With their help, Children’s Center stays open

The South Shore Section of the National Council of Jewish Women made a $10,000 donation that has helped to help keep the Nassau County Family Court Children’s Center open.

     Due to state budget cuts, the Children’s Center would have had to close its doors in May if its operating agency, North Shore Child and Family Guidance Center, was unable to raise $28,000 of the lost funding.

Since its inception, the center has been an oasis for Nassau County children, 99 percent of whom come from families with incomes of less than $25,000. When these children are brought to court, they are able to engage in productive play while their parents or caretakers appear before judges on family crisis matters or attend to court business.

But the Children’s Center’s value extends well beyond a nice, friendly place of entertainment. If it did not exist, the children, most of whom are already vulnerable, would be subjected to the contentious and often volatile courtroom environment where they might have to listen to inappropriate and damaging testimony.

The center also provides a wealth of knowledge and access to services for the parents and guardians of the children it serves. It is a literacy-rich environment and has distributed more than 26,000 free books to children since 2006 as part of a “Reading is Fundamental” program. Thanks to the generosity of NCJW and other donations from the community, the center reached its goal to continue operating at least until the end of the fiscal year in April 2012. Notably, it is the only Children’s Center in a New York State court facility currently operating on a full-time basis.

As one of the agencies that was instrumental in the center’s founding and as a continued member of its Advisory Board, NCJW South Shore Section members say they are thrilled to be able to support such a vital program and will continue to work hard to advocate for future funding.