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WPCNR Afternoon Tribune by John F. Bailey & Correspondents, filed 3/20/02, 1:00 PM EST:Residents of Fisher Hill met with Mayor Joseph Delfino Tuesday evening and learned the city not been able to develop a clear picture of the types of Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services clients who they propose to house at 139 Walworth Avenue. A WPCNR interview with a JBFCS spokesman sheds light.
139 Walworth Avenue: Site of planned group home for formerly neglected and abused youth under the care of Jewish Board of Family and Children’ Services.
Photo by WPCNR
Residents attending the meeting told WPCNR that a citizens information committee had been formed to approach the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services and meet with the organization to get clarification of the plans.
Cynthia Ryan has agreed to head a committee of Fisher Hill residents who hope to meet with a Leonard Rodriguez, of JBFCS, who was described by the Mayor’s Office as the coordinator for the Westchester JBFCS operations. Claire Orlando, of the Fisher Hill Association said the Mayor had advised that the city had not been able to get much more information from JBFCS from contacts they had made.
WPCNR interviewed Mindy Liss, Director of Marketing Communications for the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services, who gave us details about the young persons who are anticipated to occupy the group home at 139 Walworth Avenue.
Ms. Liss said the home is intended to house 10 children between the ages of 15 to 19, whom she described as “foster home care children, who have a history of being abused and neglected.” They are not mentally disabled. She said these children have been selected because they have “done very well,” and are considered stabilized.
She said the home residents will have 24 hour-a-day supervision, and their whereabouts will be accounted for at all times. They will be either at school or at work, she said, in closely supervised programs or when out of the home, in a supervised situation.
Ms. Liss said she is eager to meet with the Fisher Hill neighbors and explain the program, and took the number of Ms. Ryan to attempt to get in touch with her.
No date has been set for occupancy at 139 Walworth, because renovations are still on-going. She added that a group home had been run in the Eastview section of White Plains for twenty years by JBFCS, before it was closed to make room for the Clayton park apartment complex.
“White Plains Links,” the service compiled exclusively by WPCNR, tells you more about the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Service. CLICK ON “White Plains Links” in upper lefthand corner of this site, then CLICK ON the “Personal Health and Services Section,” to find the link to the JBFCS website.




