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Safe Shelter for Westchester's Abused Children

Hayden House provides safe shelter, diagnostic evaluation and educational services to girls ages 8 to 18.
Child abuse has become a crisis in the United States with more than 1 million children substantiated as victims of abuse and/or neglect each year. Westchester County has not gone untouched by this epidemic. Annually, more than 4,500 cases of child abuse are reported in the County. Of these, nearly 1,200 cases are substantiated, with approximately 115 children being removed each year from abusive homes through court orders.

Approximately 65 of these children will be brought directly to Hayden House, Cardinal McCloskey's' emergency "safe house" shelter. Located in the town of Ossining, Hayden House is the first stop in the long and difficult process of recovering from child abuse.

Hayden House - Gateway to Recovery

Hayden House is Westchester County's emergency residence program dedicated to intense diagnostic evaluation and care of abused or neglected adolescents and pre-adolescents. It provides immediate shelter and intervention for children in a crisis situation. Children arriving at Hayden House are no longer at-risk of being abused or neglected, but have already endured the horror, followed by the trauma of being urgently, and often, dramatically removed from un-safe homes. It is not unusual for children arriving at Hayden House to have come directly from hospitals, police stations, or family court. They arrive both during the day and during the night and frequently arrive with only the clothing they are wearing.
Hayden House provides care to boys ages 8 to 13.

The Children We Serve

Hayden House accepts boys ages 8 to 12 and girls ages 8 to 18. Generally 65% of the children served are girls. Last year, children ranged in age from 8 to 17 years, with more than half of the children being age 12 and younger. Many of the children who come to Hayden House have been sexually abused. Clinical staff estimates that as many as 80% of the children have experienced inappropriate sexual contact although not all cases are documented. This estimate remains consistent from year to year. Children come from all races and socio-economic situations as well as from all communities within the County.

On average, younger children were in care for almost 7 months last year while teenagers were in care for over 10 months. Several children were in care for well over a year. During the past 20 years, more than 2,250 of Westchester's abused children began the road to recovery at Hayden House.
Special Recognition

In recognition of his dedicated commitment to Westchester's children, in April 2001, Vincent Knudsen, Director of the Hayden House Program received an "Unsung Heroes Award" from the Westchester County Child Abuse Task Force for his work at Hayden House.

In his acceptance speech, Mr. Knudsen recognized the special contribution of all of the Hayden House staff, " We are a team - all the childcare workers, the school staff, the social workers and the clinical staff. We all work together for the kids and make sure that they receive the best we can provide. We know we made a difference when we hear from kids years later telling us how we helped change their lives. That's what it's really about - touching their lives, giving them hope. All of us at Hayden work together to do that."
[Read full press release]

The Program: Shelter, Diagnostic Care, Health Services and Education

While at Hayden House, children receive comprehensive care including safe shelter, diagnostic evaluation, medical care, individual and group counseling and customized classroom education to begin to put their lives back together. Round-the-clock care and supervision ensure their safety and general well-being. Diagnostic assessments include evaluations of health status, educational status, psychosocial behavior, psychological status and current psychiatric condition. Management of their mental and physical health is addressed through our comprehensive Health Services Program. Educational needs are addressed at the Cardinal McCloskey School, the on-site school serving grades 4-12.

Children stay at Hayden House while CMS social workers work with their families and Westchester County Department of Social Services to determine the best plan of future care. Sadly, as many as 85% of the children will not return to living with their birth parents so all future care plans must be determined before children leave Hayden. Most children will be placed into therapeutic foster care, kinship care, group homes or moved to residential treatment centers. Some children require very specialized placement designed to treat specific disorders such as fire-setting, sexual aggression or mental health issues.
Children at Hayden House participate in daily household activities.

The Hayden House Health Services Program

Unfortunately, removing children from the source of abuse barely begins the recovery process. These children generally arrive in poor health and have had little exposure to health care services. (Often abusive caretakers do not risk the possibility of exposure and therefore avoid regular health care for their children.) Depending on the length of abuse, children may require early childhood immunizations. For those who have been sexually abused, medical concerns include sexually transmitted diseases. An HIV Risk Assessment is given to each child and those deemed at risk, with proper consent, are tested for HIV.

Other medical conditions affecting some of the children at Hayden House include obesity, diabetes and asthma. We have found that many of the children have not seen a dentist regularly and are in need of extensive dental care. These children are at risk for negative health and behavioral outcomes as adults. Adults with a history of aversive childhood experiences are more likely to experience heart disease, cancer, lung disease and skeletal fractures.

In addition, to physical health issues, children arriving at Hayden House exhibit a vast array of moderate to severe psychiatric and behavioral disorders. During the past several years, there has been a marked increase in substance abuse, eating disorders, suicidal ideation and incidents leading to psychiatric hospitalizations. Since, Hayden House is the gateway to recovery, it is especially important that the program be a nurturing, supportive and educational experience where children can begin to address their medical needs and unravel their tangled emotions in order to start the healing process.