Fadwa’s Story

To say Fadwa is driven is an understatement. She doesn’t dream of becoming a surgical nurse, she is actively taking steps to make it happen. And to make her mother proud.

Fadwa lost her mother to cancer when she was just 13 years old. Her father expected Fadwa to assume her mother’s responsibilities and moved the family often, keeping them distanced from any extended family. She was not allowed to have friends or participate in extracurricular activities. She attended five different high schools and managed to maintain excellent grades while she cooked, cleaned, and took care of her two brothers and father.

At 17, she was abandoned by her father and placed in SCO’s foster care program. SCO helped stabilize the teen, placed her with a foster family, and eventually was able to locate a maternal aunt who opened her heart and home to her long-lost niece through kinship foster care.

Despite her early challenges, Fadwa stays focused on the opportunities ahead of her. SCO’s foster care staff helped her prepare for college; guiding her through the application process and helping her achieve both a Dream USA Scholarship and a Youth in Foster Care Award.  Currently a student at Borough of Manhattan Community College, SCO helped her secure an internship with a surgeon at Mount Sinai Hospital.

Fadwa’s goal is to keep her GPA high enough to get into nursing school. And we have no doubt she will achieve this and so much more.

 

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Family Treatment and Rehabilitation – Queens

Family Treatment and Rehabilitation provides supportive services for families with a caregiver or child with substance abuse or mental health issues. Also known as intensive preventive services, FTR programs offer the same basic services offered by Family Counseling and Support Programs, but these services are modified and/or intensified to meet the family’s specific needs. The programs make active efforts to link family members to substance abuse and mental health treatment programs or self-help groups. In addition to being assigned a Case Planner, each family works with a Parent Aide to assist parents with home visits, escorting, teaching home management skills, and more. Specialized, licensed staff provide mental health and substance abuse evaluations and consultation.

Who Can Benefit from this Program

Families in need of parenting support and help finding resources to strengthen their families / families with involvement with Administration for Children’s Services due to alleged abuse or neglect.

Age Criteria or Other Eligibility Requirements

Families who are pregnant or with children under 18, with a family member with mental illness or substance abuse, in Queens CDs 1,2,3,4

How to Access this Program or Service

Contact the program director at 718-803-2000

Success Stories

Fadwa’s Story

Foster Care and Education

“I’m going to be successful regardless of what I’ve been through." Learn More

John Brown

"SCO has a direct impact on your neighbors." Learn More

We help

2,000

children get ready for kindergarten

82%

of students at our residential school for youth with high-functioning autism are actively involved in weekly internships in the community