen in the lives of our foster children. Their
childhoods were fractured at best. Most have
suffered severe abuse and neglect. They
have been separated from their birth
parents and made multiple moves from
home to home. But with the structure
and nurturing offered by our
professional staff in our group
homes, along with therapeutic
help and critical support services
such as tutoring and life skills
development, the children often
overcome their harsh beginnings
and go on to have productive
and rewarding futures. As they
grow and eventually “age out”
of foster care, your support
enables us to help them make
the often difficult transition into
adulthood. We help them find
housing, medical services,
education and work, all of which give them a second
chance to build a solid, productive future.
Last year was one in which we laid the groundwork
to provide second chances for even more
vulnerable children and their families and remain a
strong, vital force of caring within the community.
We launched the new Medical Services and
Advocacy Center to serve our children in foster
care, the majority of whom have pre-existing medical
conditions, as well as histories of trauma, abuse and
neglect. Before entering our care, their access to
medical care had been inconsistent; some have
received little or no medical care, and others have
gone from one foster home to another and, as a
result, have never seen the same doctor twice. The
new Center will increase the agency’s ability to meet
the complex medical needs of the medically fragile
infants, as well as the older children and teenagers in
our foster care programs. Services such as medical
screenings, prevention education, and care
coordination with primary care physicians and
specialists will be provided by the pediatrician
and nurses on the medical team.
To help even more vulnerable
children, in 2010, the agency was
named an approved provider for
developmentally disabled children
by the NJ Department of Human
Services, Division of Developmental
Disabilities (DDD). We will be caring
for children with severe challenges,
including mental retardation, autism,
cerebral palsy and epilepsy, and in
some cases, significant behavioral
issues, in a community residence setting.
Historically, many of these children