Playground For Rockland Families During Foster Visitation

A new playground has replaced the 25-year-old outdoor space at Rockland County's Robert L. Yeager Health Center in Pomona. Work began on the playground in July and was completed Oct. 25, 2019.

“This new playground and improved outdoor space will make a world of difference to our most vulnerable children, youth and families who are impacted by the need for foster care,” said Commissioner of Social Services Joan Silvestri.

Silvestri, County Executive Ed Day, and Director of Facilities Management Robert Gruffi were among those cutting the ribbon in a recent ceremony.

This new playground facility will help families with children in foster care. It is meant to provide a safe, happy environment for court ordered family visitation to take place.

Rockland officials said the county continues to maintain one of New York State’s lowest Foster Care placement rates through investing in and partnering with families to keep children safely in their homes.

When a child does need to enter foster care, frequent quality visits are one of the most critical factors toward increasing the probability the child or young adult will be reunited with their family, they said.

The spacious and bright playground offers a full range of tactile, visual, auditory and imaginary interactive stimulation for children of all ages with equipment including: jungle gym, slides, spring riders, tubes, an accessible swing set and a half-court basketball court.

The total cost of the project was $358,000 and was funded from the Facilities Capital Budget.

Day thanked the staff from the Department of Social Services and Facilities Management, “Recognizing the need for a new, modern playground and working as hard as you have to get it built will make a huge difference to the families who come here. This playground will lead to healthy and successful family visitation and unification.”

County officials sent a thank you to Barbara Gavin, Carla Ortiz and Yolanda Lopez from the Department of Social Services, and to Amy Nowak-Palmerini, Patrick Horan and Chris Buteux from Facilities Management.