PQI Meeting

*Performance & Quality Improvement (PQI) Meeting: In our effort to create quality programs responsive to community needs, NYFS invites all interested members of the community to the monthly PQI meetings.

The next meeting will be Thursday, October 21, at 9 am.

Family Programs & Events

*Parent Education Program (PEP): Putting Children First is a State of Connecticut program required as a prerequisite to granting a divorce. Sessions are designed to help families cope with the effects of divorce on children.

Call Sheila at NYFS for more information including schedule.

Youth Programs &

 Activities

*Job Bank: Job Bank is accepting applications from qualified 13-18-year-olds who want employment babysitting, pet sitting or performing other household chores. Call Monday through Friday between 3 and 5 pm for an application.

Support Groups

*Children Of Divorce: This is a special group to help your child heal from the pain caused by a separation or divorce.

Ages 10-14 will begin meeting October 28 and continue each Thursday until December 9, from 5 to 6 pm each week. Call Jessi at NYFS for details or to register.

*Circle of Parents: This mutual self-help support program for parents is based on a simple and time tested model: through peer-to-peer leadership and support at weekly meetings, people in a parenting capacity can, over time, gain self-esteem, overcome isolation and improve their parenting skills by exchanging support and positive parenting suggestions.

The group meets the first and third Monday of each month at 7 pm. Contact Jessi at NYFS for details or to register.

*Newtown Parents Advocating for their Children (PAC): This group is for parents of children with learning disabilities. The focus is on assisting parents in finding the resources that they need to help their children become successful.

PAC meets the second Thursday of every month, 7 to 9 pm, during the school year.

Contact Suzanne at 203-270-9869 to register

*Reclaiming a Sense of Self, a support group for women: This group, facilitated by Thea Schiller, LPC, is a place for women to use their expressive creative writings as a means to explore one’s dreams and decisions as well as reclaiming a sense of self to combat the stress of daily living.

Participants read poems, short literary passages and short, short stories. They have an opportunity to do specific exercises designed to promote meaningful group discussions and individual writings.

Thea Schiller, LPC, CPT, is a licensed professional counselor, published poet and certified poetry therapist.

The group has begun meeting from 9:30 to 11 am on Fridays at 121 Mt Pleasant Road.

*Sibshop: This program acknowledges that being the brother or sister of a person with special needs is for some a good thing, others a not-so-good thing, and for many, somewhere in-between.

A new series for ages 10-14 will begin meeting October 27, and will continue Wednesdays from 5 to 6 pm continue until December 8.

Programs take place at NYFS, 17 Church Hill Road, unless otherwise noted. For more information or to register call 203-270-4335.