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Family and Child Service of Schenectady, Inc.
is now 78 years old and its history portrays us accurately- as an organization
constantly changing to meet the needs of more individuals in Family and Child has always valued
collaborations and has maintained many cooperative arrangements with other
agencies, making formal arrangements with: the Department of Social Services,
Legal Aid, Children‚ Home, Day Nursery, Municipal Housing, Probation, the
Schenectady County Jail, Ellis Mental Health, VNSA, EISEP, OMRDD, schools,
churches, and other non-profits. As you will see, our four programs have many
partners. In 1956, the Homemaker Program, one of our four current programs,
began providing assistance to struggling families with young children, often
when the mother was unable to function. Gradually the program evolved to suit
the needs of the county and the Homemaker Program currently provides in-home
assistance to approximately 85 frail low-income elderly clients who are trying
to maintain their independence and prevent institutionalization. We contracted
with the Office for the Aging and the Aging Services of Schenectady County to
better serve the residents of the county who are eligible for services. We are
in constant contact with the Visiting Nurses Association and the Extended
In-Home Services for the Elderly Program. Although the agency began counseling clients
early on in its history, our Outreach Counseling Program began in 1970 with the
decrease of adoption services. We provide individual, family, parent/child,
marriage, and Anger Management Group counseling to the residents of the county,
regardless of their ability to pay. We currently have on staff certified
social workers that take referrals from a wide variety of sources in the county.
Often, clients report that they could not have been served if not for us, either
due to the expense of therapy, or extensive waiting lists at other agencies. Our
Family Support Services Program for families with a developmentally disabled
child began in 1980 as a simple Respite program offering parents temporary
relief from the stress and strain of caring for developmentally disabled
children. We are the only agency in the area that provides in-home respite and
now, Medicaid waiver rehab, to this population. Our Family Reimbursement Grant
program distributes state and county funds to families requesting money for
adaptive equipment, necessities, software and beneficial programs for the
developmentally disabled. In 1984, the Family Foundation
of Schenectady, Inc. was formed as a depository for bequests, memorials, and
honoraria given to Family and Child Service, preserving the principal in the
corpus of the Foundation. Generated income enhances our existing programs and
assures the agency‚growth. As is evident, the agency works to meet the
changing needs of the community. We think that the founders would be amazed and
gratified to know of our success and our trials. Today we serve approximately
1,000 people a year with a total budget of about $980,000, 10% coming from
donations and fundraising. |
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246 Union Street |