CPC’s three drop-in community service centers in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens provide comprehensive and accessible benefits for low-income residents and non-English speaking immigrants in the predominantly Chinese areas. Bilingual counselors and outreach workers take a proactive and culturally sensitive approach through individual, family, and group counseling. They also visit local worksites and street fairs, in addition to participating in radio talks. More importantly, they serve as advocates for the needy by seeking access to resources and government entitlement programs.

Asian Family Services is a child abuse/neglect and foster care prevention program that serves Chinese and Korean immigrant families. They provide advocacy, escort, translation, case management, supportive counseling, and parent education to help deal with challenges that would put children at risk of placement. To enrich the socialization experience of clients, they organize different recreational activities, which includes this year’s Family Day Fair (7/13/02, in collaboration with staff of other programs at the Community Services Division), Christmas Party (12/20/02), Circus Show Outing (3/22/03), and Parent Appreciation Dinner (6/5/03). They also conducted 2 cycles of parenting classes for the past year. Parents have benefited tremendously in terms of a better understanding of the American child welfare laws, appropriate discipline methods, parent-child communication, children’s developmental needs, and immigrant and cultural issues.

The Family Support Services Program educates parents on how to handle their emotionally disturbed children. It provides information and referrals to other community organizations, conducts case management, teaches parenting skills, runs support groups, and even advocates for a parents who may be facing the negative actions by a governmental agency. The program does all of this with the goal of strengthening family bonds. Family Transitional Program provides short-term management to families who are especially transferring out of Asian Family Services. The Family Resource Center is a drop- in center for parents. Services range from respite for children, parent workshops, naturalization classes, recreational activities, and a lending library.

The Asian Child Care Referral Program (www.childcarecpc.org) provides comprehensive, city-wide, and culturally-sensitive child care resource & referral services to children & families, and is committed to improve and expand the quality child care services. Through its consultation, referrals & assistance, parents are able to recognize their child care needs and make informed decisions on their child care plan. It also offers “Family Child Care Orientation and Training” in Chinese, Family Child Care Start-up Grant and Health & Safety Grant and technical assistance to increase the supply and improve the quality of child care services in the community. In addition, it has worked with CPC-Employment Services to offer two series of health & safety training to participants eligible for 911 funding for employment training and interested in becoming family child care providers. It also collaborated with the NYC Human Resources Administration to organize and conduct family child care orientation and training in English to informal providers and welfare recipients in the Jamaica Job Center located in Queens. Two new service components have been recently incorporated in the program: fingerprint and infant-toddler services in which two specialists were hired to provide these services. The free fingerprint service was offered to the after school program employees, potential/existing family child care providers and their family members who are 18 years and older. The infant-toddler service aims to enhance the quality of infant-toddler care and increase the supply of child care programs serving children from birth to three years old. An infant-toddler resource center with bilingual books, magazines & tapes are set up for child care programs.

The Early Intervention Program identifies infants and toddlers with delayed development and coordinates related evaluations. Coordination service is provided continuously. It focuses on linking children with special needs and their families to early intervention services that can be provided in natural environments. Client Recreational Activities for Special Needs/Early Intervention included Halloween Trick or Treat (10/02), Thanksgiving Luncheon (11/02), Christmas Party (12/02), Easter Egg Hunt (4/03), Mother’s Day Breakfast (5/03), Arts & Craft (7/03 & 8/03), Keyboard Lessons (7/03 & 8/03), and a Family Outing to Great Adventure (6/03). Special Needs/Early Intervention staff also participated in budget cuts demonstrations, which consisted of a press Conference/rally for the upcoming budget cuts at steps of City Hall (5/03).

The STAPOD program similarly educates families on how to handle children with disabilities. Case management is also provided for clients who are seriously and persistently mentally ill. Many of these clients have problems that involve mental retardation and developmental disabilities. STAPOD helps these people to live better in various psychological environments. In doing so, these families can further develop their potential.

HIV/AIDS Services (www.hivcpc.org) offers case management to infected and affected HIV clients, outreach, health communication/public information, program development, and community networking to Asian Americans with limited English proficiency in New York City. It also escorts clients for HIV testing and translation, holds a weekly column in two prominent publications, and sponsors a bilingual hotline.

Monthly support groups, including the only women’s group of its kind in the nation, serve as the mainstay of supportive services for the program. Also, a volunteer program has been in place since 1996 to help educate and provide community support.

The Fair Housing Program prevents discrimination and displacement in housing, in addition to creating opportunities for low and moderate-income persons. It also counsels the public as to their rights under the Fair Housing Laws and Housing Code.

Multi-Social Services is a walk-in center that provides medical, housing, education, legal, general social services data, and 9/11 related case management. It makes referrals to community services providers and offers government entitlement program information. Program components of the Multi Social Service Center (MSS) include Fair Housing, Food Stamps program (NOEP and FSAP), Child Health Plus, Family Health Plus, and case management for people affected by the September 11th tragedy. Fair Housing program prevents housing discrimination and displacements, creates low-income housing opportunities, and counsels clients on their rights. The Nutrition Outreach Education Program (NOEP) and the Food Stamps Access Project (FSAP) provide education outreaches, assistance with pre-screening and food stamps application. Staff stations in the field with laptops and assist clients with onsite enrollment. The FSAP is a new endeavor for Multi Social Services, with aims at increasing the number of families applying for food stamps benefits. Child Health Plus and Family Health Plus facilitate application for health insurance. More specifically, MSS assists with filing housing complaints, securing landlord and tenant rights, completing applications for public and senior housing, and answering inquiries about utility bills.