Jessica has a history of mental health challenges that led to psychiatric hospitalization. As a result, her young son was removed from her care and placed in foster care.
Jessica is not alone. Too many parents in New York City are separated from the children they love because of a mental health challenge. This particularly affects marginalized communities of color whose children are disproportionately represented in the child welfare system.
The problem is not new. It is why the Institute of Community Living (ICL) created the Emerson Davis Family Residence in 1999—a unique supportive housing model for parents with mental health challenges seeking to regain custody of their children or at a high risk of losing custody.
Despite the program’s success and impact, though, it remains the only one of its kind in the city. We need to do better to ensure more families can stay together or successfully reunite after being separated by the child welfare system. After all, studies have consistently shown that reunification leads to better outcomes for children, including higher rates of educational attainment and employment compared to children who have spent prolonged time in foster care.
Three-quarters of families who have had the opportunity to live at Emerson remain unified. That’s a better outcome than most separated families experience, with longitudinal studies showing that only 65 percent of children who reunite with their families without such support remain together. Furthermore, Emerson supports families in building independence and stability. More than a third of the Emerson families eventually move into their own homes, and another third are able to move to supportive housing programs.
Reuniting families, or keeping families at risk of separation together, is complex. The process must address the treatment needs of the parents as well as the developmental needs of their children, which vary over time.
For families to reunify and remain stable, housing that is flexible to meet the differing needs of children and parents is crucial—and that is what families get at Emerson. At Emerson, families receive round-the-clock assistance, including extensive case management, access to onsite childcare and tutoring, and trauma-informed in-home family supportive services designed to promote independent living skills.
Emerson’s housing model was created to be flexible, allowing for easy transitions between single and family units to support families that are able to reunify. This is particularly important for families who have been separated and where a parent has entered the single adult shelter system. These families often face the greatest hardship in reunifying because of bureaucratic hurdles.
Fortunately, city agencies have taken steps to mitigate the harm done to children being separated from their families. The New York City Department of Social Services (DSS) and the New York City Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) recently made it easier for adults in the shelter system to reunite with their children in foster care. These changes include improved interagency coordination and revising the housing voucher process so parents in single adult shelters can qualify for larger apartments to reunite with their children.
These changes are not just bureaucratic improvements but represent a shift in how we approach family homelessness and mental health. By recognizing the inherent value of keeping families together and investing in targeted interventions, we alleviate immediate hardships and lay the groundwork for brighter futures by mitigating the long-term consequences of prolonged separation and instability.
Jessica was placed at the Emerson Davis Family Residence a decade ago. There, she received the treatment and support she needed to regain the right to weekend visitation with her son. Soon after, they were permanently reunited at Emerson and eventually moved into supportive housing. Jessica’s son is now entering junior high school. This is just one of many Emerson success stories, but we need to do more to support all the families affected by mental health challenges among parents.
Emerson’s building in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, has served hundreds of families for the past 25 years and shows significant wear and tear. A gut renovation is needed to restore the building, which we hope to accomplish in the next 18 months, subject to funding.
Thousands of families continue to be separated; with a rampant mental health crisis, we can assume behavioral health challenges lead to some of these separations (unfortunately, no data is available). By providing families with the proper support, stable housing, and a sanctuary where they can rebuild and reunite, more programs like Emerson might help solve one piece of the larger mental health crisis and foster care system shortfalls in our city.
For decades, Emerson has been a shining example of a compassionate and effective program that works—but Emerson Davis shouldn’t be the only residential program of its kind. Given the success of the program, it is imperative that we invest in and expand the successful Emerson model to ensure that all families can thrive.
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Jody Rudin is president and CEO of the Institute of Community Living (ICL).
