To support the salary of the new Director of Career Connections who will lead a new three-person Career Connections team. They will help students move towards personal and professional success by gaining industry specific knowledge, professional relationships, and meaningful work opportunities. The team will significantly increase Bottom Line’s capacity to build hiring partnerships with companies, develop larger professional networks for their students to tap into, and support alumni through their job searches after they graduate. Over the past year, they have determined that providing their students with these sorts of additional professional development opportunities is essential to better ensure that they successfully transition to the workforce and fully capitalize on their college degree.

To support a counselor who will oversee the Middle School Transitions Initiative (“MSTI”), a year-round program that will help 240 young people aged 11 to 15 and their parents with the transition from middle school to high school. It will: offer young people and parents workshops on the high school application, admission, and major determination process; provide them with one-on-one assistance related to the process; convene trips to high school fairs and campuses; provide information related to the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test; and develop a peer support infrastructure for parents and youth. Through this program, they will help to ensure that middle school youth living in low-income Bronx neighborhoods receive the individualized help they need to more optimally remain within the educational pipeline.

To support their new Student Recruitment and Family Engagement Manager position. The Manager will have the critical responsibility of recruiting and maintaining student enrollment, and for fostering and cultivating positive relationships with prospective and current families for both their middle school and their new elementary school which will open in the 2021/2022 school year. While CQA has experienced consistent positive enrollment since its founding, it is necessary for their long-term growth and sustainability to implement a deeper and more strategic plan to support their expansion efforts. CQA, which currently serves 400 students in grades 5 through 8, will grow to serve 900 students in grades K through 8 at full enrollment. CQA prepares students for success in education, in the workforce, and in the community through schools that integrates literacy, standards-based academics, and culturally responsive support services.

For the Managing Director of Strategic Initiatives (“MDSI”) who will play a key role in planning for, implementing, and evaluating three capacity-building initiatives which will help them to improve their services to partner schools: the year-two expansion of a standardized literacy-tutoring curriculum; year-two of enhanced pre-service AmeriCorps member training at Hunter College; and the first full year of expanding local recruitment efforts with the support of a team of two local recruitment managers. City Year is a national educational nonprofit that partners with NYC Schools, mobilizing teams of young energetic AmeriCorps Members who commit a year to work full-time in the City’s most under-resourced schools. They identify 3rd through 9th grade students who are off-track in three critical areas — attendance, behavior, and performance — and offer tutoring, mentoring and enrichment activities to help these students get back on track toward academic and life-long success.

For continued support of their Alumni Success Manager who is responsible for ensuring that their high school graduates continue to receive differentiated support to matriculate to college, persevere through the myriad challenges they will face as college students, and successfully graduate. Students from low-income families, as 84 percent of their scholars are, often require additional guidance to navigate the obstacles involved with maintaining their financial aid and scholarship compliance, housing, academics, and managing time and relationships. The Alumni Success Manager will oversee college matriculation, stay in touch with their college students, track their progress, and offer academic, emotional, and financial advising and support, providing both immediate and long-term guidance that will increase the Charter School’s graduates’ ultimate college graduation rates. Coney Island Prep is a rigorous college-preparatory charter school located in the Coney Island community of Brooklyn that serves over 1,000

For general operating support as the organization weathers the programmatic and financial fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the financial ambiguity that comes with decreased state budgets and the effect of uncertain markets on philanthropy, DREAM has also incurred significant, unexpected costs from its COVID-19 response especially as they relate to remote learning and ensuring the health and well-being of their students, families, staff and communities. DREAM currently serves over 800 students in grades Pre-K through 11th grade at four schools, and nearly 2,000

For continued support of the Success Team Manager at their Goddard Riverside Options Center. The Team Manager will help to create and oversee the implementation of the Success Program’s strategies for improving student outcomes. The position is also charged with developing relationships with and serving as primary liaison to their strategic community partners – including career volunteers, college officials, and Options alumni. The Team Manager will work to strengthen support for their college students who transfer from 2-year community colleges to 4-year colleges and universities to earn Bachelor’s degrees, and for students as they to prepare for the transition from college to careers. The Options Center, a Goddard Riverside program, was started in 1985 as one of NYC’s first (and thereafter most impactful) community-based college access centers. It addresses the inequities in college access and completion and supports low-income, first-generation, and other under-represented students to and through college and on to successful careers.

For renewed support of the Director of New Teacher Development, who had laid the foundation for a New Teacher Development program last year. The program will be further implemented this year through a targeted pilot approach in 5 schools, with all 11 KIPP schools in Newark being invited to participate. The goals are to formalize and standardize their new teacher recruiting and development processes across their network, provide new teachers with the programming necessary to become lead teachers within one year, and reduce the pressure on their recruiting team to hire only experienced teachers, which is especially important as they grow from 11 to 14 schools by 2023. In the 2019-2020 school year, their 11 Newark schools were educating over 4,700 students in grades K-12. Ensuring that every classroom has a great teacher is critical to their achieving consistent and high levels of academic performance across their schools and to closing the achievement gap.

To provide continued support for the staffing of their Quality Education program priority. Lawyers Alliance for New York (“LANY”) will provide direct legal representation to over 200 nonprofit organizations seeking to improve educational opportunities and outcomes for low-income youth and other disadvantaged New Yorkers, while serving many more organizations through their educational programs, publications, and Resource Call Hotline. A staff attorney has been designated to develop and apply expertise regarding market trends, funding flows, regulatory issues, and other factors affecting education. Working with staff colleagues and volunteers, the staff attorney will coordinate their outreach, legal services, and trainings aimed at benefiting education nonprofits in NYC. The legal assistance and information will strengthen the programs, finances, and operations of the organizations they serve, better enabling them to deliver upon their respective missions with greater confidence and effectiveness. LANY continues to be the leading provider of business and transactional legal services for nonprofit organizations working to improve the lives of low-income New Yorkers and their neighborhoods.

To provide support for two social workers carrying out The Center’s health and education services for youth during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. The Center’s youth program provides Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning (“LGBTQ”) youth, ages 12-21, with a comprehensive range of individual and group counseling support, peer support groups, leadership development programming, and academic and workforce readiness opportunities. New York City’s Lesbian, Gay Bisexual & Transgender Community Center provides programs and services to help LGBTQ people to lead healthy, successful lives, celebrating their diversity, with increased justice and opportunity.

To help fund a full-time coach to support the expansion of their College Advising Pilot (“CAP”) to work with school counselors to define and standardize college enrollment milestones across 21 schools in their core network. CAP aims to significantly increase the college enrollment and persistence rate across participating schools, and to ensure that all graduating seniors have a clear and supported postsecondary transition plan by standardizing the schools’ approaches to college counseling and utilizing the New Visions Data Portal. The program is comprised of six advising cycles aligned to major milestones in the college application, enrollment, and transition processes accompanied by whole-cohort convenings and in-school coachings. Using the Data Portal, which provides student data like progress towards graduation, counselors can better track the postsecondary decision-making process to help ensure that no student falls through the cracks and that every student is prepared to pursue the postsecondary path of their choice. New Visions for Public Schools serves as a laboratory of innovation within NYC’s public-school reform efforts, creating and refining helpful new approaches to systemic challenges.

To help continue the roll out of a new tier of their To & Through College program, Crew Mentors. Over the past few years, they have successfully piloted and implemented College Crew, in which staff provides intensive supports to their most vulnerable high school graduates in college. Through Crew Mentors, a refinement of College Crew, they instead select, train, and support a group of their high school graduates currently enrolled in college to provide peer-mentoring support to a broader universe of students just beginning their post-secondary careers. They believe that this effort is an important and scalable endeavor through which they can better provide direct supports to many more of their alumni than they currently serve – supports that they believe will translate to higher college completion rates for their alumni. They will grow the program from two Crew Mentors with 25 students each to four Crew Mentors this year. NYC Outward Bound Schools has a network of 13 expeditionary learning schools throughout NYC’s five Boroughs which they operate in partnership with the Department of Education.

For ongoing support of the Associate Director (“AD”) of Programs, whose primary responsibility is to support a team of Program Managers in their execution of PENCIL’s college and career readiness programs, particularly the School Partnership Program. The AD enables the organization to increase its impact by ensuring that their Program Managers are equipped with the full resources they need to deliver high-quality programming consistently and efficiently, and can better troubleshoot challenges in the delivery of partnership programs. Their hands-on programs, including in-school partnerships, mentoring, internships, and Principal for a Day, create targeted opportunities for business professionals, educators, and students to work together – in schools and the workplace. Last year, PENCIL served over 7,000

Support of general operating expenses of the Public Prep Network, the Nation’s first charter network that exclusively develops exceptional Pre-K and single-sex elementary and middle public schools. Given the unprecedented circumstances due to the current global pandemic, the stakes are high as they ensure the safety and wellness of their community, create a clear communication stream for all stakeholders, and deliver academic engagement during school closures. Their unique approach places equal emphasis on character development, college knowledge, family engagement, organizational stability, and academic excellence through an integrated curriculum to better ensure that all of their students are on a path to college completion and beyond. They pursue excellence through continuous learning and data-driven instruction. Public Prep supports 4 single-sex public charter schools across five campuses located in low-income communities in the South Bronx and the Lower East Side of Manhattan that educate over 2,000

To support the continued development of the ReadWorks digital platform to improve teacher instruction and student achievement in reading comprehension. This phase of development will be driven by continued data analysis efforts and ongoing consultation of cognitive science research and educator feedback. The grant will provide support for the Manager of Data Analytics who is in charge of ReadWorks’ data analysis efforts. ReadWorks seeks to improve teacher effectiveness and raise student achievement in reading comprehension through research-based, classroom-proven instructional practices and curriculum, and through free, open-access online technology. Given the online nature of their work, ReadWorks is uniquely positioned to support the ongoing education of children around the country during this unprecedented pandemic, helping to ensure that they do not fall behind on their learning.

To support a Program Manager responsible for developing and administering their new Teacher Led Programs (“TLP”) in New York City, which will teach the fundamentals of coding to students in 6 classes in 4 under-resourced high schools. In the TLP model, Code Nation provides ongoing, in-person training to classroom teachers who teach their Intro to Web Development curriculum. They provide classroom teachers with a full curriculum including: lesson plans, guided notes, activities, and homework; weekly check-ins with a Code Nation Program Manager; biweekly classroom observations; weekly volunteer support; and field trips to tech companies. A cohort of 6-8 volunteers will commit to coming to classes on a bi-monthly basis. They will alternate so that there will be a volunteer in the classroom every week to provide feedback and guidance on technical projects, and to form personal relationships and a link to the tech industry.

To help fund the salary of a Manager of Data and Evaluation for SEO High School Scholars, a new position which is important to their expansion efforts in New York City. The Manager will lead all data analysis, reporting, internal research and evaluation efforts for its High School Scholars program. The position defines program-wide policies and procedures around database design, and will better ensure consistent, efficient, and accurate data management across the program. The position also works with various teams to define research questions, design evaluative processes, and perform data analyses, and makes recommendations on follow-up steps and future direction. SEO works to create a more equitable society by closing the academic and career opportunity gap for motivated young people living in underserved and/or underrepresented communities. Through 4 distinct programs including SEO Scholars, they served approximately 1,000

For renewed support of program improvements of Early Reading Matters (“ERM”), their outcomes-oriented professional learning program for teachers to develop early reading instructional expertise critical for improving student literacy in grades K-2 in high-poverty area NYC schools. Last year they piloted a revised approach to the program in order to accelerate reading gains in Kindergarten and First Grade classrooms. While there were impressive gains in Kindergarten, the gains in First Grade were not as dramatic. This year they will focus on First Grade, making additional program adjustments to increase the quality and pace of instruction in order to boost gains in student proficiency, with the ultimate goal of better preparing these youngsters for Second Grade and beyond. However, in March 2020, as a result of their COVID-19 response, the organization temporarily shifted program focus away from ERM to develop K-2 curriculum to support the New York City Department of Education transition to remote instruction. The pivot resulted in the creation of seven weeks of customizable content, which was available nationwide for free. Teaching Matters is a nationally recognized professional learning organization dedicated to increasing teacher effectiveness, one of the most critical factors regarding student success.

For general support of their college readiness programming, especially during this critical time when learning and in‐person access to school resources have been disrupted. College Readiness programming has two goals: 1) to ensure that 100% of Eagle seniors have an actionable post‐secondary plan; and 2) to create and implement a virtual infrastructure for their college counselors and students. The grant will direct services to not only seniors at the Academies, but to all students, by establishing a robust college‐going culture at each school. The mission of The Eagle Academy Foundation is to develop and support a network of all‐male, grades 6 through 12 college‐preparatory public schools strategically located in challenged urban communities that educate and mentor young men into future leaders committed to excellence in character, scholastic achievement, and community service. EAF supports the network of six Eagle Academies, comprised of 3,000

For continued support of the Director of 5-12 Science, a senior instructional leadership position within the Uncommon Schools network. The Director will build on previous accomplishments which include the creation of their first shared curricula and shared assessments for all middle and high school science classrooms across the Uncommon Schools network, and the implementation of professional development for all 5-12 science teachers network-wide. The Director will lead Uncommon’s transition to remote middle and high school science instruction in response to the COVID-19 crisis, the development of key experiences for science lab learning across all Uncommon schools, and the creation of a non-Advanced Placement Physics curriculum and assessments for high school students. This initiative will help to improve student achievement and better teacher retention during a period of rapid growth. Uncommon Schools starts and then manages outstanding urban public schools that close the achievement gap and prepare low-income students to graduate from college. They operate 54 schools serving more than 20,000

For continued support of the Program Director who oversees every aspect of Northside’s Early Childhood Mental Health (“ECMH”) Program. Northside also serves as the sole provider of ECMH services at EarlyLearn sites in Manhattan under the terms of New York City’s Thrive Initiative. Through this endeavor, Northside provides young children and their families with psychotherapy services in their clinic sites, and mental health consultation services to 15 of 94 Manhattan EarlyLearn Centers at any given time. They work closely with EarlyLearn staff to identify children who are especially at-risk and build techniques in the classroom to support healthy development in children who have experienced or are at-risk of trauma. They also work with parents to help them to better identify mental health issues early and strengthen parent-child relationships at home. They serve low-income African American and Latinx children and families who are at high risk for mental health issues, and face barriers to achievement and social integration later as a result. Through these efforts, they hope to help children aged from birth to five overcome these early challenges and thrive.

For continued support of the Assistant Director of Training and Capacity Building who oversees all aspects of their Connections to Care (“C2C”) initiative. C2C provides important mental health capacity-building for non-clinical staff and equips them with the skills to better connect young people to critical mental health supports. They have successfully piloted this work over the past four years, and now are well-positioned to complete the fifth and final year of this program. In the upcoming year, they seek to institutionalize the benefits of C2C throughout the agency and deepen their commitment to community mental health support. Overall, this project will continue to equip The Door staff with the necessary skills to comprehensively address the mental health of their young adult participants, and will better ensure that each young person receives more appropriate levels of mental health care so that they can build for the future with a happy, healthy, and productive mindset. The Door works to empower young people aged 12 to 24 to reach their potential by providing comprehensive youth development services including health care, mental health counseling, and education support in a diverse and caring environment, mostly under their one roof, and free of charge.

To enable The Floating Hospital to update its electronic health records system to more efficiently capture and report data on Social Determinants of Health. TFH is the largest provider of healthcare to homeless families residing in New York City shelters. As such, they are in a unique position to capture information about the Social Determinants of Health that influence the well-being of this vulnerable population. TFH will publicly disseminate findings from this program to the broader field of service providers to the homeless to promote deeper understanding of the unique challenges that face homeless families, as well as the most effective methods for meeting those challenges. TFH is a diagnostic and treatment center and outpatient mental health clinic located in Long Island City, NY, which provides a broad range of medical, dental and mental health services via free van transportation to a largely medically underserved population, regardless of their insurance status and ability to pay.

The Foundation annually makes additional grants to other organizations as well as to qualified charities to which the Advisory Board Members requested the Fund to make a donation.

To support a new Grant Coordinator position to help address their need to increase their funding streams to support their ongoing organizational growth. As their development efforts have expanded, so have the number of grants secured in support of their academic success programs and specialty programs such as Teens, STEM and Healthy Habits. These increases require substantial pre-planning, oversight, and financial reporting. The Grant Coordinator’s main tasks will be: to ensure that current grant funding is secured through timely submissions of grant proposals and reports; to research and identify new funding opportunities of general operating support as well as program specialties, infrastructure costs and capital needs; to customize and submit grant proposals in a timely manner; and to maintain a grant tracking database to better ensure their timely submission of grant reports. The Boys & Girls Club of Paterson and Passaic serves 1,100 children daily at 10 locations in two of New Jersey’s most socio-economically challenged communities.

To support the addition of a full-time Credentialing Specialist within CASES’ Education, Career & Enrichment (“ECE”) Services. Employment is a key motivating factor for many justice-involved young people, and CASES’ ECE staff provide job-readiness training, high school equivalency exam prep and testing, paid internships, and job placement services to help prepare young people for successful entry into the workforce. The Credentialing Specialist will help participants understand, access, and leverage meaningful employment-readiness credentials to thereby attain entry to high-growth sectors with the potential for advancement. The Credentialing Specialist will form relationships with staff from peer organizations providing a diverse range of external credentialing opportunities, and also facilitate credentialing workshops onsite at CASES, helping young people to engage in and complete these training programs. CASES, the oldest alternative-to-incarceration agency in New York State, works to increase public safety through innovative services that reduce crime and incarceration, improve behavioral health, promote recovery and rehabilitation, and create opportunities for success in the community.

To support enhanced tutoring for 50 students at the CDI Career Academy, a sector-based workforce development program, to help address the students’ academic deficiencies in the initial job preparation Bridge Program conducted by CDI, and the Occupational Training offered by the Borough of Manhattan Community College (“BMCC”). In the Bridge Program, they will continue to offer tutoring hours to help students polish their reading and math skills to pass the Test for Adult Basic Education (“TABE”) exam, complete the Bridge programming, and enter Occupational Training. This enhanced tutoring will be offered to students taking part in all three of their Career Academy tracks — Medical Assistant, Medical Coding and Billing, and Emergency Medical Technician. In the Occupational Training program at BMCC, they will introduce tutoring specifically devoted to Anatomy and Physiology, and include review and drilling on concepts and terminology, study skills, and text exams. Through these efforts, they anticipate that 90% (45/50) of their students will complete the Bridge programming and enter Occupational Training, and that 75% (36/45) of those with additional tutoring support will then complete the Occupational Training track, compared to just 54% now.

To support a new part-time Advocate Supervisor position to help CASA meet the need to serve an increased number of children in foster care in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the New York City Family Courts had to shut their doors for a time, only cases deemed to be emergencies were being heard remotely by the City-wide emergency court. The vast majority of hearings for children in foster care were adjourned for at least several months. This has left already vulnerable children and families, and youth transitioning out of foster care, with little support or oversight. It is expected that when the Family Courts fully re-open, there will be a tremendous backlog of cases and an increased need for CASA’s volunteer Advocates. The new Advocate Supervisor will be an experienced child welfare professional responsible for supervising a team of approximately 15 trained volunteers advocating to ensure that children in foster care have their needs met and their rights protected.

For general operating support to help East Side House cover some of the costs of adapting their services and operations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This support will enable them to better meet the needs of their participants, all of whom are of vulnerable populations residing within some of the highest need communities in the country. These low-income and vulnerable populations are at highest risk during times of public health crises. East Side House’s programs in response to today’s challenges will allow their students and their families to continue to build academic and economic strengths as they navigate “the new normal” that COVID-19 has brought to the world. By mitigating the effects of COVID-19 as much as possible, they are not only protecting their students and families over the short-term, but they are better positioning them for success in life after COVID-19. Their goal is to continue to provide quality programs and educational initiatives to the students and families across their full range of services by continuing to implement new approaches to the heightened challenges now being confronted.

Towards the salary of a new full-time Curriculum and Youth Engagement Manager. This position has emerged as a critical need towards providing enhanced supervision, structure and support to their growing team of teachers to better ensure curriculum fidelity and to maintain high achievement levels, especially as they continue to adapt to the critical needs of their vulnerable youth during a global pandemic. This new position will give the organization the capacity to expand to serve 780 court-involved youth as part of their strategic scaling plan. Designed to address three key factors – avoid criminal justice involvement, achieve educational success, and gain employability – their Core Program empowers youth by building their sense of self-worth and tangible skills. Exalt Youth combines a rigorous, proprietary curriculum with paid internships and career development opportunities to elevate expectations of personal success for court-involved youth aged 15-19. Their proprietary social justice curriculum and voluntary participation help to catalyze the personal motivation necessary for sustained behavioral change.

For the expansion of their services to Jersey City, NJ in partnership with the Jersey City Housing Authority. Their program will provide needed services including counseling and case management to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning (“LGBTQ”) youth between the ages of 13 and 24 and their families. Through their programming, they aim to support these youth to better ensure a sustained connection to educational systems and the building of employability skills, and to ensure that families receive the support they need to maintain their connections to their children and thus hopefully decrease the number of LGBTQ youth that otherwise become homeless. Through a comprehensive package of direct services and referrals provided free-of-charge to youth members, HMI: NJ fosters healthy youth development with pioneering programs that establish best practices which may then be replicated by other youth-serving organizations.

For support of a dedicated Bronx Admissions Coordinator who executes the admissions process for their Bronx-based programs, laying the foundation for all job seekers as they begin their journeys towards employment readiness and sustained careers. This Coordinator conducts outreach presentations in the community, serves as the first point of contact for all applicants, oversees the day-to-day activities of the admissions process, and ensures a smooth transition from applicant to HOPE participant. By focusing on the daily activities of recruitment and intake, the Coordinator also frees their more senior recruitment staff to focus on building and maintaining referral partnerships with community partners, which improves efficiency and ensures that they reach the clients who most need them. The HOPE Program empowers New Yorkers to build sustainable futures through comprehensive training, jobs, advancement and lifelong career support.

For general operating expenses as NAC responds to the COVID-19 impact upon their clients and their families. NAC provides foster care, preventive services, and a comprehensive array of health and social services for NYC’s most challenged families — those living in poverty, caring for one or more children with a serious medical/mental health condition, and who are involved or at-risk of child welfare involvement. NAC annually serves 1,200 families, caring for 2,200 at-risk children throughout the five boroughs of New York City. COVID-19 disproportionately affects people of color, the poor, and those with medical conditions – NAC’s client population. Their clients’ needs for services are more urgent than ever, as their children are not only at severe risk due to their own medical conditions, but many of their caregivers are at high risk as well, significantly magnifying the danger to the family. They are experiencing new or increased trauma, and some lack the basic computer technology to participate in tele-health and get needed medical and mental health treatment, which is also needed for tele-schooling and tele-tutoring. NAC is working to obtain technology for these families and training both parents and children on use. As the effects of the pandemic rapidly unfold, NAC will continue to provide the help and resources needed to keep their children and families safe, healthy, resilient, and strong.

For continued support of the Leadership Engagement Manager who engages and supports Team Leaders, volunteers with extra responsibility who have received additional training and who are at the helm of each community project. During COVID-19, New York Care’s responsibility to at-risk New Yorkers has only been magnified, requiring them to mobilize and deploy all spontaneous volunteers and coordinate and implement relief programs across the City. Team Leaders have been vital to this effort, bridging gaps between their staff, volunteers and Community Partners by managing day-of project logistics, troubleshooting any issues that arise, and recording program outcomes data and volunteer attendance. They also serve as ambassadors of New York Cares and its mission. The Leadership Engagement Manager will continue to focus on increasing Team Leader retention and activity through training and engagement opportunities, and more targeted communication. As New York Cares responds to COVID-19, it is vital that they support and engage their Team Leader corps so that they can continue leading their programs effectively and impactfully during one of New York City’s most difficult times.

For continued support of the Development Manager, part of their growing development team, who oversees all aspects of solicitation, cultivation, reporting, and relationship-management for corporations and private foundations. Their goal is to build a strong and sustainable development team to ensure ongoing strategic prospecting and fund diversification, with less dependence upon their annual gala and upon a small number of foundations, in order to support organizational growth. PwC works to strengthen the emotional, social and cognitive skills of vulnerable children, targeting some of the highest-need communities and schools in NYC. By integrating social workers in schools full-time to provide crisis intervention, individual counseling, small group work, full-classroom and school-wide programming, they seek to address the urgent needs of these students and to favorably change the climate of the entire school.

To provide continued support for the Communications Coordinator responsible for the recruitment of Passaic County CASA volunteers and community outreach. The Communications Coordinator will continue to develop strategic community partnerships to increase the recruitment of volunteers, and will raise community awareness around the needs of children within the foster care system. Through this position, CASA will increase organizational accessibility and visibility in the community in order to continue to serve every child in the County’s foster care system who needs a volunteer Advocate. CASA works through specially trained and supervised volunteers to promote the welfare of children who have been removed from their homes due to abuse, neglect, or abandonment. CASA volunteers serve as a child’s “Voice in Court” and help to ensure that needed services and assistance are made available to children in out-of-home placements, while at the same time helping to move these children toward safe, nurturing, and permanent homes.

To support their Alternative To College (“ATC”) Counselor who provides post-secondary supports to youth graduating from their Learning to Work programs who are not college-bound and who have no career-focused plan yet in place. The ATC Counselor will play an especially critical role during the COVID-19 pandemic, supporting youth who struggle to learn remotely to stay focused on graduation and post-secondary goals. Some students may require an extra semester to graduate, and various career pathways may be complicated by shifts in the workforce and the widespread economic downturn. Cultivation and management of their network of training programs will be increasingly complex in the coming year, with more effort being placed on fields that offer immediate job opportunities. They will continue to employ strategies from previous years, adapting the structure of service where necessary to address new challenges emerging since the COVID-19 crisis. With an ongoing national crisis and the educational system and job market in flux, the ATC Counselor will be needed now more than ever. Queens Community House is a multi-site, community-based, settlement house serving low-income families in 11 neighborhoods across the Borough of Queens.

To support the Director of Strategic Initiatives who will help them to transform crisis and intake services at Safe Horizon’s Counseling Center (“SHCC”), the only NYS-licensed mental health counseling center that provides evidence-based trauma treatment exclusively for victims of crime and abuse. The Director will oversee the onboarding and training of a new Intake Team, as well as develop, implement, and track impact for the expanded intake service. This new approach to crisis and clinical engagement will go beyond the scheduling of appointments and identifying appropriate therapies which is typical at counseling centers. In the expanded program, Intake Advocates will also provide supportive counseling, case management, systems navigation, information on compensation and other benefits, crisis intervention, and possibly much more. Safe Horizon is a victim assistance organization which provides an array of services to victims of child abuse, domestic violence, rape and sexual assault, and other crimes through a network of more than 50 program locations across NYC.