Children's Aid Society history

The New York Foundling Hospital (NYFH) was founded by three Sisters of Charity in 1869.

1872 With the support of the New York Times, Children’s Aid establishes the model for visiting nurses services, deploying nurses and doctors into the tenements.

In 1875, the NYFH began their own orphan train program, which focused on placing young children in Catholic Homes.

1881 The first day nursery for infants and children of working women is opened.

After Brace's death, in 1890, the CAS banned the placement of Catholic children under the age of fourteen via the Emigration Plan.

1906 Children’s Aid opens the first free school-based dental clinic.

The Foundling stopped placing children out by train in 1919.

In 1920 the NYJA changed their name to the Children’s Village, which is what they are called today.

A smaller training program at Goodhue Home on Staten Island prepared girls for foster care and adoption placement, beginning around 1921. (Source: The Victor Remer Historical Archives of the Children’s Aid Society, Children’s Aid Society of New York City.)

Florence died July 2, 1924 at Leduc Alberta.

In 1929, the CAS ended their placing out program.

1936 Counseling and employment services for teenagers begins in Children’s Aid community centers.

1965 New York City’s first Head Start classes begin in Children's Aid centers.

1973 Children's Aid establishes licensed mental health services in five neighborhood centers, the first to be integrated with ongoing social work programs.

In 1974, the AFGS merged with another charity.

1984 The Carrera Teen Pregnancy Prevention program launches at the Dunlevy Milbank Center in Harlem and becomes a nationally recognized, evidence-based program.

1992 Children's Aid establishes the first community school model in Washington Heights, incorporating after-school programs and comprehensive health and social services within the school building.