The New York Foundling - Saving Abandoned Children and Supporting Families

Introduction to The New York Foundling

Introduction to organization

The New York Foundling is a nonprofit organization based in Manhattan, New York. Their mission is to save abandoned children, preserve families, and give them a home. The Foundling has over thirty programs and services, and they serve more than 30,000 children, individuals, and families every year (New York Foundling, Inc., 2019). Their services include foster care and adoption, group residences for teens, maternity, deaf children, family reunification, and they also have designed programs for juvenile justice and individuals with developmental disabilities. (Catholic Charities, 2019). They realize that a community where children, youth, and adults can enjoy the safety, well-being, and supportive relationships are essential to build their full physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual potential (New York Foundling, Inc., 2019). Among the several programs, they are responsible for payments made to foster parents to take care of the foster children; moreover, they are responsible for receivables, reimbursements, and billing for the nonprofit organization (New York Foundling Inc., 2019). In the past 150 years, they have saved over 250,000 children. (Jeffrey, 2020).

It all began one evening in October 1869, during the post-Civil War, Sister Mary Irene and two other Sisters of Charity heard a crying baby outside where they found a note begging them to take care of the baby. In the next few weeks, they started to rescue more than 40 babies from the streets in New York. Their nonstop charitable acts had continued supporting these unprotected children and families and then they started the legacy of New York Foundling (Jeffrey, 2020). Until today, there are more than 1,000 employees. Now the New York Foundling is led by Bill Baccaglini. He believes, “At the end of the day, it’s my job to ensure that The Foundling’s future is as bright as its history has been rich. We’re constantly identifying better ways to serve the children, families, and adults in our care” (New York Foundling, Inc., 2019).

The Foundling made a positive impact on society. For example, 90% of people who use the Criss Nursery do not return with the same or similar crisis. In addition, more than 150 instances of severe abuse or neglect uncovered due to participation in the Child Abuse Prevention Program, better known as the CAPP program (The New York Foundling Inc., 2019). About 1000 children and adults served in their programs for individuals with developmental disabilities every year. They also provide approximately 4,000 hours of free after-school programming to Haven Academy students annually.

Overview of Services and Programs

Provide an overview of the organization and your role in it. Give enough information about the firm to acquaint an unfamiliar person (no matter how famous the company). Identify name, location, size, market segment (business line), and a brief history. Identify the essential issues, events, or actions to help frame the problem and subsequent discussion points.

The New York Foundling, founded in 1869 by the Roman Catholic Sisters of Charity, is one of New York City's oldest and largest child welfare agencies. The Foundling operates programs in the five boroughs of New York City, Rockland County, and Puerto Rico.

The Foundling situated in Manhattan, is an organization with a mission not to “abandon anyone”.  The foundling has over30 programs serving more than 30,000 children, individuals, and families every year.  A community where all children, youth, and adults enjoy safety, well-being, and supportive relationships needed to reach their full physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual potential.  Among the several programs, we are responsible for payments made to foster parents to take care of the foster children.  In addition, we are also responsible for receivables, reimbursements and billing for the non-profit organization. The Foundling is comprised of over 1,000 employees and located in all five boroughs, Rockland County, and Puerto Rico.

Problem Statement  
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1. Pledges have reduced significantly due to Pandemic.
2. Programs are going to be cut due to a cut in grants from the Agency.

The New School’s Center for New York City Affairs reports on the lack of mental health resources available to New York City students this school year, including insight from our CEO, Bill Baccaglini.

“As kids finally resume classes – remotely this week and in classrooms next – they will find that many social workers and other mental health care providers have disappeared from school budgets.

“We’re turning off the spigot to kids with serious needs,” says Bill Baccaglini, the executive director of the nonprofit New York Foundling, which runs mental health programs in 22 public elementary, middle, and high schools, mostly in Upper Manhattan and the Bronx.”

Financially and  Mentally
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The foundling aim is to provide the community where every person enjoys the safe, stable and supported relationships to reach their full physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual potential. Our most central goal is to empower underserved children and families to live healthy, independent, and fulfilling lives. This includes ensuring that all young people are supported by families in permanent, loving, and safe home environments. We also aim to ensure that all families and children have access to the community supports that they need in order to be successful, including education, health, and social services. For adults with developmental disabilities, our goal is to support the growth of each individual in reaching their highest level of independence through person-centered planning and development.