About Us

Caregivers Support Project

The overall goal of the NYS Citizens’ Coalition for Children Adoption and Foster Care Caregivers Supports Project was to create sustainable support systems for foster, adoptive, and kinship families parenting children with developmental disabilities. A three year grant from the NYS Developmental Disability Council enabled NYSCCC to provide community based organizations with mini grant funds, technical assistance, and on-site training to develop and implement family support projects and services to meet local needs.

Local support projects developed with 2007/2008/2009 mini-grant funds increased families’ knowledge of and access to services in their communities; increased available local support services; enabled families to connect with other adoptive/foster families; and assisted them to develop and strengthen skills to better meet their children’s needs. Meanwhile, grantee and NYSCCC training and collaboration with developmental disability service providers increased their knowledge and understanding of issues specific to adoptive and foster families. Grantee projects included a wide variety of caregiver support services such as: support groups, lending libraries, advocacy services, training workshops, and social events. All 2007/2008/2009 grantees made a commitment to continuing services beyond the end of their project year and are engaged in ongoing outreach to families in their community.

2009 Project Grantees: During 2009, NYSCCC provided $2,500 mini grant awards, training, and technical assistance to the following four local upstate organizations to sponsor the development of local parent support projects. Foster and Adoptive parents caring for children with developmental disabilities are encouraged to contact support network sponsors in their community to learn about current support network project activities and services. For complete contact information and a description of each local network’s activities and accomplishments see: 2009 Grantee Information

Cardinal McCloskey Services
Parsons Child and Family Center
St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center & St.Lawrence Foster /Adoptive Parent Association
Westchester Institute of Human Services

2008 Project Grantees: During 2008, NYSCCC provided $2,500 mini grant awards, training, and technical assistance to the following four local upstate organizations to sponsor the development of local parent support projects. Foster and Adoptive parents caring for children with developmental disabilities are encouraged to contact support network sponsors in their community to voice opinions and learn about project activities and support services. For complete contact information and a description of each local network’s activities and accomplishments see: 2008 Grantee Information

Cerebral Palsy and Handicapped Children’s Association of Chemung County
Family Resource Network (FRN)
New Directions Youth and Family Services
Saratoga Bridges

2007 Project Grantees: During 2007, NYSCCC provided $2,000 mini grant awards, training, and technical assistance to the following five local organizations to sponsor the development of local parent/provider support and communication networks and provided ongoing technical assistance and training to local network sponsors. Foster and Adoptive parents caring for children with developmental disabilities are encouraged to contact support network sponsors in their community to learn about current project activities and support services. For complete contact information and a description of each local network’s activities and accomplishments see: 2007 Grantee Information

Family Resource Network (FRN)
Hillside Children’s Center – Monroe County
New Directions Youth and Family Services - Erie County
Northern Regional Center for Independent Living, Inc. (NRCIL) Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence Counties
Parent to Parent New York State – Clinton, Essex and Franklin Counties

NYSCCC Project Activities and Technical Assistance Activities

Three half day grantee mini-conferences
20 scholarships for attendance at each of the 2007/2008/2009 NYSCCC statewide adoption/foster care training conferences
Site visits to assist with local network / support project development plans
Ongoing print and email communication via LINKers2 grantee email discussion group and NYSCCC “now and then email updates”.
Monthly parent group leader conference calls for project grantees and all NYS parent support group leaders
Redesign of the NYSCCC website and expansion of NYSCCC online resources including
- A prominent Family Supports Section containing links to a wide variety of local, NYS, and nationwide training and information resources
- County at a Glance: online directory of NYS foster care/adoption agencies and parent support groups/advocates
- Online posting of NYS county specific foster care and adoption subsidy rates
- Information and advocacy resources for Foster/Adoptive families on false allegations of maltreatment
- Online forms for submitting email updates signup, agency/group service updates, and NYSCCC membership requests.
Research and Development of grantee information and training resources and a series of parent support project tip sheets including:
On-site training workshops and development of 2 “Do it Yourself” training curriculums.
- Becoming A Service Detective: Locating Helping Resources and Fiancial Supports for Families (pdf)
- Educating Others About Adoption and Foster Care: Tools for Families (pdf)