Open house slated for Children’s Home
New facility offers modern options to residents of Northeast Parent & Child Society

By Jackie Sher
The Niskayuna Spotlight
May 21, 2009 

Northeast Parent & Child Society is celebrating the grand opening of its new Children’s Home on Tuesday, June 9. Located at 122 Park Avenue, the new facility replaces one that was built in 1955. 

“The project cost approximately $11 million,” said Laura Alpert, vice president of communications for Northeast Parent & Child Society. 

According to Alpert, $10 million was funded through the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York, and the other $1 million was collected through private fundraising. 

The former Children’s Home is being demolished, and in its place will go playing fields and baseball fields. Northeast Parent & Child Society looked into renovating the original structure and discovered that it made more sense financially to build an entirely new building. It also avoided disrupting the residents. 

“It will actually provide more space for recreation, which we’re excited about,” said Alpert. 

The new facility has been serving children since April. 

“It serves 68 children at a time, which translates to approximately 170 children per year,” said Alpert. 

The children it serves are 11 to 18 years old. About one-third come from Schenectady County, and among the referrals are cases of abuse, neglect and poverty. 

“Many of the youths accepted into the Children’s Home have skipped school, stolen or participated in fights, and some have been charged with minor legal offenses,” said Alpert. 

To get into the Home, candidates go through an intensive screening process that ensures residents are willing to participate in treatment. Once they are in the program, they receive many services, including counseling, individual, group, and family therapy, career development services, and recreational programs. The youths attend The School at Northeast, which is an alternative education program for children in grades six to 12. 

The length of stay for each child varies from a few months to a couple of years. 

“Because we have a facility that provides a high level of service, we’re confident that we’ll be able to reduce the length of stay for our youths,” said Alpert. 

The new Children’s Home has a modern design with safety and increased security features. For example, 15-second time locks have been placed on doors so staff members have time to react to a resident who might be planning to leave without permission. 

Each dormitory will hold eight beds. 

“Each [resident will have a] private bedroom and bathroom with secured doors and windows. We also have large open common areas with high ceilings and ambient lighting and 20,000 square feet of new space for family treatment meetings, recreation, learning and career development,” Alpert said. “It’s extremely exciting. We’ve had very generous support from the community.” 

Alpert added that she is excited to invite the community to tour the building at the June 9 open house. 

“For me, it’s wonderful to be part of such a wonderful project,” said Hector Ramirez, COO of Northeast Parent & Child Society. 

“It has the capacity to serve up to 80 adolescents with out of home care in a more therapeutic environment.” 

He said that the old Home had really “passed its prime” and it “really just wasn’t keeping up with the needs of today’s children.” 

The intent of the Children’s Home is that the majority of its residents return to their homes. 

“Some of them are transferred into our foster care programs, others go to relatives. It really depends on the needs of the children and desires of the families and the Departments of Social Services that we work with,” said Ramirez. 

For more information, visit http://www.neparentchild.org.