Frequently Asked Questions

SCAN is an East Harlem and South Bronx community-based family service organization working with at-risk families and children. SCAN provides an array of social services and related programs and activities which are premised on individual strengths. SCAN’s programs emphasize responsibility and initiative and are designed to teach life skills, build self-esteem, and promote the development of self-confidence.

There are many organizations whose primary goal is to work with disadvantaged families and youth in the midst of a crisis. SCAN’s approach, however, is unique.

SCAN programming embodies a positive approach – captured in its “Yes, I Can” theme. This framework focuses not on negative behavioral issues, but on the path forward with achievable goals. Students who receive tutoring, for instance, are supported in their efforts to not merely achieve passing grades, but to aim toward college and other potential future opportunities.

SCAN’s programs identify and nurture individual strengths to build self-confidence, in the belief that people who believe in themselves can achieve for themselves and for their families. Substance abusers, for instance, are not only provided with abuse counseling and rehabilitation programs. SCAN adds a second level of intervention, convening groups to discuss common issues, urging individuals in treatment to gain support from their peers and, in the process, discover their own capacities and strengths. Participants in these groups often step to the forefront in their treatment and become peer leaders.

Like other social service organizations, SCAN works in teams made up of social workers, psychologists, teachers and volunteers. The SCAN difference, however, is reflected in its reliance on youth mentors and parent aides, in both support and leadership roles, many of whom were once at risk themselves. SCAN builds communities and families for those who may not have their own.

SCAN’s empowerment programming goes beyond mere crisis resolution and is positive and strength-based, teaching skills and building confidence for the long term.

The SCAN approach is unique, and it works.

• During 2009, SCAN provided services to approximately 400 families and 5,000 children.
• 150 families were supported through SCAN’s Family Renewal Center, where parents and their children received counseling related to parental substance abuse.
• 4,000 students attended SCAN After-School programs on a weekly basis.
• 400 families received SCAN Preventive Services, averting foster care and restoring family stability.
• 90 young people graduated from SCAN’s Young Adult Internship Program. All ultimately earned their GED and/or obtained employment at Mt. Sinai Medical Center, United Parcel Services (UPS), the NY Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), SCAN or other employers.
• 3,000 public, middle and high school students attended SCAN After-School literacy programs on a weekly basis.
• 150 young people were enrolled in SCAN’s Reach for the Stars college
  bound program.
• 40 juvenile justice-involved young people attended SCAN’s Violence
  Prevention Program.
• 100 children received pre-school child care services at LaGuardia Memorial House Nursery and the Eisman Day Nursery.
• 2,400 children received special holiday gifts fulfilling their “Dear Santa” letter wishes.

While there is no single answer to this question, SCAN can point to both measurable statistics and individual success stories as evidence that it is making a difference. For instance:

In 2009, five RFTS students received full scholarships to attend private high schools in New England including the Holderness School and The Fay School. 97% of Reach for the Stars graduating high school seniors attended college and all of these students received college scholarships, including two who were recipients of a Sylvia and Herbert Woods Scholarship. Reach for the Stars graduates are currently enrolled at SUNY Cobleskill; Purchase College; Stony Brook University; SUNY Canton; Mary Bethune Cookman College; New York Institute of Technology; Penn State; Dowling College; John Jay College, and City College of New York.

Of the youth enrolled in SCAN’s Violence Prevent Program

• Physical confrontation with peers and family decreased by 71 percent;
• Violent threats made to others decreased by 70 percent;
• Acts of violence or coercive threats made during dating situations decreased by 69 percent;
• Physical confrontations (fights) with fellow students, rival gang members, and youth peers in their neighborhoods decreased by 75 percent;
• Criminal arrests decreased by 73 percent;
• Detected weapons possession reduced by 83 percent;
• Participation in street gangs decreased by 85 percent.

But perhaps the most moving and dramatic evidence of SCAN’s achievement is the success stories of the families and youth SCAN assists.

SCAN provides comprehensive programming at three community centers – the LaGuardia Memorial House at 116th St in East Harlem, the Mullaly Park Academy Community Center at 164th St in the Bronx immediately adjacent to the new Yankee Stadium, and the James Weldon Johnson Community Center at Lexington Avenue and 112th St in East Harlem. Family Preventive Services are provided from the Family Renewal Center at Jerome Avenue and 170th St in the Bronx. Child care services are provided at the Tisman Day Nursery (94th and 1st Ave) and the Laguardia Memorial House Nursery (106th St and 1st Ave).

SCAN also provides services in 14 elementary/middle/high schools throughout East Harlem and South Bronx. In addition, it operates the ‘Beacon’ programs at La Isla del Barrio Beacon, Julia De Burgos JHS (JHS 99) and El Faro Beacon, John S Roberts JHS (JHS 45), both in East Harlem.

Based on the United Way of New York City’s formula, SCAN uses 9.7 percent of the funds it receives for administrative and fundraising expense. The balance, 90.3 percent of all donated funds, goes directly to SCAN programs and services.

8 percent of SCAN’s projected 2010 budget derives from contributions made by individuals and foundations.

SCAN holds service provision contracts with the NYC Administration for Children’s Services (ACS), the NYC Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD), the NYC Department of Education (DOE), the NYC Human Resources Administration (HRA), the NYS Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS), the NYS Education Department (NYSED), the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS), the NYS Department of Health (NYSDOH) and the United States District Court (USDC). Through subcontract arrangements SCAN also provides services supported by The New York City Council and the Mayor’s Criminal Justice Coordinator’s Office.

SCAN is a not-for-profit IRS 501(c) (3) charity registered with the New York State’s Office of the Attorney General Charities Bureau.

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