1909 Collection 1909 Collection 1909 Collection 1909 Collection In 1853, Children's Aid was founded by
Yale College graduate and philanthropist,
Charles Loring Brace, with financial support from New York businessmen and philanthropists, Brace believed that institutional care stunted and destroyed children. His view was only work, education, and a strong family life could help them develop into self-reliant citizens. Brace knew that American pioneers could use help settling the
American West, and arranged to send the orphaned children to them. This became known as the
Orphan Train Movement. The children were encouraged to break completely with the past and would arrive in a town where community leaders assembled interested townspeople for inspection and selection. As the movement grew, CAS operated with support from a mix of public and private funding. By the late 19th century, around half of CAS's operations was funded by the government which justified its support by citing savings it gained compared to maintaining traditional orphanages. CAS's mixed financing model, while not uncommon among major child welfare institutions in New York at that time, gradually normalized extensive public financial support in the realm of private child welfare services. The program was controversial, as some
abolitionists viewed it as a form of slavery, while
pro-slavery advocates saw it part of the abolitionist movement, since the labor provided by the children made slaves unnecessary. Some
Catholics deemed the program to be
anti-Catholic, since a significant percentage of poor children in
Manhattan were
Irish Catholic, and would be raised outside of their faith once transported into the interior of the country. Growing concerns over the movement being a front for Protestant proselytizing among poor, immigrant, predominately Catholic children resulted in the Society narrowing its placements to exclusively Protestant white children by the 1890s. In response, the
Archdiocese of New York also upgraded their own child-welfare programs, improving the
parochial school system, building more Catholic orphanages, and creating a 114-acre (46-hectare) training center on
farmland in
the Bronx, which they called the
Catholic Protectory. From 1854 to the last train in 1929, The National Orphan Train Museum in
Concordia, Kansas maintains records and also houses a research facility. In the 1980s Children's Aid created the first family court diversion programs, where
social workers meet with out-of-control children and their families in an attempt to find out of court solutions. In 1992, Children's Aid created the first "community school", a partnership with the
New York City Department of Education where a full array of health, mental and
after-school, weekend and summer programs are available to students at school. The
Technical Assistance Center has helped visitors from all over the United States and more than 40 foreign countries learn how to apply "community school" concepts in their schools. In 2009, it was honored with a Village Award from the
Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation for its Philip Coltoff Center in Greenwich Village (since razed for new residential development). In 2012, Children's Aid was rated 4/4 stars by charities rating organization
Charity Navigator for a record-breaking 12th consecutive year.
Leadership In 1912, Charles Loring Brace Jr. was re-elected board secretary of the society founded by his father.
Edward Lamont Sr. and Edgar Koerner, with over thirty notable board members. ==In popular culture==