| Five
in ten children were reported to be living in poverty-stricken
households with incomes equal only to 64%
of the federal poverty level.
Philadelphia
Citizens for Children and Youth, 1990
One
in eleven children in Philadelphia are under
the supervision of the Department of Human Services
for abuse or neglect.
Philadelphia
Citizens for Children and Youth, 1991
While
the Division of Community Services is intended
to provide supportive ancillary services to
augment WCA core programs for children and families,
it is also designed to serve as a vehicle to
improve the welfare of children and families
that reside in the immediate community, and
to address the environmental conditions which
adversely affect family stability, and the normal
growth and development of children.
Committed
to becoming a catalyst for positive change,
WCA structured its Division of Community Services
to facilitate community outreach strategies
that would involve community residents in the
need assessment process, encourage community
participation in the design and implementation
of services and programs to stem the further
erosion of their neighborhoods, and establish
a permanent community-based facility that would
serve as an accessible community resource.
Community
Family Center (CFC)
As
a vehicle to deliver on its intention, WCA established
its Community Family Center (CFC), in 1994,
as a key operation within the Division of Community
Services. With a carefully planned strategy
to support, strengthen and preserve families
in the north Philadelphia community, CFC is
designed to encourage and motivate families,
business persons, educators, elected officials,
community residents and social service
professionals to take ownership of the
neighborhood’s problems and assume a leadership
role in working toward preserving families in
the community.
The
CFC motto, “A PLACE OF OUR OWN” affirms and
embraces this important objective.
The
CFC model surrounds families, including pregnant
and parenting teens, with a network of support
services and resources that are provided directly
by staff or through established linkages with
community resources. CFC helps to develop solid
family structures by providing skills building
activities¾an aspect of personal
development that is critical in instilling the
confidence and motivation to produce fruitful
family living. CFC services and programs are
designed to reinforce permanence for the family
unit.
As
one of 19 Family Centers, established by the
Mayor’s Cabinet for Families and Children, and
one of two Family Centers not located within
a Philadelphia public school, CFC provides an
array of innovative, and collaborative programs
and services.
Building
Bridges of Support for Adolescents and Teens
Adolescent Life Skills Training
Adolescents,
ages 16-18, participate in a 40-week life skills
training program, to assist youth in acquiring
positive life skills and developing confidence
in relating to peers, parents, adult authority
figures, family, friends, community and society.
Rites of Passage
Middle-school
girls, ages 12-15, participate in educational
and cultural activities that foster positive
socialization, in preparation for their adult
roles.
After
School Academy
Youth
and adolescents, ages 6 to 17, participate in
educational workshops, and receive help with
homework, Monday through Thursday. One-to-one
tutorials are held on Fridays. Other activities
include music, art, martial arts and prevention
programs. The goal is to improve academics,
and provide an after school safe haven.
Enhancing
Parenting Skills
Parents as Teachers (PAT)
Trained
and certified Parent Educators work directly
with parents to help them understand the cognitive,
emotional, psychological and physical development
of their children, focusing on the needs of
single parents, teen parents, natural parents
seeking reunification with children in foster
care and other high-risk families.
Preserving
the Family
Truancy Intervention and Prevention
Case
management services are provided to families
with children who have 25 or more unexcused
absences from school. Counseling and referrals
to help families address truancy are provided
throughout the year.
Meade Family Story Connection
Children,
ages 5-10 years, in grades K through 4th,
and their parents receive therapeutic counseling
and participate in workshops to learn how to
communicate without the use of violence. The
children and parents involved in this program
were either exposed to or perpetrated violence.
Community
Connections
Community Family Center Advisory Board
The
purpose of the CFC Advisory Board is to
plan and conduct events and activities that
are designed to prevent the abuse and neglect
of children; and to advise CFC on community
issues. The Advisory Board is composed of
community residents that meet monthly at
WCA headquarters.
Click
here if you want to become a member of the CFC
Advisory Board.
Enriching
Academic Achievement
Freedom School
Freedom School is a project of the national
Black Community Crusade for Children, sponsored
by the Children’s Defense Fund. The purpose
of Freedom School is to create a supportive,
nurturing environment that sets high expectations
for children, strengthens their sense of self-worth
and lets them know that they are loved and valued
by caring adults.
WCA
operates the largest Freedom School in Philadelphia,
located at the Meade Elementary School. The
WCA Freedom School educational enrichment program
is conducted for 6 weeks, June through August,
for children, ages 5-18, who may otherwise be
idle, intellectually under-challenged unsupervised,
unsafe or unfed.
The
integrated WCA Freedom School curriculum targets
programs to encourage a love of reading and
enhancement of reading skills. Freedom School
introduces children to a superb collection of
books that reflect their own images, and engages
them in games and activities that promote critical
and analytical thinking and conflict resolution
skills.
Freedom
School Parents’ Workshops support the involvement
of parents in their children’s education. Parents
are encouraged to become advocates for their
children, and to reinforce positive values that
promote academic excellence and social responsibility.
Each
year, college-aged WCA Freedom School interns
travel to Clinton, Tennessee for national training,
where they interact with other young people
from across the country. Freedom School college
interns return to Philadelphia and involve high
school students in classroom instructional activities
with children enrolled in the program. Freedom
School students participate in adolescent leadership
development training, life skills education,
and receive individual tutoring and mentoring.
Deadline
for enrollment in Freedom School is February
each year.
For
all programs, contact: Connie Hatchett, Manager,
Community
Family Center, 215-236-9911, extension 1102.
Click
here to register for Freedom School |
