By bringing together community organizers, advocates, and service providers, The Human Services Consortium of East Harlem is improving the social, health, economic and educational care for neighborhood children and their families in East Harlem.
East Harlem is rich in culture, age, religion and above all, community. What makes the neighborhood of East Harlem unique is that it currently is home to a large youthful generation. East Harlem places an emphasis on the importance of partnering, networking, organizational accountability, and evidence based advocacy through working together to better service the community. Harlem is the home of social capital and value; our community is truly built on trust.
Our Goals:
• Connecting Head Start/Child Care and Preventive Services
We are committed to building and establishing a mutually respectful and beneficial relationship among all the entities that are a part of East Harlem, including Early Childhood Preventive and Head Start/Child Care agencies. East Harlem CPI hosted a Meet and Greet info forum this past fall, which opened the door to educating the community about accessing preventive and child care programs in the community.
• Foster Care Recruitment
The Foster Care Subcommittee strives to recruit foster homes within East Harlem for children in care. It hosts informational recruitment events and recruits at local church services to find loving families for children in the community. Several recruitment events have been held at the local Ecumenical Church in East Harlem.
The Foster Care Subcommittee also has a monthly Circle of Support for foster parents so that they might speak about any issues or concerns with other foster families.
• Family Conferences
The Consortium has created a special family conference team, Child Safety Conference (CSC), to make the best safety decisions for children, whether through in-home options or out-of-home placement. Parent organizers receive training from Children’s Services and recruit organizers who speak Spanish and other languages of African families in East Harlem.
• Visitation
The Family Visiting Subcommittee plans to implement a special “Visit Host” program, which is designed to monitor family visits and locate more comfortable settings for families in the community, such as libraries, local recreational facilities, neighborhood parks, and the site of the Child Welfare Organizing Project (CWOP).
• Issues of High Risk Teens
In efforts to bridge the gaps between young adults who are at risk and resources in the community, new methods of community support are being established. Meetings with youth networks and councils will be held to listen to the needs of the community. A youth directory and a youth employment resource directory are in development in collaboration with Mt. Sinai Medical Center. HSC is also in contact with superintendents in Manhattan to establish outreach vehicles. At the other end of the spectrum, educating East Harlem community service providers on street gangs and positive engagement with youth are also critical to successful implementation of this plan.
