New York - The Children’s Aid Society announced today that Beverly Colon, Director of Health Services at The Children’s Aid Society, has been appointed Vice President for Health and Wellness, a newly created senior position at the agency.
Before joining Children’s Aid in 1999, Ms. Colon was Deputy Director for Columbia University’s Center for Community Health and Education and before that was Director of Adolescent Health Programs for the NYC Department of Health. She directed school-based health services at the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center, and began her career as a physician’s assistant at Boriken Health Center in East Harlem.
At Children’s Aid, Ms. Colon has helped expand and integrate health services for the low-income young people Children’s Aid serves at schools, community centers and foster care sites across the city. Under her stewardship, the number of health centers Children’s Aid operates has grown from four to nine, and the health services budget has increased from $3,000,000 to $13,000,000 annually. Children’s Aid focuses all of its efforts in four high-needs neighborhoods in the Bronx, Washington Heights, Staten Island and Harlem.
“Beverly has been a key driver in the development of integrated, high-quality health care for thousands of children and families in the communities we serve,” said Richard R. Buery, Jr., Children’s Aid President and CEO. “Achieving positive health and wellness outcomes for families is critical to our mission, and we are thrilled to leverage Beverly’s passion and experience in the promotion and expansion of coordinated, child-centered care.”
In her new role, Ms. Colon will oversee a team of 130 employees serving approximately 30,000 children and families in nine locations across New York City. The department’s comprehensive network of services includes dental, vision, nutrition, health and mental health care, as well as Title X family planning clinics and specialized services for children in foster care. The department also connects children and families to public insurance programs and helps them navigate complex systems.
As Children’s Aid moves to implement its vision that all the children in its care graduate from college, Ms. Colon and her team will monitor a range of development and health indicators to ensure that children succeed at school. Children’s Aid school- and community-based health centers play a critical role in promoting the health and safety of young people and helping them establish lifelong healthy behaviors. Research has shown that such programs can reduce the prevalence of health risk behaviors among young people and have a positive effect on academic performance.
Ms. Colon received an undergraduate degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology and received a B.S. from the Medical Science/Physician Assistant four-year program at Long Island University and the Brooklyn/ Cumberland Hospital.
About The Children’s Aid Society
The Children’s Aid Society is an independent, not-for-profit organization established to serve the children of New York City. Our mission is to help children in poverty to succeed and thrive. We do this by providing comprehensive supports to children and their families in targeted high-needs New York City neighborhoods. Founded in 1853, it is one of the nation’s largest and most innovative non-sectarian agencies, serving New York’s neediest children. Services are provided in community schools, neighborhood centers, health clinics and camps. For additional information, please call Anthony Ramos at (212) 949-4938/ (917) 204-8214, email anthonyr@childrensaidsociety.org or visit www.childrensaidsociety.org.