Families

The Pew Charitable Trusts announced today that it will provide $8,777,000 over the next three years to 47 Philadelphia-area organizations serving some of the region's most vulnerable children and their families. These organizations aim to improve children's life circumstances by providing high-quality early childhood care and education, after-school learning activities, access to mental health services and assistance in obtaining food stamps and other government benefits.

“In Philadelphia, one out of every three children lives at or below the federal poverty line, and the current economic crisis is placing even greater stress on low-income families, raising concerns about their ability not only to secure their children's futures, but to meet their basic needs as well,” said Frazierita D. Klasen, director of the Pew Fund for Health and Human Services. “Our region is fortunate to have many outstanding organizations with a deep understanding of the needs of children and families and strong track records in providing services that make a difference. Pew is pleased to be able to help these organizations carry out their vital work.”

Among the programs funded through the 2010 grant cycle are:

• 19 programs that expand after-school opportunities for youth. They include Philadelphia Futures' Sponsor-A-Scholar program whose combination of mentoring, academic activities and college preparation has helped nearly every young person entering the program go to college. 
• 15 organizations that help parents and teachers tackle early signs of social and emotional issues in children before they become serious problems. One of these programs is the Maternal and Child Health Consortium's Kennett Square Family Center which works closely with parents in Chester County to ensure that their children are prepared with the language and other skills needed for kindergarten.
• 6 programs that connect children to needed behavioral health treatment. They include the Philadelphia Children's Alliance which helps child victims of sexual abuse to get critical behavioral health services. 
• 4 programs that are working to improve the quality of early education. This group includes Easter Seals of Southern Pennsylvania which trains child care professionals on how to provide preschool environments that appropriately serve children with disabilities alongside those without such impairments.
• 3 organizations that are helping families secure the resources to meet their basic needs. They include the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger which helps eligible families obtain food stamps, a resource whose application process can be difficult for many families to navigate.

The Pew Fund for Health and Human Services, part of The Pew Charitable Trusts' Philadelphia Program, provides funding for three groups of at-risk populations: vulnerable adults; the isolated and frail elderly; and disadvantaged children, youth and their families. Since its inception in 1991, the Pew Fund has awarded over $170 million in service delivery and technical assistance support to more than 300 health and human service nonprofit organizations in Philadelphia and neighboring Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties.

The full 2010 grantee listing for programs serving vulnerable children in the region is below. (All organizations are located in Philadelphia, unless otherwise noted.)

Improving the Quality of Early Education

Children's Literacy Initiative 
$180,000 
For continued support of the Blueprint for Early Literacy Project to improve the quality of literacy instruction in Head Start centers in Delaware County.

Delaware Valley Association for the Education of Young Children 
$245,000 
For continued support of the Child Care Mentoring and Accreditation Project to improve the quality of home-based child care.

Easter Seals of Southeastern Pennsylvania 
$162,000 
For support of the Easter Seals Solutions Inclusive Child Care Training program.

YMCA of Philadelphia and Vicinity 
$265,000 
For continued support of the Family Child Care Network to improve the quality of family child care.

Preventing Serious Social and Emotional Problems

Children's Village 
$120,000 
For continued support to provide developmental assessments, referrals and follow-up for young children.

Day Care Association of Montgomery County (Narberth, PA) 
$225,000 
For support of the Effective Climate in School-Age Classrooms project.

Drexel University 
$225,000 
For continued support of the Grow Clinic to provide behavioral health services to children who suffer from malnutrition.

Drexel University 
$180,000 
For continued support of the Primary Care Behavioral Health Program of Eleventh Street Family Health Services.

Family and Community Service of Delaware County (Media, PA) 
$199,000 
For support of the Strengthening Families 10-14 program to reduce problem behaviors among at-risk youth.

Family Services of Montgomery County (Eagleville, PA) 
$180,000 
For continued support of Families and Schools Together to provide services for at-risk elementary and middle school children in Norristown.

Friendship House (Scranton, PA) 
$210,000 
To implement the Parent-Child Home program to improve the language and literacy skills of low-income young children.

Intercultural Family Services 
$180,000 
To provide therapeutic services to children exhibiting negative behaviors.

Ken-Crest Centers (Plymouth Meeting, PA) 
$216,000 
To reduce problem behaviors among children served by its Philadelphia early childhood programs.

Maternal and Child Health Consortium (West Chester, PA) 
$195,000 
To provide school readiness and other support services for children in southern Chester County.

Neighborhood Interfaith Movement 
$180,000 
To reduce social and emotional problems among children in child care sites serving low-income neighborhoods in Philadelphia.

Public Health Management Corporation 
$187,000 
To expand the identification of homeless children at risk of developmental delay and link them to needed services.

Temple University 
$167,000 
For continued support of the Prevention Project to reduce behavioral and emotional problems in young children in North Philadelphia.

Thomas Jefferson University 
$193,000 
To reduce problem behaviors of children in low-income child care centers in Philadelphia.

Widener University (Chester, PA) 
$175,000 
For support of the Comprehensive Assessment and Treatment program for at-risk children living in Chester.

Improving Behavioral Health

Juvenile Law Center of Philadelphia 
$180,000 
For continued support to improve access to behavioral health services for children and adolescents involved with the child welfare and juvenile justice system.

Lutheran Children and Family Service of Eastern Pennsylvania 
$140,000 
For continued support to improve the utilization of behavioral health services by refugee and immigrant children and their families.

Mental Health Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania 
$195,000 
For support of the Family TIES program in Delaware and Montgomery Counties.

Philadelphia Children's Alliance 
$221,000 
To help child victims of sexual abuse obtain needed behavioral health services.

Public Citizens for Children and Youth 
$270,000 
For continued support of the Child Health Watch Helpline to assist families in the region to secure available behavioral health services for their children.

Support Center for Child Advocates 
$225,000 
For continued support of its outcomes in Behavioral Health Project, to increase access to needed services for abused and neglected children.

Expanding After-School Opportunities

Big Brothers Big Sisters Southeastern Pennsylvania 
$215,000 
For continued support of the Community-Based Mentoring Program to provide adult mentors for at-risk children and youth.

Breakthrough of Greater Philadelphia 
$150,000 
For support of the High School Success program in Philadelphia.

Chester County Futures (Exton, PA)
$160,000
For continued support of academic enrichment and mentoring services for high school students in Chester County.

Chester Education Foundation
$160,000 
For continued support to provide after-school tutoring, life skills and career exploration opportunities to Chester Upland School District students.

Congreso de Latinos Unidos 
$180,000 
To support the Exito program that offers academic enrichment and support services to high school students at risk of dropping out of school.

ESF Dream Camp Foundation (Bryn Mawr, PA) 
$120,000 
For continued support of year-round educational and recreational activities for low-income children in Philadelphia.

Food Trust 
$140,000 
For continued support to provide nutrition education services to children in three low-income neighborhoods of Philadelphia.

Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania 
$200,000 
To support the Girl Scouting Beyond Bars program for daughters of incarcerated mothers in Montgomery and Philadelphia counties.

People's Emergency Center 
$150,000 
To expand after-school and summer enrichment programs for children and youth in West Philadelphia.

Philadelphia Futures for Youth 
$262,000 
For continued support of the Sponsor-A-Scholar program for at-risk high school students in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia Mural Arts Association 
$225,000 
For continued support of arts education programs offered after school and in the summer for low-income youth in Philadelphia.

Project Forward Leap Foundation 
$250,000 
For continued support to provide educational enrichment and support to low-income middle-school and high-school students in Chester and Philadelphia.

Project HOME 
$186,000 
For support of year-round academic enrichment programs for young people from kindergarten through high school.

Resources for Human Development 
$75,000 
For continued support of the Achievement Project to help Chester youth succeed in high school and pursue postsecondary education.

SquashSmarts 
$105,000 
To expand year round academic support and physical fitness activities to middle and high school students in West and North Philadelphia.

Temple University 
$185,000 
To provide leadership development activities to disadvantaged youth in Philadelphia.

Trevor's Campaign (Springfield, PA)
$105,000 
For continued support of the Discover program for homeless and formerly homeless children in North Philadelphia.

Villanova University 
$225,000 
For support of the Villanova Initiative for Engaging Women program to help girls in Philadelphia public schools pursue postsecondary education.

Women Against Abuse 
$194,000 
For support of an after-school program at a domestic violence emergency shelter in Philadelphia.

Helping Families Secure Resources to Meet Basic Needs

Community Legal Services 
$200,000 
To provide legal services to families so they can secure public benefits and meet their basic needs.

Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger 
$160,000 
For support to enroll working families with children in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Southeastern Asian Mutual Assistance Association Coalition 
$215,000 
To support the Immigrant Benefits Enrollment Program.