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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Katrina Arnstead, Director of Child Parent Psychotherapy at JCCA
6:02:40
·
124 sec
Katrina Arnstead, Director of Child Parent Psychotherapy at JCCA, testified about the agency's preventive programs and their impact on families. She highlighted the challenges faced by families they serve and emphasized the need for additional funding to provide adequate support.
- JCCA offers various programs administered by ACS and DYCD, including preventive services to strengthen families and prevent out-of-home placements.
- Arnstead shared a success story of helping a family with an autistic child and a mother with mental health challenges.
- She emphasized the struggles of many New York City families, including undocumented immigrants, with basic needs and the impact on children's well-being.
Katrina Arnstead
6:02:40
It's Katrina Arnstead.
6:02:43
I'm director of child parent psychotherapy at JCCA's agency.
6:02:50
JCCA proudly serves children, families through a variety of programs administered by ACS and DYCD.
6:02:56
Some of these programs include wraparound services for transitional aid for the youth, city first readers, family foster care and residential foster care, community partnership programs, and preventive programs.
6:03:10
Today, I would like to highlight our preventive programs.
6:03:13
Our services support and strengthen families to prevent out of home placement and to reunite families after such placements.
6:03:20
These programs include child parent psychotherapy, solution based casework contact, and family treatment rehabilitation.
6:03:28
These services provide a life changing impact on our family's well-being.
6:03:32
One family that comes to mind consisted of autistic child and a mother with mental health challenges.
6:03:36
Struggling with these challenges, the mother was unable to take her child to doctor's appointments.
6:03:41
We connected the mother to adult health home caseworker who was assisting her to enroll in her child in school and has referred her to mental health services.
6:03:48
While the mother was initially resistant, she eventually embraced the mental health supports.
6:03:53
Since then, we have observed positive changes changes in her behavior and her relationship with her child, thanks to linkages to the community resources.
6:04:01
The challenges our preventive families face are all too familiar.
6:04:05
Many families in New York City struggle with purchasing groceries, doing laundry, and purchasing clothes for their children.
6:04:11
Parents in these communities are often unemployed or unpaid wages that do not keep up with the cost of living.
6:04:17
Additionally, many of the families we serve are undocumented immigrants experiencing additional fear of anxiety in the current political climate.
6:04:27
Such challenges hinder a child academic performance and poses risk to their physical and mental health.
6:04:35
While we aim to provide youth and families with transformative services, we often struggle to provide enough supports due to limited funding.