Changing Lives Through Direct Service, Training and Technical Assistance
For more than 30 years, the New York Center for Child Development (NYCCD) has provided cutting edge quality therapeutic and educational services to young children with developmental challenges and has been a leader in the area of professional development and technical assistance. Integrated into all our work is the core understanding of the critical role of social emotional development as a foundation for all learning and growth. At NYCCD we serve children through a wide variety of programs that build a solid foundation for them and their families. NYCCD has been a driving force in building the capacity and competencies of mental health and early childhood professional through ongoing training and technical assistance throughout New York.
Our Mission and Values
Our Leadership Team
Evelyn Blanck, LCSW
Executive Director
Evelyn Blanck is the Executive Director of the New York Center for Child Development, Executive Vice President of the New York Center for Infants and Toddlers, Inc. and Director of the NYC Early Childhood Mental Health Training and Technical Assistance Center (TTAC). She serves on numerous boards and committees throughout New York State focused on early childhood mental health including a gubernatorial appointment to the NYS Early Childhood Advisory Council and as President of the Stella and Charles Guttman Foundation. Recognizing the importance of early childhood mental health as a major foundation for all learning and development, a significant focus of her work has been on promoting the integration of early childhood mental health in education, primary care and all child serving systems, building the capacities of those working with infants and young children through training and technical assistance and promoting policies to support this work.
Amy Anhalt, OTR/L
Director, Occupational and Physical Therapy Services
Alisa Brot, M.S., S.A.S.
Educational Director, Preschool Community Services
Michael Brown, LMSW
Vice President, Mental Health
Olga Ruiz, M.S.-SLP
Director, Speech and Language Therapy Services
Debby Sroka, M.S.Ed.
Director, Curriculum and Educational Administration
Judith Wolff, LMSW
Vice President, Quality Assurance
Board of Directors
Yvonne Y. F. Chan, LL.B. (Hons), LL.M.
Secretary
Dan Gordon, J.D./M.B.A
Suzanne E. Helm
Michael Malouf, Ph.D.
Barrett Penan, C.P.A.
Treasurer
Ortega Pittman,
M.Ed.
Daniel Rosenstein, M.B.A.
Our Advisors
Gil Foley
Ed.D.
Gilbert M. Foley serves as Consulting Clinical Psychologist at NYCCD and Clinical Co- Director of TTAC. He is Endorsed as an Infant Mental Health/ Clinical Mentor, Level IV. Dr. Foley is a founding board member of the New York State Association of Infant Mental Health. He a senior faculty member of the Profectum Academy and is on the editorial board of the Journal of Infant, Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy. Dr. Foley is the co-author of the Cognitive Observation Guide, The Supportive Play Model, Mental Health in Early Intervention and a second edition of Sensory Integration and Regulation in Young Children to be published by National Zero to Three. He has written over 40 scholarly articles and chapters and lectures widely nationally and internationally.
Susan Chinitz
Psy.D.
Susan Chinitz is a psychologist with specialties in the areas of infant mental health and developmental disabilities in infancy and early childhood. She is the former Director of the Early Childhood Center, the Center for Babies, Toddlers and Families, and the Parent Infant Family Court project, all therapeutic programs for children birth to five years of age at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where she was a Professor of Clinical Pediatrics. Dr. Chinitz is currently affiliated with the Center for Court Innovation and also serves as Clinical Co-Director of TTAC. She has received multiple awards including the ACS Commissioner’s Child Advocacy Award and is on the Board of the New York Zero to Three Network and the Community Advisory Board of the NYC Nurse Family Partnership, among others.
Gerard Costa
Ph.D.
Gerard Costa is a member of the faculty of the Infant and Early Childhood Development Ph.D. program at Fielding University, serves as a trustee and President of the Interdisciplinary Council on Development and Learning, and has served as a consultant to ZERO TO THREE for more than 20 years. He was the founding director of the Center for Autism and Early Childhood Mental and is a Professor in the Department of Family Sciences and Human Development at Montclair State University. Dr. Costa received his Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Temple University and was one of the first 16 recipients of the DIR certificate. He has been honored with numerous and is the author of articles and book chapters on autism, infant mental health and professional formation.
Serena Wieder
Ph.D.
Serena Wieder is a clinical psychologist and the Clinical Director of the Profectum Foundation. She co-created the Developmental, Individual Difference, Relationship based Model, better known as DIR and Floor Time, incorporating the brain and body connections and their profound impact on relationships, regulation and emotional functioning. Dr. Wieder has published over 35 journal and book chapters and widely disseminates the DIR Model at conferences nationally and internationally, as well as teaching at various universities. Dr. Wieder also has a private practice in NYC for consultation and therapy for complex developmental and related mental health challenges.
About Our Founder
Michael Gordon was the Founder and Chairman Emeritus of the New York Center for Child Development and the New York Center for Infants and Toddlers, Inc.. He received his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School. Michael taught Law and the Poor and Problems of State and Local Government as a law professor at the University of Connecticut Law School. He served as the Vice President and General Counsel of a multinational manufacturing company and engaged in real estate investment and development ventures. Michael founded the New York Center for Child Development and the New York Center for Infants and Toddlers, Inc. inspired by a mission to utilize cutting edge research and best clinical practice to improve the lives of young children with special needs and their families. His joy in seeing children grow and thrive is part of the fabric of the organization and his legacy continues to inspire us today.
