Our Voice

National Recovery Month: Seeing and Being the Hope

September 23, 2024  |  Leave a reply

By Julia Floyd-Ventura, Senior Program Director, Jamaica Family Wellness Center

In honor of recovery month, blog author julia floyd-ventura holds a sign with how many days she has been in recovery.

Blog author Julia Floyd-Ventura counts not years or months, but rather days, in recovery.

National Recovery Month is celebrated annually in September to recognize the progress that has been made and is possible in mental health and substance use recovery. This yearly observance has special meaning for me. It is a national reminder that the one thing that undergirds all recovery programs is hope: People can and do recover and find healing. I know this firsthand as a child of service members who struggled with addiction, as someone who struggled—and still struggles—with it myself, and as a clinician who sees it happen every day.

My mother and father were Marines. It took a toll on them, and it took a toll on our family. It changed the trajectory of all our lives. After three active tours of combat in Vietnam, which earned him three Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star of Valor, my father developed PTSD. After years of persuasion by his family, he was treated by the VA and was able to do the work and heal and build our family back together.

My mother was not so lucky. While living on base housing in San Diego, California in 1965, my 3-month-old sister passed away.  With this tragic loss and several other traumatic factors, my mother struggled with alcoholism, PTSD, and depression. She never did get treatment, and, tragically, she died of alcoholism-related illness.

To me, this showed in stark reality that treatment works, and recovery is possible. It was too late for my mother. I hoped it wasn’t too late for me.

The children are often overlooked when we talk about military and veterans’ mental health. I didn’t realize it at the time, but my parents’ service took a toll not just on my parents, but on my older sister and me, too. My parents divorced when I was one year old. I knew about my father and talked to him throughout my childhood, but with both my parents’ resentments toward each other and their own unresolved issues—including PTSD—we were kept apart. I dealt with his absence, my mother’s alcoholism and all that entailed, and witnessed my mother’s suicide attempts as a child. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I developed an addiction, too, at the tender age of 12. It had been my dream to enlist and serve in the military, but I was turned down because of my addiction. It has been one of my greatest regrets that I did not serve.

But my greatest regret is what my addiction did to the early relationship with my daughter. It was my love for my baby daughter that led me to seek the treatment I knew I needed. I enrolled in a residential treatment program when my daughter was 3 and spent three years without her, seeing her only during visits. With her being born into my addiction, I had to do so much work. I truly learned if I wanted her to ever forgive me, I had to demonstrate that I could also forgive my parents. That was part of the work I had to do, if I were to make good on my promise to myself and my daughter that the cycle of addiction would end with me.

Now I get to be a wonderful grandparent to my beautiful, healthy granddaughter. I watch my granddaughter every Monday, and my daughter and I have a beautiful relationship. We talk every day. That is all because of the power of recovery and healing.

Helping others, especially other military families, do the same in their own lives is what drives me. For 19 years, I worked at Phoenix House, where I was once a client and began my recovery. For six of those years, I served as vice president of mental health and military services. I’ve been the senior director of the Jamaica Family Wellness Center at The Child Center since 2018. While not being able to serve in the military myself may be one of my greatest regrets, having played a role in launching Military Services at The Child Center has been one of my greatest accomplishments. I have a deep understanding of the effect of military service not just on the service members, but also on the children and the family as a whole. I am extremely proud and grateful that serving the whole family, and especially the children in their own right, is a feature of Military Services at The Child Center. This is a huge step in helping end cycles of trauma and addiction.

A deep understanding of military culture is also an integral part of Military Services, and this translates into a “no judgment” zone. As a service member, you are always expected to just get your mission and go. But if people like my mother did seek help and tell someone about their trauma, addiction, and other mental health challenges while they were happening, they might have gotten help before it was too late. As long as you are alive and breathing, there is always hope. There is always healing. There is always a way toward a fulfilling life you are proud to live. I am thankful that the military is catching up to this, and that addiction and mental health challenges no longer carry the stigma they once did. As a result, service members are increasingly getting the help they need, which benefits everyone.

Recovery Month coincides with Suicide Prevention Month, and I am proud to be part of an organization that offers many avenues through which people touched by these interrelated issues can find hope and change. The Child Center offers care and treatment on the whole spectrum, from prevention to recovery. In terms of early prevention, this can be seen in the way that even in our youth development programs, from afterschool to community centers, mental wellness is top of mind and a golden thread woven throughout programming. Sometimes that’s through explicit emphasis, and sometimes it’s just in the form of helping young people set goals, tap into their strengths, realize their potential, and engage in all the things that make life worth living. We also recently launched our School-Based Early Support program, which works by embedding our staff in the schools where children are every day to proactively support families and ensure children thrive in safe, stable, and nurturing environments. We also have partnered with Born This Way Foundation to promote the Be There Certificate, earned after an online course that teaches the public to recognize when someone might be struggling with their mental health and how to support them while maintaining their own mental health. It’s a free, self-paced, interactive online course designed for young people but accessible to all.

The Child Center also supports people of any age, including adults with or without children, at the other end of the spectrum: Those who currently are facing serious mental health challenges and require a higher level of care. For example, The Child Center Residential Treatment Facility offers a warm, supportive environment that serves young people ages 12-18 who have had multiple psychiatric hospital placements or have serious emotional disabilities and involvement with the juvenile justice system, while our Youth Intensive Outpatient Program (Youth IOP) and Bridge to Hope program serves clients in that age group who are at high risk of self-harm and suicidal behaviors, but while remaining at home with their families.

All these programs and options boil down to one crucial conviction: It is never too early or too late to intervene in a person’s life. There is always hope for recovery. I am living proof, and so are the thousands of people who have engaged in mental health and substance use care at The Child Center.

I mentioned that one of my greatest regrets is that I didn’t get to serve in the military, but one thing I learned in recovery is not to focus on regrets but on how we can move on and make amends. In that spirit, even though I didn’t serve, I feel like I am serving in my current role.

Tragically, my father passed away in 2019 (Agent Orange-related cancer from Vietnam). I am so grateful that I got to reconnect with him when I was 35 and meet my paternal family, and that I get to help people like him through my work. Every day, I get to help service members and civilians alike find hope and recovery. It’s my way of giving back.

We ended August with Overdose Awareness Day, a time to remember those whose lives were tragically cut short by addiction. I think it’s poetic that the very next day, we begin a whole month—Recovery Month—focused on hope.

Editor’s Note: If you are actively suicidal, go to your nearest emergency room or call 911. For anyone who is experiencing suicidal thoughts, addiction, or other mental health challenges, help is available.

Replacing Obstacles with Opportunities for Migrant Families—Especially the Children

December 22, 2023  |  Leave a reply
A Head Start classroom at The Child Center of NY’s Early Childhood Corona Center, where 10 to 15 percent of enrolled children are from migrant families. Photo credit: Vier Visuals

By Tanya Krien
Vice President, Early Childhood Education

A Head Start classroom at The Child Center of NY’s Early Childhood Corona Center, where 10 to 15 percent of enrolled children are from migrant families. Photo credit: Vier Visuals

A Head Start classroom at The Child Center of NY’s Early Childhood Corona Center, where 10 to 15 percent of enrolled children are from migrant families. Photo credit: Vier Visuals

Last month, I was honored to serve as a panelist for the Roundtable Discussion, “Children in Migration and Access to Services in NYC: Obstacles and Solutions Towards a More Inclusive and Cohesive Society,” sponsored by the NGO Committee on Migration, Subcommittee on Children in Migration. This event brought together experts and practitioners working to address the challenges migrants face with access to resources and education in NYC, especially for children and their families.

As Vice President of Early Childhood Education at The Child Center of NY, I oversee six Early Head Start and Head Start programs. These programs serve children under the age of 5 who are from low-income families and face other barriers to school success. While the children in our programs face incredible challenges, they start out with as much promise as any child. Year after year, our extensive data and firsthand experience show that with the right support, these children can and do flourish.

Of course, what constitutes the “right support” changes with the times, as everything does. It is up to us to evolve and ensure we are meeting the needs of today’s children and families.

Right now, we are seeing an influx of children from immigrant families who are living in homeless shelters. Additionally, more children than ever before are presenting with special needs.

During the panel discussion, I spoke about the experience of migrant children once they arrive here, what services are helpful, which services are lacking, and how we are—and should be—responding to their needs so that they can begin school ready to learn and begin life ready to thrive.

Here is what the right support for young children from migrant families looks like today in New York City.

More 1:1 attention. When children at such a tender age are continually displaced, their ability to form relationships is affected. They are not sure what to expect day to day, and this negatively impacts their ability to form secure relationships with their teachers and age-appropriate relationships with their classmates.

Immigrating to a new country—usually following and involving severe trauma—causes a lack of continuity on its own. That sense of instability is exacerbated by living in the shelter system, especially in light of a new rule that migrant families can stay in a shelter for only 60 days; they can reapply, but then they can be placed anywhere in the five boroughs. This means a child in our Head Start program in Corona, Queens, might be moved to a shelter in the Bronx and start all over again with new teachers, new children, new routines, and a lack of the kind of continuity that contributes to a child feeling safe and secure—that is, if they can even find a school that will enroll them.

We also see disruptive behaviors in the classroom as a result of children being overstimulated and unused to the structured environment. In a shelter, you have minimal toys and books, to say the least. Here, you have a plethora. Children who are unused to such an array want to see and do everything at one time, often without knowing the basics of how to play with toys or what a book is for. It may be difficult for them to transition from one activity to another. Sometimes they don’t have the language to say, “I want to play with this toy,” and it comes out as biting or hitting. With several children in each classroom fitting this description, the old paradigm of one teacher and one assistant in a classroom of 15 to 18 children is insufficient.

That is why we sought funding for a senior engagement specialist* who is a licensed social worker to provide mental health consultation and support to our Head Start staff, children, and families. This role is vital in classroom operations as well as in offering guidance to teachers and parents. For example, imagine a child who fits the description above: they are playing with a toy and are having a hard time transitioning to circle time. The senior engagement specialist might choose to give a task (sense of responsibility) to this child—for example, saying to the child, “Can you carry this book over to Ms. X for her to read?” This helps in the moment, and it provides teachers a model for future reference.

At the same time all this is going on, we are seeing a dramatic increase in children with special needs, such as learning disabilities and lack of language development. This applies not only to migrant children, but also American-born children who grew up during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, 10 to 15 percent of children in our classrooms had special needs. Since the pandemic, that number is expected to rise to about 40 percent once formal evaluations are conducted. Although our teachers are trained in teaching children with special needs, the demand right now is more than they can possibly meet.

Mental health support. Just the very experience of immigrating is a trauma in itself; on top of that, families also have the trauma of whatever circumstances prompted them to leave their home country, from extreme violence to extreme poverty. Accessible and affordable mental health care, offered in the language they speak and delivered by clinicians who share lived experiences with families, must be a part of any solution.

Estaphanie, an immigrant whose son is at The Child Center's Early Head Start

Estephanie, with her husband and son, also spoke at the roundtable.

Estephanie, a mom of one of our Early Head Start students, spoke beautifully about this at the roundtable. Estephanie and her husband immigrated here from Chile. Shortly after they arrived, Estephanie discovered she was pregnant, and the basement apartment they rented was flooded. Thankfully, Estephanie found our Early Head Start program for her son. True to The Child Center’s commitment to serve the whole child and entire family, a family worker at our program earned Estephanie’s trust and assessed the family for additional needs. The family worker talked to Stephanie about mental health services, and the family is now enrolled in The Child Center’s Early Childhood Mental Health program. These services—early childhood education and mental health—work together to give Stephanie’s son the academic and emotional bright start that Estephanie and her husband came to this country to give him—and which all children deserve. Equally important, Estephanie and her husband are getting the support they need, too.

Physical health services. Children are coming to our programs without the typical vaccinations and often with significant health problems, particularly dental issues. Our teachers, family workers, nurse-practitioner—whoever most connects to the family—are trained to recognize these issues and refer them to needed services in a way that respects families. The result is that almost all our families get the care they need, as you can see in our latest Head Start annual report.

Building relationships and trust. This was one of main points I spoke about during the panel discussion: Building relationships with families is the foundation on which all other progress is built. Families listen to us when we suggest mental health services or a visit to the dentist because our team is made up of credible messengers: people who share lived experiences with our clients and are embedded in the community. We build relationships with families from day one, and we never stop. This is important also because parents and other primary caregivers are children’s first and most important teacher. We want parents to be engaged in their children’s education so they can support their academic journeys long after their last day in our programs—and that engagement starts with relationships.

In her keynote speech, Dr. Najat Maalla M’jid, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Violence Against Children, noted that we have an obligation to protect the rights of children, and this right supersedes all other issues. This must be the underlying principle behind all policies and programs that serve children who migrate with their families to our city. They have the same rights as any other child—and, it’s important to remember, just as much potential, too.

*Thank you to First Rate for their generosity in funding this vital position, and to Excellence in Giving for presenting this opportunity.

RTF Clinical Coordinator Youngkwang Moon on Gender-Affirming Care and the Role of Social Workers

August 16, 2023  |  Leave a reply

 

Clinical Coordinator Young Moon with a client of The Child Center Residential Treatment Facility

Earlier this summer, we shared with you sobering statistics regarding LGBTQ+ youth in America—and how critical it is that we support them, now more than ever. Clinical Coordinator Youngkwang (Young) Moon and the team at The Child Center Residential Treatment Facility (RTF) in Brooklyn are on the frontlines in this critical endeavor.

The RTF serves young people ages 12-18 who have had multiple psychiatric hospital placements or have been involved with the juvenile justice system. It is the only facility of its kind in the region. We care for youth people have given up on multiple times. They often struggle with significant mental health challenges, trauma, and social determinants of health. Yet they are as full of promise as any young person, as you can see by the personal stories of former residents like Danny and Nyomi.

They also are overwhelmingly LGBTQ+. According to Young, 75 percent of the youth at the RTF identify as LGBTQ+. Sadly, they often lack the support that most young people can take for granted.

But when they come here, they find a support system waiting for them. In the Q&A below, Young describes in eloquent and moving terms what that means for the youth here, and why he believes social workers play a pivotal role in moving society toward a truly inclusive and caring society. Young will be leaving The Child Center at the end of this month, and we are deeply grateful to him for strengthening the RTF in ways that will benefit our youth now and in the future.

The Child Center of NY: You are clearly very passionate about social work. What inspired you to become a social worker?

 Young Moon, LMSW: Growing up, I loved the idea of helping people and providing a big impact for the community. People around me talked about joining the medical field as a way to do that. But I had an interest in the community as a whole, society as a whole. Going to school, learning more about social problems, I felt that social worker is a unique role, really addressing those issues and making an impact socially. Social workers support individuals and the community so that overall, as a society, we can improve. I really like that aspect. A lot of issues are not possible to address with medical care alone. We can medicate everyone only so much, but that’s not going to give youth the skills and tools they need to do well in the community. That’s what we need to do instead of always going to hospitals and having psychiatric stays.

As I worked in the field, I saw how important social work is for everyone. Social workers are in a unique position to have a big impact on our society as a whole. I identify with how social workers think, and I felt like I could do my part for the world as a social worker more than anything else.

Can you describe what it means to be clinical coordinator at the RTF?

The way I like to break it down is in three ways. First, the individual aspect; I work directly with clients and their families, providing therapy. The second portion is what we call mezza level: case management, connecting clients with government agencies and services in the community, and generally making sure everyone is working together to support the kids. The third level is using my social worker lens to ensure the facility is operating well therapeutically, and our team has the tools to really support our youth here.

Speaking of the team at the RTF, you speak very highly of the medical team. It seems like they have used every tool at their disposal, including their innovation and passion, to support LGBTQ+ youth in meaningful ways. Can you tell us more about that?

The medical team, led by Hannah Rush [Director of RTF Medical Services], really pushed for gender-affirming care. They saw the need for it and made it happen. One very significant thing they did was establish a partnership with Callen-Lorde, a medical provider that specializes in LGBTQ medical care and information. Callen-Lorde brings their medical van to the RTF monthly and answers our LGBTQ clients’ questions, including questions regarding hormonal therapy so they can get some education on it. I had one client who wanted to get hormonal therapy, and we didn’t have the structure for that at the time. But we are building the processes and structure so any youth in the future can get gender-affirming care, which includes affirming their gender identity, using their appropriate pronouns and preferred names, providing items that can be affirming such as chest binders, and referring clients to support systems and groups upon discharge. The medical team is doing a great job spearheading those processes for the kids. It is inspiring that they saw the need and really made a difference.

Why is it so important to offer LGBTQ+ youth this kind of care?

It can be very closely tied to their self-esteem. They experience parents, friends, other people who are supposed to be in their corner, denying who they feel they are. That really takes a toll on their mental health. They struggle with that. These kids deserve a safe space to feel like there are people who see who they are as a person. Even though we’re not their family, we care for them. It’s important they have that support, a place on their mental health journey where they can feel comfortable speaking about who they are as a person and where we provide as much support as we can so they can thrive and improve their mental health.

What has been the most rewarding part of your work at the RTF?

There is a lot that affected me. Seeing a kid who met their treatment goal and went into the community successfully. When I follow up, and they’re doing well, managed to go to school … hearing the struggles as well, but they’re really trying hard to make it work. I’ll hear from parents how their child has improved, that they’re excited to have them back home.

Even when I have cases where things don’t go the way we wanted them to—even in the hard moments—we know we did everything we can, and we hope eventually they will get there, and they know they can count on us for support. The way I see it, these kids don’t have a lot of people rooting for them. That they are able to form some connections here, and to know that people are rooting for them, even when they’re still figuring things out. … It’s one of those moments when you’re like, this is exactly why I entered the field. The youth here don’t have a lot. To be a part of giving second chances so they may be able to turn their lives around is really something. Society doesn’t give a lot of second chances. There aren’t a lot of opportunities for growth. We give them a place where they can really get that second chance in life and grow to be what they want to be–and know they can be.

Mental Health Awareness Month: The Crisis Among Our Children, Three Years After the COVID-19 Pandemic Began

May 1, 2023  |  Leave a reply
Governor Hochul at mental health plan announcement

By Linda Rodriguez, SVP, Behavioral Health, Early Childhood, and Community Partnerships

Governor Hochul at mental health plan announcement

A photo of Governor Kathy Hochul announcing her mental health plan, taken by the blog author

As a multiservice organization that provides mental health treatment and support to young New Yorkers, before March 2020 we were busy, serving more than 40,000 New Yorkers annually through our behavioral health, early childhood education, youth development, and other programs across the city. Since then, the intensity of our work has profoundly escalated. Continue reading →

World Mental Health Day: Five Ways to Truly Make Mental Health a Priority

October 7, 2022  |  Leave a reply

By Traci Donnelly
Chief Executive Officer

A young person in a therapy session at the child center residential treatment facility.The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted young people’s mental health—and adults’, too, if we’re being honest—so the World Health Organization’s World Mental Health Day theme of making mental health and well-being for all a global priority could not have come at a better time.

If you are struggling with your mental health, you are not alone. Mental and public health professionals of all nations and cultures are reporting that their clients are feeling overwhelmed, uncertain, anxious, helpless, frustrated, stressed, and exhausted. Not surprisingly, these emotions are leading to a decrease in frustration tolerance and an increase in anxiety, depression, and substance abuse. Continue reading →

Suicide Prevention Awareness Month

September 26, 2022  |  Leave a reply
clients at residential treatment facility in brooklyn

Clients at The Child Center Residential Treatment Facility, one of many Child Center programs that serve adolescents with mental health needs

The changing face of challenge in American adolescence—and how to meet it

By Jennifer Blitzer, LCSW-R
Program Director, Woodside Youth Intensive Outpatient Program

American adolescence is changing. Three decades ago, the biggest public health threats to teenagers came from binge drinking, drunk driving, teenage pregnancy, and smoking. All have fallen sharply in the United States. In their place are soaring rates of mental illness. Continue reading →

A Perspective on Gender and Racial Equity: Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson Hearings

March 28, 2022  |  Leave a reply
Supreme Court Nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson
Supreme Court Nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson

Photo credit: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

By Sonia Banks, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President, Organizational Culture and Talent Development

The nation was mesmerized in recent days by the Senate confirmation hearings of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Biden’s first nominee to the United State Supreme Court.

The importance of the Court to American life cannot be overstated — its decisions impact our government, our economy, our family lives. If confirmed, Judge Jackson would make history as the first Black woman to sit on the Court, a long-overdue breakthrough that is anxiously awaited by many.

But the hearings themselves have been an embarrassing, infuriating chapter in this history-making story unfolding during Women’s Herstory Month. Continue reading →

Mental Health in NYC: A look back at ThriveNYC and ahead to the Office of Community Health

December 7, 2021  |  Leave a reply
Michele Neuhaus with Chrirlane McCray at Gracie Mansion

By Michele Neuhaus, LCAT, LMHC, CCLS
Program Director, 0-5 Early Childhood Mental Health Services

a client of the early childhood mental health initiative, ThriveNYC, now Office of Community Mental Health

Strengthening the parent-child bond is core part of the 0-5 ECMH initiative.

Last month, my colleague Yudelka Ramirez, a family peer advocate with The Child Center of NY’s 0-5 Early Childhood Mental Health Initiative, and I attended a Mental Health Allies Reception, hosted by Mayor Bill de Blasio and First Lady Chirlaine McCray at Gracie Mansion. Continue reading →


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