Dr. Yoon conducting a group workshop at The Child Center.
The Child Center of NY’s Vice President of Integrated and Value-Based Care, Anderson Sungmin Yoon, DSW, LCSW-R, has been invited to contribute a monthly column for the Korea Daily, the top Korean newspaper in the U.S. and one of the major newspapers in South Korea. Dr. Yoon will introduce The Child Center’s programs and services to Korean American readers and to the idea of being comfortable discussing mental health issues.
“I want to focus on the underutilization of mental health services, the stigma associated with having mental health issues and receiving mental health treatment, and successful parenting and adjustment issues among recent immigrants,” Dr. Yoon says.
His first column focused on the journey of his social work career at The Child Center of NY (previously Queens Child Guidance Center), which began 16 years ago. Dr. Yoon joined the Asian Outreach Program in Elmhurst right after graduating from the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College. The column offered a poignant account of how he learned that The Child Center’s founding in 1953 coincided with the end of the war in his native Korea. He describes being moved by the fact that at the time his and readers’ ancestors were fighting fiercely for basic human rights and survival, children in the United States were paying attention to mental health and well-being — but that psychological issues cross national boundaries and affect children and adults of all backgrounds.
The columns will appear in digital and print editions and introduce nearly 400,000 Korean Americans living in the tri-state area to The Child Center’s programs, which serve more than 37,000 children and families each year, in some of the toughest, most under-resourced communities in New York. In addition to behavioral health services, The Child Center also offers early childhood education, Health Homes and integrated care, prevention and family support, and youth development.
Because of his passion for helping others and his extraordinary record of accomplishment, Dr. Yoon has been tapped by entities from Harvard University to the New York City Mayor’s office to join or lead efforts that impact children’s mental health. To learn more about Dr. Yoon, please read his bio on our executive leadership page and this in-depth Q&A.
