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Lillian Martinez Wins Jim Purcell Excellence Award

“Compassionate.” “Dedicated.” “Hardworking.” These are just a few of the words that co-workers used to describe Lillian Martinez, which is why it is no surprise that she was recently honored for her outstanding work. On Thursday, the Council of Family and Child Caring Agencies (COFCCA) presented the first-ever Jim Purcell Excellence Award to Lillian, a…
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Bills Mafia Continues to Give to C&FS

Bills fans have now raised over $12,000 for Child & Family Services! "We were saddened to hear that Steve Tasker was not selected for consideration into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In our eyes he’s a Hall of Famer," said Lara McKee, VP of the Bills Mafia Babes. Always looking to utilize the region's…
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Buffalo Bills Visit Residential Services for the Holidays

“Jaquan! Jaquan! Here!” Jaquan Johnson of the Buffalo Bills threw the ball across the gym into a crowd of young boys, who all leapt as high as they could to be the one to catch it. One came down with the ball, while the others collided and fell into a pile of laughter on the…
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Talking “Gratitude” with Children in Residential

What are you grateful for? With Thanksgiving approaching, Certified Recreation Therapist Elizabeth Kasimu asked the kids in C&FS’ Residential Services Program if they knew what the word “gratitude” means. They nodded and told her that it means to be thankful for something. Elizabeth then asked the children, “What are you grateful for?” The kids gave…
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The Everlasting Influence of a Teacher

“Mrs. Sanchez was one of my favorite staff at Falk,” wrote Falk graduate Christian States. “She was like a second mother to me and [every student] at Falk.” Kelly Sanchez passed away in November 2019, but is remembered as a bright light at the Stanley G. Falk School. Working at the Rossler Campus, Mrs. Sanchez…
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New Partnership to Promote Mental Health Services for LGBTQ+ Youth

Child & Family Services is proud to partner with GLYS Western New York, Inc. to provide LGBTQ+ youth support! Our counseling team recently participated in the training session, “What You Should Know When Working with LGBTQ+ Youth.” “I am really looking forward to our partnership with GLYS,” said Gretchen Szymanski, Director of Clinical Services at…
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Building Confidence and Relationships with Reading

“I read this one to Hazel, and she fell right asleep," said Daniel* with great pride. Hazel is a cat in shelter at the SPCA. She is fortunate enough to have one of the children in care in Residential Services read her a bedtime story. Daniel participated in a program at the SPCA called "A…
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Heather Gennuso and Morgan Schumacher Recognized as “Permanency Superheroes”

Child & Family Services has our own Dynamic Duo! We are proud to announce that the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) recognized Heather Genusso, Residential Clinical Manager, and Morgan Schumacher, Supervisor of Foster Care and Adoption, as “Permanency Superheroes!” “They work equally as hard with both our Residential and Foster Care programs, they…
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Tips to Prepare for Back to School

Starting a new school year can create extra challenges during a pandemic. Child & Family Services is here for parents and children to help ease into in-person learning. We asked two of our Counseling experts, Iana Lal and Esther Kaul, what advice they have for parents to help the start of the school year go smoothly…
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Siblings Reunited with the Help of Foster Care and Residential Services

The goal of our Foster Care and Residential programs is to reunite children with their biological families whenever possible. Zoe* and Jackson* are siblings who, due to differing needs, were living separately – one in a foster home and one in one of our residential treatment programs. After several months of working to reunite the children,…
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Good Thymes as Children Garden at Haven House

The weather is warm, the sun is shining, and the children at Haven House were thrilled to recently plant their very own vegetable garden. “One little girl repeatedly told me how much she loves gardening and can’t wait for our plants to grow,” said Lauren Wogick, Children’s Program Recreational Aide at Haven House. Lauren spearheaded…
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Ready to Roll!

One of the best parts of summer for children is riding their bikes - the sun on their faces, the wind in their hair as they gain speed, a sense of independence as they ride. You can imagine the excitement for the children in Residential Services as bicycles start to come out of storage. This…
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