Child Support Awareness Month is celebrated each August in the United States to recognize the essential work of child support professionals and highlight the critical role child support plays in ensuring children have the behavioral and mental health resources they need. At Catholic Charities New York, our youth is the future, and we ensure that we help them and their families in every way possible.

For families navigating mental health challenges, behavioral concerns, or developmental disabilities, the path to stability can feel like an uphill battle. At St. Dominic’s Family Services, which is a part of our Federation of Agencies at Catholic Charities New York, two interconnected programs; Care Management and Children and Family Treatment and Support Services (CFTSS), and Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) are transforming that journey by providing compassionate, community-based support for some of the most vulnerable children in New York.

“We’re essentially the last line of defense before a higher level of care,” explains Santana Letts, Senior Vice President of Care Management Programs. Whether it’s preventing hospitalization, out-of-home placement, or family breakdown, her team’s work starts with one goal: keep families together and youth in their communities.

What makes St. Dominic’s approach so powerful is its seamless in-house collaboration between case management and therapeutic support. When a child or teen is referred, the care management team assesses the entire family’s needs and can immediately connect them with clinical services provided by the CFTSS program.

Marcia Junior, Vice President of CFTSS/HCBS, paints a clear picture: “The CFTSS program is like a hand. You can’t pick anything up with just one finger, every service, like Community Psychiatric Support and Treatment, Psychiatric Services and Treatment, Psychosocial Rehabilitation, Other Licensed Practitioner, Family Peer Support, they all work together to lift the child and the family up.”

These wraparound supports range from psychotherapy and behavioral counseling to life skills training and crisis intervention. For example, a teen struggling with school anxiety might receive therapy at home, skill-building from a psychosocial worker, and coaching for parents from a family peer advocate.

Letts and Junior share story after story of youth who arrive shut down, angry, or isolated, only to leave thriving. One such teen, a 13-year-old girl with severe anxiety, had stopped attending school altogether. With a full team rallying behind her, she not only returned to school but is now an honor student preparing for college.

Another success story: families returning years later, not for help, but to give back.
“When we’ve helped a child,” says Junior, “and they come back as adults asking us to help their children, that’s the loudest thank-you we could ever receive.”

Both leaders trace their passion for this work back to early life experiences: working at youth camps, studying law, discovering psychology and through unexpected academic detours, and a drive to build something beyond just a job, a calling. As Caribbean-American women, both Letts and Junior emphasize the value of culturally sensitive, community-based care.

“No one does this alone,” says Junior. “In our culture, the community raised you. And that’s the spirit we bring into our work.” Letts adds, “It’s not about pointing fingers. We look at the whole family dynamic, and we help them build from within.” At the heart of their work lies a commitment to justice, not just legal or social, but emotional justice, ensuring families feel seen, heard, and empowered.

“Justice is giving people the tools, voice, and opportunity to thrive,” Junior says. “We meet families where they are, and walk with them forward, step by step.”

With services that reach hundreds of children each year, and outcomes that speak for themselves, St. Dominic’s model offers a blueprint for what truly transformative care can look like: not just saving kids from crisis, but lifting up entire communities.

As we recognize Child Support Awareness Month, Catholic Charities New York reaffirms its commitment to not only meeting the financial needs of children but also addressing the emotional, behavioral, and mental health challenges that can stand in the way of a child’s success. Through the compassionate, integrated work of St. Dominic’s Family Services, families are receiving more than support, they’re gaining stability, healing, and a path forward. Learn more about the work of our agencies here: CatholicCharitiesNY.org/find-help/