Children's Village, Youth support organization in Dobbs Ferry, New York, United States
Children's Village is a youth support organization in Dobbs Ferry, New York, offering residential programs, schooling, and mental health services for children and families in need. The campus sits in the Hudson Valley and is made up of several buildings arranged across a green, open-air setting.
The organization was founded in 1851 by New York citizens who wanted to help homeless children living in the city streets. Over the following decades, it moved from an urban setting to the Hudson Valley and shifted from a single large institution to smaller residential units.
The campus uses a cottage system where children live in small groups, each in a separate house rather than a large shared building. Walking through the grounds, you can see these houses spread among trees, giving the place a neighborhood feel rather than an institutional one.
The campus is not set up for general tourist visits, so it is best to contact the organization in advance before heading there. Some areas are reserved for residents and staff, meaning not all parts of the grounds are open to outside visitors.
The organization ran its own training school for social workers directly on the grounds, at a time when the profession itself was still taking shape in the United States. Methods developed and tested there went on to influence how child welfare work was taught across the country.
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