Posts By: Rise

New York City teens convicted of crimes have usually been sent to facilities upstate, far from their families. Now an initiative called Closeto Home will change that—these teens will receive services at home or go to city residences where they can stay more connected to their families and communities. Reverend Emma Jordan-Simpson, executive director of the Children’s Defense Fund of New York and chair of the Office of Children and Families Brooklyn for … Read More

At community forums organized by the New York Center for Juvenile Justice, parents are turning out to talk about a pressing issue affecting teenagers and their families: In New York, 16 and 17 year olds arecharged as adults for all crimes. Most other states set the “age of criminal responsibility” at 18; only New York and North Carolina set it at 16.

Michael Corriero, executive director of the New York Center for … Read More

On the morning of June 14, 2009, my daughter, grandson and I headed north from our small town in Nebraska on the 90 mile trip to theBehavioral Health Hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. My grandson, Nathan, had been acting extremely aggressive for 36 hours. He threw chairs across the room, punched the computer screen, and kicked and hit family members.

Nathan, who has been diagnosed with Bipolar, ADD and ODD, and also has … Read More

Child welfare leaders, frontline workers, parents and advocatesgathered in New York City on March 16 for a forum about the impact of the Parent Advocate Initiative, a two-year project to support six NYC foster care agencies in hiring and training eight parent advocates. Parents whose own children were once in foster care now work at 22 of the private foster care agencies in New York City, as well as the city’s child welfare … Read More