Ambulatory Care Network Family PEACE Program,
New York Presbyterian Hospital
New York, NY

Ambulatory Care Network Family PEACE Program
New York Presbyterian Hospital

534 West 135th Street
New York, NY 10031

Focus:

Children who have been exposed to domestic violence or child maltreatment

Age range:

0–12

Michelle has a lot on her mind.

Separated from her abusive boyfriend and four months pregnant, the 24-year-old lives in New York City with her son Ben, 7. Her new part-time job as a home health aide pays her just enough to rent a small apartment and cover basic living expenses.

The combination of work and single motherhood leaves Michelle exhausted. Ongoing legal battles with her children's father drain her even more. And then Ben gets into a fight at his afterschool program and is suspended for a week.

Michelle is frustrated, but she doesn't want to take her problems out on Ben. She also doesn't want his behavior to get worse so she seeks help from the Safe Start Family PEACE Program at New York Presbyterian Hospital's Ambulatory Care Network. In the program's Kid's Club, Ben learns to express his feelings while also acknowledging the needs of others, meets other boys and girls with stories similar to his own, and learns relaxation exercises he can use to cope with everyday stress.

Meanwhile, Michelle attends a mother's group in which she shares her experiences and learns techniques for seeing things from Ben's perspective.

As she begins to more fully understand how the abuse she suffered affects her ability to parent, Michelle feels ready to begin a year of intensive child-parent psychotherapy with her new baby.

These days, Michelle has a greater feeling of peace than ever before. She's learned to respond positively to Ben's needs and to make good decisions for herself and her family.

Interventions:

Child Parent Psychotherapy (CPP): The program provides CPP for families with children from birth to 5 years of age. Motherchild dyads meet with a therapist an hour a week for a year and focus on intervention strategies that address conduct disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression.

Kid's Club: The program provides Kids' Club groups to children from 6 to 12 years of age. These groups meet once a week for 90 minutes over 12 weeks. The Kids' Club intervention provides children with information about domestic violence and allows them to discuss attitudes and beliefs about families, relationships, and family violence. Children work on developing appropriate social behavior in small-group settings.

Reflective Parenting: The program offers Reflective Parenting groups to parents at the same time that the children participate in the Kids' Club group. Parents learn how to strengthen and improve the parent-child relationship, communicate more effectively with their children, and feel more confident in their parenting.

Coordinating Council: A range of community-based private and public providers serve on a Coordinating Council that developed and implements a strategic plan for reaching children exposed to domestic violence and linking them to services of the Ambulatory Care Network and the Safe Start Family PEACE Program.