RCSN's services are needed in New York City now more than ever. The city is the most culturally, economically, and linguistically diverse in the nation. Its human service and educational systems are complex and often confusing. Parenting a child with social, behavioral, cognitive, learning, or physical problems can create fear, stress, and isolation.
Parents, grandparents, and other family members call RCSN for help with many issues.
Please help us continue to make great things happen for these families like yours:
Supports for the whole family from a simple call…
The Diaz family needed a wheelchair because their six-year-old son, 
Miguel, was getting too heavy for his mother to carry. When Miguel's dad placed a call to RCSN for help, little did he know what was about to happen. Miguel, who has complex medical needs and does not speak, had never received Early Intervention or educational services. As soon as RCSN received the call from Mr. Diaz, an advocate began working with the family so their needs would be met.
Today Miguel attends school, and his parents have respite care at home and are taking advantage of needed counseling services. No longer strained and isolated, the Diaz family has the support they need, and Miguel has the opportunity to grow and learn to the best of his abilities in a stimulating school environment.
With appropriate referrals, twin sisters find community programs after graduation…
The issues faced by families of young people who age out of out-of-state residential placements at 22 can be daunting. These young adults, who often have significant cognitive and behavioral disabilities, leave highly structured facilities to return to home communities where they have few connections, relationships, or supports.
When RCSN received a call from Mrs. A in the Bronx, we were able to help her understand and negotiate the adult service systems for her twin custodial nieces who both have autism and intellectual disabilites. One niece, Valerie, was aging out of a Pennsylvania residential school with an intensive behavior program. Mrs. A's other niece, Jennifer, was leaving a day placement in Westchester.
RCSN connected Mrs. A with the correct state agencies, guided her through eligibility determination processes for community programs after graduation, and connected her with pro bono legal assistance for guardianship. With RCSN’s help, both Valerie and Jennifer have rejoined their Bronx communities, finding programs where they can continue to thrive.
Finding meaningful summer camp experiences...
Ms. P’s daughter Allegra is 8 years old and has developmental and emotional disabilities. Ms. P contacted RCSN, wanting Allegra to go to camp at what she felt was a critical period in Allegra’s social, physical, and emotional development. The problem was that Ms. P didn’t know which camp was right, or if she could afford one at all.
RCSN’s Community Services Specialist helped Ms. P identify an inclusion sleepaway camp with a special therapeutic program, plus a financial aid program in Brooklyn. A year later, Ms. P called to let RCSN know that Allegra had a wonderful summer experience at the camp, but that the financial aid program had never sent in the check. In order for the camp to accept her daughter back, they would need to receive this overdue payment.
RCSN discovered that the contact person who had helped Ms. P had left the financial aid organization, but convinced the new contact there to honor the promised financial aid from the previous year. When Ms. P contacted another Brooklyn program for assistance paying for year two, RCSN wrote a letter of support that helped secure the aid she needed to send Allegra back to camp. This summer, Allegra will again get to share a rewarding experience with her summer friends, and RCSN will be here to assist Ms. P with whatever comes next – fall, winter, spring, and summer again.
Obtaining child care and family support…
Achieving economic self-sufficiency and family stability is especially hard when caring for a child with a disability, but RCSN’s comprehensive approach can make a real difference. Case in point: a young mother approached RCSN for help finding a babysitter who could care for her child with special needs so she could participate in a welfare-to-work training program. RCSN linked Ms. S. with family daycare as well as respite and family support services in her neighborhood, and helped her get assistance with a difficult situation at home with the child’s father, who was having difficulty accepting the child with disabilities.
*For confidentiality purposes, all names have been changed.
So we can continue supporting New York's families with children with special needs, please click here to support RCSN.
