By:  Adrienne Williams-Myers, LCSW, Chief of Preventive Services at Northside Center for Child Development, Inc.

(December 2006/ January 2007)

Northside Center for Child Development (NCCD) is a Harlem based mental health and educational agency that combines therapeutic services with education and remediation to meet the needs of children and families who experience emotional, behavioral, educational and developmental problems. Founded in 1946, NCCD was established as the first private child guidance clinic in Harlem by visionaries Mamie Phipps Clark and Kenneth B. Clark.

The Clarks’ groundbreaking Doll Study, which was used in the Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court decision, supported their hypothesis that the damaging effects of racial segregation resulted in low expectations and low self-esteem in children. Based on this, the Clarks pioneered mental health and therapeutic approaches to enhance the learning and emotional growth of African-American children, and also Latino children, whose needs were often neglected by virtue of the child’s racial and socioeconomic circumstances.

Families Served

Northside’s client base reflects the demographics of the neighborhoods it serves. Almost exclusively African American and Hispanic, all clients are drawn from some of the poorest communities in the borough of Manhattan, where neighborhood, academic and economic conditions can negatively affect children’s cognitive and emotional development. Of the children who come to Northside Center, many live well below the poverty line, have been physically or sexually abused, have family members who are substance users or are being raised by a single parent, guardian or foster care family. A recent report by the Citizen’s Committee for Children of New York indicated that the areas served by Northside Center – East and Central Harlem – ranked first and second in Manhattan among communities most likely to pose severe risks to a child’s well-being.

Philosophy

Based on the Clarks’ understanding of the struggle of every day living for children in Harlem and the damage to the children’s self esteem from racism and poverty, the Clarks developed a community based clinic to counteract some of the problems experienced by children and families and to undergird their self esteem. In order to achieve this goal the Clarks gradually built a multi-faceted community agency providing an array of comprehensive holistic services with a strength based perspective.

In its inception, this approach differed from that of the then popular therapeutic deficit model focusing on diagnosis and an emphasis on problems. The Clarks sought a setting where children and families would feel enhanced, supported and respected. Due to this spirit and vision for children, NCCD provides a discrete service for some children while for others it is a second home. With the addition of its second more adult-focused site, the same can be said for those beyond childhood.

Programs Developed and the Intervention of Social Work

In order to address the needs of children and families in Harlem, the agency was structured to combine mental health, educational and recreational services building a supportive world for children and parents. The agency began in an apartment in Harlem offering therapy to children and families and educational support. It grew with the voluntary support of many Harlem professionals.

Social workers at Northside Center for Child Development, Inc. designed innovative community out-reach programs as well as consumer advocacy groups based on the strengths and self determination of its clients. These out-reach efforts were originated by the commitment and dedication of Victor Carter, Chief of the Social Work Department for over 30 Years. He mentored two Harlem high school dropouts who became employed as mental health aides and co-facilitators of the We Care-Northside Center Self-Help program. As a social worker with clinical training “Victor” as he was affectionately known and addressed, knew he had to “start where the client is.”

The Parents’ Council was another service initiative which also clearly demonstrated Northside Center’s willingness to think out-of-the-box in service delivery. Again, under the leadership of Victor Carter, this program began as a group of parents of children served by Northside Center. The founders of the Parents’ Council wanted to “give back” and Northside Center understood how this would empower the parents and could also be used as a vehicle to empower other parents. The group formed an internal self-help and support group and began to sponsor community forums on such vital topics such as special education, housing, and voting rights.

The Clarks and NCCD have recognized the benefit of early intervention for children by creating the Therapeutic Early Childhood Center’s (TECC) in 1974. TECC provides educational and clinical services to children 18 months to 8 years of age by focusing on children with language impairment, learning disabilities, mild neurological impairments and behavioral difficulties. Initially NCCD was a psychological testing site, then a small clinic was incorporated in 1946. It grew from a modest clinic located in a small private school to a clinic and school for children with developmental delays.

By 2000 it developed into two mental health clinic sites providing individual, family and group therapy to children, families and adults and, under the umbrella of the Educational Services Department, there is now a Homework Help Program, a year-round after school and summer recreational program, remedial reading tutoring and a computer Lab.

Northside’s Project SAFE (Safety Awareness is Fundamental to Empowerment and Education) is a Preventive Service Program begun in 1986. This program serves over 200 children and their families. Project SAFE is a specialized component of the Clinic that provides comprehensive services to families presenting with problems of child sexual abuse, domestic violence, physical abuse and/or neglect. The model combines preventive services and mental health interventions.

In 1995, a Home-Based Crisis Intervention Program was added. It is designed to offer intensive therapeutic and support services to children identified as being at risk for psychiatric hospitalization. It is a further expansion of the Clarks’ vision of building a place and programs to support children’s strengths.

To further extend Northside’s assistance to very young children, in 2005, NCCD launched the Susan Patricof Head Start Center. This program provides early education and parenting services to more than 200 children, their families, and to pregnant women.

A Family Support program, based at 135th street, has services and activities to assist families in treatment. The program offers assistance with housing, benefits, legal, school and employment issues.

Commitment to Founders’ Vision