Our Philosophy

The Rockland Parent-Child Center was incorporated in 1986 as “The Rockland Family Resource Center”. The mission of the organization was to provide a unique, safe, nurturing environment in which parents could support each other as well as receive guidance from professionals in order to more fully understand their children and their unique role as a parent; their child’s first and most important life teacher.

RPCC always understood that by supporting parents and caregivers, you are helping their children. By reducing stress and increasing knowledge of child development and increasing parenting skills, parents become more effective and confident with their children. Parents become empowered to provide a safe, healthy and nurturing environment for their children by utilizing positive discipline and communication strategies.

Respecting Difference

RPCC has always been unique. We recognize that families come in a variety of configurations and can include more than just a mother, father and child. Many families live together with extended family, grandparents raise grandchildren, families are headed by gay, lesbian and trans-gendered parents and many families are headed by a single mother or father. Some children are raised by aunts, uncles, cousins or neighbors and separated from their parents due to immigration, poverty or incarceration. All of these situations are unique and each family, no matter what its structure has its own set of strengths.

The Rockland Parent-Child Center and all of its programs focus on building upon those strengths by providing support, information, and links to resources in the community that families may need such as, mental health, health or legal services. RPCC has a reputation and history of responding to the changing needs of the families of our community.

Our Founders, Barbara and Jean

RPCC was founded by Barbara Keil and Jean Kelly who worked together as Co-Directors of Volunteer Services at the Rockland Children’s Psychiatric Center. Through their experiences working with “high risk” mothers and their children at RCPC, they saw a need for parent-child support in the community that wasn’t being met. They also saw that there were some services available but they weren’t being adequately utilized.

They began by offering as once a week support group for new mothers and their babies in a small room at Nyack Hospital. This group expanded very quickly to include toddlers and they moved to a larger facility at 137 First Avenue with expanded hours within two years. The name of the organization was changed to the “Rockland Parent-Child Center” in 1987.

Family Connections

In 1989, Barbara and Jean started an unprecedented new support group for mothers in the Rockland County jail which soon became known as Family Connections. With the help of Leigh Schuerholz, one of the first facilitators of the group, the Family Connections program expanded to include a men’s group in 2000 (thanks to funding from the Rockland County Department of Social Services), pre- and post-release case management services, as well as a mentor program and post-release support group for mothers. In 2009, “Building Connections for Youth” was launched providing children (ages 5-17) of incarcerated parents with a trained adult volunteer mentor who serves as a positive role model for the child and a vital resource for the entire family. In 2010, Family Connections began running a 14-week Re-Entry Program in collaboration with Creative Response to Conflict, Cornell Cooperative Extension and RSVP. This free workshop series provides vital education to formerly incarcerated parents and their children to help them re-connect with each other and help ensure their successful re-entry into the community.

Expanded Programming

Other family programs emerged over the past two decades to include a diverse array of professional facilitated support groups, parenting education workshops, and community speaker events. In addition to the popular Infant and Toddler Groups, the Rockland Parent-Child Center has offered support groups for Adoptive Families, Parents of Teens and Tweens, Single Mothers, Parents of Children with Asperger’s and Parenting Support for Head Start families. Through these groups, RPCC provides parents and caregivers access to specialists in child development, parenting skills, pediatrics, holistic health services, mental health, child safety, stress and anger management and other areas. More importantly, participants are given the opportunity to connect with other parents and caregivers who share in their experiences and can contribute to building a much-needed network of personal support that extends beyond the structured meetings and continues long after group meetings end.

Today, we are no longer based in the First Avenue house and we run our programs a little differently, but our pledge to carry out the mission that was laid forth by Barbara and Jean decades ago stands strong. Today, we are committed to reaching even further into the community than ever before by bringing our programs into different locations and establishing new partnerships with organizations that share in our philosophy and commitment to nurturing and empowering the families of Rockland County. Our office is housed at Grace Episcopal Church, a long-term and stalwart supporter of RPCC and our programs have been held in locations across the county including Nursery School of the Nyacks, Riverview Nursery School, Nyack Library, Rockland Community College, Martin Luther King Community Center, and Nyack Head Start, to name a few. Today, we stand poised and committed to continue changing and evolving as community needs demand, to ensure that services reach those who need them most and to continue doing the work we do in the very best way we can for decades to come.

A Few Highlights from RPCC’s 20 Year History

1986

• Once a week group for infant and toddler parents at Nyack Hospital
• Barbara Keil, President and Jean C. Kelly, Vice President

1987

• Single Parent Group starts
• First County funding

1988

• Grace Church gives home to groups at 137 First Avenue
• Spanish-language program in Haverstraw

1989

• Teen Parent Support Group with BOCES
• First Paid Program Director hired

1990

• Mother’s Support Group in the County Jail starts

1992

• Renamed “Rockland Parent-Child Center”

1993

• Groups include: Adoptive Parents, Teen Mothers Recovering Families

1994

• Financial urgency leads to first River Auction

1997

• Barbara & Jean retire from the Board

1999

• In Harmony grant from United Way to create multi-level project addressing racism and tolerance in our community
• Head Start Parenting program begins

2000

• “Home Sweet Home” Capital Campaign launched to renovate building
• Lesbian Mother’s Group launched
• Ongoing workshop based on “How to Talk So Your Kids Will Listen and Listen So Your Kids Will Talk”

2001

• Family Connections grant awarded and program in jail expands to incl. group for dads, pre and post-release case-management.
• Renovations completed, offices moved onto 2nd floor

2002

• Website launch
• Dr. Joy Leary speaks at Nyack Center, completes In Harmony project co-sponsored with VCS and funded by United Way
• Central Nyack Playgroup co-sponsored with FRC, Parents of Adolescents group

2003

• Family Connections government funding cut; program reduced
• New groups: Working Mothers, Mothers at Midlife
• Safety issue of possible lead in building moves groups to Grace Church

2004

• Lead problem resolved and groups return to 137 First Ave.
• New groups include: Permissive Parenting
• Increased funding from county
• Leigh Shuerholtz Mentor Project Starts with grant from Quakers (part of Family Connections post-release case management program)

2005

• Auction raises $45,000
• Parents’ Night Out - themed parenting meetings with speakers, round tables and film discussions
• Revised Mission Statement