St. Vincent's Services

Youth Residential Services

St. Vincent's Services operates nine group homes in Queens and Staten Island, which serve more than 90 adolescents and are staffed around-the-clock by supportive, well-trained individuals. In this environment, these young people attend school, participate in community activities and are part of a family. Underpinning the program is SVS' unwavering commitment to education for its youngsters. In an atmosphere of encouragement and structure, the agency works hard to help the students become resourceful and goal-oriented by offering personal, academic and career counseling. For those who want to attend college, SVS provides continuing financial support until graduation. Our students have graduated from institutions as diverse as Harvard, St. John's University, the University of Michigan, and all the colleges of the City University of New York.

The young people in our group homes have security, caring attention and a stable home where they can thrive and work to overcome their earliest environments. While we work to connect youngsters in our group homes with caring adults in varied family constellations, we are devoted to their care while they are with us.

Our dedication to our young people living in SVS group homes and the need for quiet, superior housing for these attending post-secondary school programs led us to build a lovely new home on Staten Island, specifically for college bound young women ages 16-21.

However, SVS knows that college is not for everyone. Our broader goal for its children is to prepare them to be the best they can be when they leave us; it is our expectation that, one day they will be equipped to give back to the community-each one in his or her own way.

Children's Community Residences

St. Vincent's Services opened its first Children's Community Residence in Springfield Gardens early in 2008. These homes each care for eight children and provide comprehensive services aimed at meeting the emotional, behavioral and developmental needs of our children and their families. The homes are staffed with professional child care, social service and medical staff. The New York State Office of Mental Health is working with St. Vincent's to open three more Children's Community Residences in Eastern Queens, which will make St. Vincent's one of the major providers of this essential service. We expect to open two of the homes in 2009.