• In March 1923, through a special act of the New York Legislature, Edwin Gould established the Edwin Gould Foundation for Children to ensure that services to children would not cease with his death 

• Six years after the death of Edwin Gould, in 1939, the Edwin Gould New York Fund was established as a separate corporation to operate the childcare programs of the Edwin Gould Foundation for Children 

• In 1940, the Booker T. Washington Home School, which was established as the Foundation Bureau for Colored Children to initially provide group care for black boys and later expanded so that brothers and sisters could be placed together, is closed as an institution 

• The Foster Boarding Home (FBH) Department Program is expanded, in 1957, to include a limited Adoption service 

• In 1968, in response to the large population of unwed and underage girls between 14 to 18 years old having unplanned pregnancies EGSC’s innovative Leadership Team began an assault on the traditional forms of foster care by renaming the FBH Department “City Programs”and delivering a variety of nontraditional and preventive services to this population 

• E. Eldred Hill joins EGSC Board of Directors in 1970

• Utilizing the “Best Practice” methodology, the United Families Preventive Program is established in 1972 to prevent the removal of children and adolescents from their homes

• Founded in 1976, the Rev. Kenneth Folkes (RKF) Intermediate Care Facility (ICF) is EGSC’s oldest residential service predominantly for the accommodation of persons with developmental disabilities

• Judith Benitez joins EGSC Board of Directors in 1981

• Jean L. Schmidt, Esq. joins EGSC Board of Directors on October 13, 1982

• E. Eldred Hill serves the longest-standing term as an EGSC Board President, from 1975 to 1985, before retiring from the post. To date, Mr. Hill continues to serve on the Board of Directors’

• Sister Mary Nerney establishes the Services Training Education Prevention Self-help (STEPS) to End Family Violence Program as an innovative response to family domestic violence. In 1986, with the sponsorship of EGSC, Sr. Nerney commenced her services with the Agency to establish, organize and implement a center for services, education, and prevention of family violence

• Since 1987, the Incarcerated Mother’s & General Preventive Program (IMP) has assisted families affected by incarceration and in need of support, to make use of community resources in order to keep children from being placed in foster care

• Myles Wittenstein, B.A., joins EGSC Board of Directors on October 9, 1991

• Aubrey Featherstone, B.A./MPA, (current EGSCF Executive Director), begins his first tour as EGSC Executive Director from 1995 to 1996

• On April 1, 1995, EGSC Residential Services at Co-op City transitions from a group home provider for youth in foster care to an adult residential facility for the developmentally disabled population by opening four Individual Residential Alternative (IRA) apartments

• Mary Ann Wall, MBA, joins EGSC Board of Directors on October 13, 1999

• Myles Wittenstein is elected as EGSC Board President in October, 1999. Retains position until November, 2004

• Karen A.N. Myrie, M.D. joins EGSC Board of Directors on October 17, 2000

ANNUAL OPERATING BUDGET $15.7 MILLION

BOARD PRESIDENT: MYLES WITTENSTEIN

•  Violet Chandler, Esq. joins EGSC Board of Directors on June 13, 2001

• August, 2001, Aubrey Featherstone, former Administration for Children and Families (ACS) Deputy Commissioner, commences his second tour as Executive Director of EGSC

• Edwin Gould Services for Children changes its name to Edwin Gould Services for Children and Families (EGSCF)

• The 1st Annual “Artrageous” Benefit art event to celebrate NYC children and the importance of their creative expression by pairing them with well-known artists took place on December 8, 2001

ANNUAL OPERATING BUDGET $14.8 MILLION

BOARD PRESIDENT: MYLES WITTENSTEIN

• Robert Schanz joins EGSCF Board of Directors on January 9, 2002

• Denise M. Grant, Esq. joins EGSCF Board of Directors on November 25, 2002

BOARD PRESIDENT: MYLES WITTENSTEIN

ANNUAL OPERATING BUDGET $15.4 MILLION

•  The Adoption Unit achieved an “Outstanding” rating and was rewarded with the Achievement of Excellence award by NYCACS

BOARD PRESIDENT: MYLES WITTENSTEIN

ANNUAL OPERATING BUDGET $16.8 MILLION

• September, 2004, the United Families Preventive Program moves from 44 Court Street to 407 Sterling Place and begins to provide services to Community Board #8 (North Crown Heights) residents

• Myles Wittenstein is elected as EGSCF Board Vice-President in October, 2004

• The entire East 11th Street Site Staff & 44 Court Street Unit’s: After-Care, Independent Living, & Foster Boarding Home, relocate to 40 Rector Street,Manhattan on November 15, 2004

BOARD PRESIDENT: JEAN L. SCHMIDT, ESQ. (Newly Elected)

ANNUAL OPERATING BUDGET $16.9 MILLION

• B. Victor Williams join EGSCF Board of Directors on June 22, 2005

• In August 2005, the New York Nonprofit Press reported that EGSCF garnered the top score of 90 among foster boarding home provider agencies in the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) Evaluation & Quality Improvement Protocol (EQUIP) ratings for 2004. The score was the highest score ever received on the EQUIP

*In 2000, the New York City Administration for Children’s Services agency launched EQUIP – the Evaluation and Quality Improvement Protocol – which gathers information on contract agencies’ “outcomes”, “process” and “quality”. The EQUIP system combines scoring from case record readings with statistical analyses of the time to reunite children with their families or place them in adoptive homes, rates of re-entry into foster care and the frequency of substantiated reports of abuse or neglect for children in care.

• In its October, 2005, issue,New YorkNonprofit Press names EGSCF “ Agency of the Month”

• OnDecember 8, 2005, EGSCF and Child Development Corporation form an alliance through an affiliation that transfers certain CDSC programs to EGSCF including: Foster/Adoption Care, Medical/Mental Health Services, Independent Living, and the Supervised Independent Living Program

BOARD PRESIDENT: JEAN L. SCHMIDT, ESQ.

ANNUAL OPERATING BUDGET $14.3 MILLION

• In December 2006, The New York City Administration or Children’s Services (ACS) awards a Community Partnership Initiative (CPI) pilot grant, to be introduced in three phases, to 11 community coalitions, to change how child welfare services are organized in NYC

• ACS awards the 2006 Certificate of Recognition to EGSCF for “Outstanding Performances in Achieving Permanency Through Adoption for the Children of NYC”

• Implemented in July 2006, the Foster Parent Support, Training and Community Engagement Program meets the needs of the family, provides children with the best and safest placement while in care, and expedites the reunification process

• Joan F. Berger, Esq., joins EGSCF Board of Directors on March 22, 2006

• Scyatta A. Wallace, Ph.D., joins Board of Directors on March 22, 2006

BOARD PRESIDENT: JEAN L. SCHMIDT, ESQ.

ANNUAL OPERATING BUDGET $17.3 MILLION

• In March 2007, EGSCF is one of nine foster care providers from across the city selected to participate in Phase I of the Improved Outcomes for Children (IOC) series of initiative reforms announced byACS

• Aubrey Featherstone, EGSCF Executive Director, is elected to serve as Co-Chair of the Bedford-Stuyvesant Community Partnership Initiative (CPI)

• On June 22, 2007, Sister Mary Nerney, STEPS to End Violence Program Founder and Director, retires from Edwin Gould Services for Children and Families (EGSCF). Lucia Rivieccio replaces Sister Nerney as STEPS Program Director

• On behalf of the EGSCF developmentally disabled population, several Co-op City Individuals spearhead the formation of the EGSCF Self Advocacy Group as an outlet where they can express their needs and wants

• EGSCF employees sign up with the ZogsSports Basketball League, establishing “Team Lights Out”, which is the Agency’s first basketball team

• The Bronx FBH Unit moves to its new office site on 147th Street

• The “Point in Time Recognition Initiative” is established to recognize and acknowledge staff members, on a daily basis, who have done an exceptional job in serving our clients and/or helping the Agency to achieve its goals

• EGSCF launches the Agency Newsletter, “Fostering Smiles” in August, 2007

BOARD PRESIDENT: JEAN L. SCHMIDT, ESQ.

ANNUAL OPERATING BUDGET $23.9 MILLION

• For the first time in over thirty years, under the direction of Kleckner Charles, the IRA/ICF services achieved zero deficiencies in the OMRDD Home Recertification Audit

• The Agency Newsletter, “The Weekly Update” made its first appearance in April 2008, as the Monday Update during intervals when the Agency’s quarterly published newsletter, Fostering Smiles, was on hiatus. The Monday Update enhanced communications and gained popularity as the Agency’s paper of choice by communicating on a weekly basis, relevant child care community issues, Agency updates, and popular topics amongst staff.

• On July 1, 2008, in an effort to focus exclusively on the mental health needs of our children and adolescents, Management took a bold step to establish a fully comprehensive Mental Health Unit (separate from the Health Services Unit) that includes a crisis intervention component

• Implemented in September, 2008, EGSCF’s newest preventive program, New Hope, serves the Crown Heights, Bedford Stuyvesant, and Bushwick communities of Brooklyn resulting in the expansion of the program

• Yolanda Billings, CPA, joins EGSCF Board of Directors on November 18, 2008

BOARD PRESIDENT: JEAN L. SCHMIDT, ESQ.

ANNUAL OPERATING BUDGET $26.7 MILLION

• EGSCF celebrates its “70th” Year Anniversary as ‘Agency of Choice’ in NYC

• In September, 2009, EGSCF relocates its main headquarters to 151 Lawrence Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201. The EGSCF move to Lawrence St., Brooklyn, establishes a site office in every borough that the Agency serves to become a fully community-based organization

• Jean L. Schmidt, Esq., is elected as EGSCF Board Vice-President in November, 2009

BOARD PRESIDENT: ROBERT SCHANTZ (Newly Elected)

ANNUAL OPERATING BUDGET $28.7 MILLION

• EGSCF receives one of the largest funding awards ever granted by ACS. The Family Foster Care contract received $96.4 million and the General Preventive contract received $12.3 million

• Michael Clarke, MPA, joins EGSCF Board of Directors on March 31, 2010

• Effective, July 1, 2010, Everson Gibson, MPA, is promoted to new position of Deputy Executive Director of Programs

• On July 13, 2010, Governor David Paterson signed into law a bill changing the Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (OMRDD) to the Office of People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD)

BOARD PRESIDENT: ROBERT SCHANZ

ANNUAL OPERATING BUDGET $32.2 MILLION

• Agathe Worou-Villafana, CPA,  joins EGSCF Board of Directors on February 2, 2011

• Bryan Barnett, MBA, joins EGSCF Board of Directors on February 23, 2011

• Arlene Dominguez, B.A., joins EGSCF Board of Directors on March 15, 2011

• Agency collaborates with the Fresh Air Fund to sponsor the 1^st EGSCF Annual Summer Camp Fair which took place on March 28, 2011

• Nuevos Horizontes, the Agency’s first preventive program to service the Bronx community officially opened on July 1, 2011, in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx. At capacity, the program will serve 72 families from the Hunts Point, Mott Haven, and Morrisania communities. Within the first month of opening, 26 families enrolled in the Nuevos Horizontes program.

• Caryn R. R. Rodgers, Ph.D., joins EGSCF Board of Directors’ in August, 2011

• September 19, 2011, marked the opening of the new OPWDD Day Habilitaion Program at Co-op City, which provides recreational activities to 10 Individuals. The Individuals go into the community at various organizations including Meals on Wheels, hospitals, and nursing homes; and participate in activities such as arts and crafts, and poetry

• Lisa Banks, B.A., joins EGSCF Board of Directors’ on November 29, 2011

BOARD PRESIDENT: ROBERT SCHANZ

ANNUAL OPERATING BUDGET $33.5 MILLION

• Deborah Weston joins EGSCF Board of Directors on January 23, 2012

• Cynthia Rojas, B.A., joins EGSCF Board of Directors on February 1, 2012

• The finalization of the first ACS Kinship Guardianship Assistance Program (KinGAP) application in NYC occurred on February 6, 2012, in Bronx County Family Court when the sister of a nine-year old boy in care with EGSCF was awarded kinship guardianship of her brother after efforts to engage the birth parents failed. The KinGAP program went into effect on April 1, 2011.

• On May 10, 2012, Tyriek Overton, Senior RAPP Peer Leader, and one of the winners of the 2012 “Rap for RAPP” contest, who championed non-violence against women in his music video, is featured as the United Nation’s Women’s “2012 Say NO UNiTE” – Video of the Week – and premiered on the YouTube internet channel for world-wide viewing. Tyriek’s video can also be viewed on the Say No to Violence YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/saynotoviolence.

• On May 21, 2012, the EGSCF Residential Services Unit opened its fourth adult residential facility for the disabled population in the Bronx, N.Y. At capacity, the Adee Avenue IRA Residence will house 7 female Individuals

• On Thursday, May 31, 2012, representatives from ARTrageous including Aubrey Featherstone, EGSCF Executive Director; Linda Argila, EGSCF Fund Development Consultant; and EGSCF Honoree Louise Jones visited the New York Stock Exchange to ring the opening bell and highlight the June 4th ARTrageous Gala Dinner and Art Auction that is scheduled to take place at Cipriani Wall Street. Click on the link below to view the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQG1awycPQ8. 

• The entire Classon Avenue Site Foster Boarding Home Staff relocates to 151 Lawrence Street-4th Floor, Brooklyn in December, 2012

BOARD PRESIDENT: ROBERT SCHANZ

ANNUAL OPERATING BUDGET $30 MILLION

• On Monday, January 28, 2013, Demetrius Johnson, an EGSCF adolescent participating in the Preparing Youth for Adulthood (PYA) program, joined other youth in foster care from throughout the New York City area, to ring the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange and launch the The Jamel Robinson Child Welfare Reform Initiative, Inc. (JRCWRI), ‘We Deserve Love Too’ Campaign. Click on the link below to view the video:
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTa5Mu-cqd4&feature=player_embedded

BOARD PRESIDENT: ROBERT SCHANZ

ANNUAL OPERATING BUDGET $32.1 MILLION