Council Member Epstein Inquires About Children's Center Services

Yeah, I want to flag the children's center for you.

Um uh because this has been something, you know, before I came to this lovely body, I was an assembly member for eight years and dealt with lots of issues there and insufficient programming and services available to the young people who are some people are cycling in in a day, but some people are there for months on end.

And I'm wondering what the plan is to ensure that the young people who are there getting getting the support that they need while they're at the children's center.

I'm learning, and um one of the things I know is I'm uh agree with you.

We absolutely, if children are in our care, we have a responsibility to make sure that we're meeting their needs and um working with uh deputy first deputy commissioner, titles right, first deputy commissioner Saunders, um, who isn't here today, but um with um understanding kind of what's happening at the children's center where our needs are and where there's opportunity for um improvement.

Ultimately, um I would love that um there's less and less need and utilization of the children's center, um, and that we have the ability to both keep children at home with their families and meet their needs, utilize kinship placements, identify um uh family home placements outside of having um to use the children's center, but the quality of care is critical as well.

Um I'm gonna turn it over to Deputy Commissioner Mendez if she has anything else to add.

So just to piggyback on your question regarding services, I won't go into detail, we can definitely share, but there's a lot of robust service, mental health and well being services.

JCCA provides mental health support, children's villages working with us on our youth that may be trafficked.

We have um different organizations providing mentorship programs.

We have an eight-staff ACS staff mental health team that's based in the Children's Center.

So there's a lot of programming that Commissioner Jones gaston mentioned that first deputy commissioner Wynnette Saunders introduced.

I'm happy to report today there are 39 young people at the Children's Center, and we have brought down considerably the length of time children stay there.

There are some, yes, that stay older, our teens.

But we're working, you know, with our foster care providers and also working with their families to see if they can safely be returned home.

So we've made a lot of strides.

Um I could go on, but you know, yeah, I'm happy to talk offline about that more because it's something that we've seen as an ongoing concern and problem.

Yes, and we work very closely with the 13% in the community district in that area on a regular basis.

So I think those partnerships and the commitment, while we don't want children staying at their children a long time while they are there, we want them to be supported and have their needs met.

I just wanted to add that um first deputy commissioner Wynnette Saunders really wanted to be here today, and unfortunately had a medical appointment she couldn't change, and so I just wanted to put that out for the record because I know she really would have wanted to share updated information about the children's center with you.

As you know, we've both been long-standing members of the Children's Center and Community Advisory Board, and um I'd be happy to set up a time for the three of us to meet so we can update you more fully at four of us.

Sorry.

Thank you.

Great, thank you so much.