The Children’s Aid Society fills the gaps between what children have and what they need to thrive. We have been serving children for more than 150 years, a longevity that is a testament to our ability to adapt to the always changing needs of today’s youth. After all, you don’t succeed for 150 years by being old-fashioned.

Today Children’s Aid serves New York's neediest children and their families at more than 45 locations in the five boroughs and Westchester County. Our caring begins even before birth, through prenatal counseling and assistance, and continues through the high school years with college and job preparatory training programs. All aspects of a child’s development are addressed as he or she grows, from health care to academics to sports and the arts. And because stable children live in stable families, a host of services are available to parents, including housing assistance, domestic violence counseling and health care access.

Throughout Children’s Aid’s history, programming has been driven by the needs of the children we serve. This proactive approach started in 1853, when Children’s Aid founder Charles Loring Brace established the Orphan Train Movement in response to an epidemic of homeless children. This approach, which moved children from New York City streets to the homes of farm families out West, has been deemed the beginning of the modern foster care system.