Family Stabilization Services

(Including Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Services)

Catholic Guardian Society and Home Bureau’s (CGSHB) Family Stabilization Services division provides our clients with a variety of services in the areas of child abuse and neglect prevention, crisis management, family day care, and services to mothers and children who are homeless. We work with families who have or are experiencing problems in the areas of domestic violence, substance abuse, mental illness, and homelessness. CGSHB provides services to low income families who look for a safe environment to leave their children while they work. Our work in maintaining families together is accomplished through our various preventive programs.

Family First and Family Unity Prevention Programs

CGSHB’s Family First and Family Unity General Preventive Services Programs provide support and stability to families in crisis, with the ultimate goal of preventing placement of children in out-of-home care. Our programs cover the Parkchester/Soundview and Williamsbridge/Baychester sections of the Bronx. One of the unique features of our programs is the Parenting Journey Training. This is a parent support group which aims at self-exploration of one’s experience of how we were parented, and how that impacts on how we parent our children today. The Parent Journey Training raises self-awareness and it attempts to provide a nurturing experience.

In addition to parenting training, our staff provides casework counseling, advocacy, referrals to ancillary services, home visits to monitor family dynamics, mental health assessments, domestic violence assessments and counseling, assistance with housing and day care services, intervention with the school system, etc.

Teen- Focused Family Stabilization Services

The Family First Teen-Focused Family Stabilization Services preventive program is designed to help and support families with teenagers who are in crisis. The program strives to reduce the number of teens who are inappropriately placed in foster care. The Teen Enhanced program strives to achieve this goal by employing an experienced and professional multi-disciplinary team.

Services include:

• Group Work - The program offers several groups throughout the year including but not limited to a weekly teen focused group, a domestic violence group, a drug and alcohol awareness group, a parenting group, a grief and loss group, an anger management group, and a summer recreation group.
• Clinical Consultants - Our program employs several consultants that are available to give the client a multi-disciplinary approach to their service. The consultants include a domestic violence specialist, a drug and alcohol counselor, a mental health specialist, a psychologist and a psychiatrist.
• Teen Specialist - Our program employs a Masters Level Social Worker who specializes in teen issues.
• Clinical Forums - The Multi-disciplinary team meets on a bi-weekly basis, with the family to ensure the families’ needs are being met.

Intensive Case Management for Families Affected by Substance Abuse

CGSHB provides intensive services to families who reside in the Parkchester/Soundview sections of the Bronx to prevent recurrent child abuse/neglect in families with a history of prior indicated reports, to prevent the family from disrupting by children being placed in or returning to foster care, and the prevention of relapse in alcohol and substance abusing parents/caretakers.

Intensive Preventive and Aftercare Services / Juvenile Justice Initiative

Our Intensive Preventive and After-Care Service program (IPAS) is a unique comprehensive pilot program designed to test the efficacy of Functional Family Therapy in reducing recidivism for youthful offenders in the Bronx. IPAS seeks to address many of the underlying factors that put adolescents at-risk, thereby undermining their successful return to school and community.

Our Services include:

• Functional Family Therapy - Functional Family Therapy (FFT), a nationally-recognized model, is a relatively short-term, strength based, intervention system designed to create a sense of hope in young people by sending highly trained, culturally sensitive therapists into adolescents’ homes to cultivate and support new attitudes among them and their families. It also seeks to identify and build on existing family strengths that can help post-detention adolescents develop more positive attitudes. Overall, the model seeks to produce systemic change in the communication and problem-solving systems within the family. During the course of three to five months, FFT Therapists help young people change their behaviors and develop new skills targeted toward better scholastic performance, behavior, and utilization of existing community resources.
• Educational and Social Service Supports - IPAS employs a dedicated staff of educational specialists and family support workers, who must successfully address the myriad of educational and social problems that can undermine any therapeutic intervention, supplements the work of the therapists.
• Intensive Case Management – IPAS employs Masters level social works who act as the point person for the families they serve. They meet several times a month with the family as a whole as well as one-on-one with individual members both in the office and in the families’ homes. They are available to help the families in every aspect of their lives from concrete services, to counseling or referral.

Healthy Families New York / Healthy Families Parkchester

CGSHB’s Healthy Families Parkchester is a community-based program affiliated with Healthy Families New York, which follows the model of Healthy Families America in providing services to parents of young children. The target population is families with an infant from prenatal to 3 months of age who need supportive services in order to ensure the healthy development of their child. We serve families from the Parkchester section of the Bronx.

Services include:

• Home Based Services - Our families receive parenting education in the comfort of their own homes. A Family Support Worker conducts safety checks of the home and provides the client with supportive services.
• Community Outreach - Healthy Families Parkchester staff perform outreach to other local service providers to form cooperative relationships. Staff is available to conduct service assessments in the locations where families receive other social services.