SCO News
SCO Welcomes NYC Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariňa to Announce Homeless Shelter Reading Program
December 8, 2016 / SCO News
December 8, 2016 – Brooklyn, NY SCO Family of Services welcomed NYC Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariňa to our Flushing Family Residence in Brooklyn yesterday as she announced the Afterschool Reading Club (ARC), a brand new literacy enrichment pilot for elementary school students living in shelters. Chancellor Fariňa also took time…
Read MoreEarly Education Stretches into Summer
August 18, 2016 / SCO News
Three- and four-year-olds at our Jerome Hardeman Early Childhood Education Center have been learning, reading and playing together all summer long, thanks to the generosity of the Sirus Fund, whose financial backing made our full-day Summer Extension Program a reality. And after saying their ABC’s, our young learners are saying, “Om,” stretching…
Read MoreMayor Announces SCO ED Doug O’Dell’s Appointment to NYC Children’s Cabinet Advisory Board
January 28, 2016 / Independent Youth News
SCO is proud to announce that Mayor Bill de Blasio recently appointed SCO Executive Director Doug O'Dell to the newly created NYC Children’s Cabinet Advisory Board. The Advisory Board offers valuable non-governmental expertise, relationships and resources to the City agencies that make up the Children's Cabinet, in order to help NYC best promote and protect children’s wellbeing. Members of the Board include appointees from all five boroughs in academia, faith, media, business, technology, the non-profit sector and the judiciary. In announcing the Advisory Board members, the de Blasio administration recognized Doug for bringing the following expertise: Douglas O’Dell is the Executive Director of SCO Family of Services where he has served in various other roles during his 24 years at the organization. He is an expert in the field of services to vulnerable populations of children, families and adults. During his time at SCO, he created SCO’s alternative to detention and placement programs serving court-involved youth in their homes with family-based therapy and community-based residences. He also launched the agency's Family Therapy Intervention Pilot which promotes families' acceptance of their LGBTQ children and provides services to reduce negative risk factors experienced by LGBTQ youth. Read the full press release below.
Read More2015 Holiday Cheer at SCO
December 18, 2015 / Independent Youth News
Thank you to the many, many SCO supporters and friends who donated thousands of gifts, organized holiday celebrations or otherwise supported the children, youth, adults, families and communities we serve during this special time of year. Below is just a sample of the overwhelming generosity shown toward New Yorkers in need during this season of giving.
Read MoreSCO Program Leaders Participate in Early Childhood Development Forum Panel
April 15, 2015 / SCO News
SCO's Maggie Petrosky - Director, Nurse Family Partnership & Parent-Child Home Program and Chanda Hill - Assistant Executive Director of Program Services (overseeing SCO's Early Childhood Programs) were among the Early Childhood leaders who served as panelists at the Early Childhood Development Forum in Brooklyn, hosted by Borough President Eric Adams and the Parent-Child Home Program, National Center. The forum brought together thought leaders, direct service organizations and policy makers to discuss the importance of early childhood education and care, specifically between the ages of 0-3.
Read MoreHillary Clinton and Chirlane McCray Announce “Talk To Your Baby” Campaign at SCO/FirstStepNYC
April 1, 2015 / SCO News
NYC First Lady Chirlane McCray and Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visited SCO Family of Services’ SCO/FirstStepNYC early childhood education center Wednesday, April 1, 2015 to jointly launch New York City’s “Talk To Your Baby, Their Brain Depends On It” public awareness campaign, urging parents to talk, read and sing to their babies from birth. Clinton, McCray and Deputy Mayor Richard Buery announced a collaboration between the New York City Children’s Cabinet and the Clinton Foundation's Too Small to Fail children's initiative that will feature major public awareness campaigns and a new partnership with Scholastic Inc. to distribute baby book bundles to hundreds of thousands of new NYC parents. These efforts will focus on closing the “word gap.” Studies have found that by age four, children in middle- and upper-income families hear 30 million more words than their lower-income peers. This disparity in hearing words from parents and caregivers translates directly into a disparity in learning words. And that puts our children born with the fewest advantages even further behind.
Read MoreHillary Rodham Clinton and Chirlane McCray to Launch Early Childhood Initiative at SCO/FirstStepNYC
March 31, 2015 / SCO News
Update: Click here for our recap of the event. THE CITY OF NEW YORK OFFICE OF THE MAYOR NEW YORK, NY 10007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:pressoffice@cityhall.nyc.gov, (212) 788-2958 **Media Advisory** WEDNESDAY: FIRST LADY CHIRLANE MCCRAY AND SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON JOINTLY LAUNCH NEW YORK CITY EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES NEW YORK – On Wednesday, First Lady Chirlane McCray will team up with Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to jointly launch New York City’s Talk to Your Baby public awareness campaign and toolkit distribution, and the Clinton Foundation’s Too Small To Fail Community Campaign Guide at SCO Family of Services' FirstStepNYC Child Development Center.
Read MoreFirstStepNYC hosts CityTech Nurses for community health event
March 24, 2015 / Independent Youth News
Seeking to raise awareness for two major health concerns facing children and families in Brownsville – uncontrolled asthma and childhood obesity – the New York City College of Technology Nursing Department and representatives from Brookdale and Kings County hospitals Tuesday held a community meeting at SCO/FirstStepNYC, an early childhood education…
Read MoreNurse-Family Partnership Graduation – November 2014
November 7, 2014 / SCO News
SCO celebrated the 27 newest graduates of the NYC Nurse-Family Partnership program in a graduation ceremony November 5th. Congratulations to the families, nurses and staff! See photos below. Nurse-Family Partnership is a nationally recognized, evidence-based program for first-time mothers. Registered nurses provide in-home visits for expectant mothers during the early stages of pregnancy through the child’s second birthday, offering the counseling and support needed to deliver healthy babies and become good parents.
Read MoreSCO “Reads for the Record” to Celebrate Literacy
October 22, 2014 / SCO News
Parents, staff and guests including Sophia Pappas, Executive Director of Early Childhood NYC Department of Education, read the children’s book Bunny Cakes to the kids at our four Early Childhood Education Centers yesterday as part of Read for the Record – a national campaign to celebrate literacy. Bunny Cakes, by bestselling author Rosemary Wells, features bunny siblings Max & Ruby as they attempt to create the perfect birthday cake for grandma. Jumpstart's Read for the Record annual literacy campaign started in 2006 and has mobilized millions of children and adults to participate in the largest shared reading experience in the country.
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