Kennedy Child Study Center

ennedy Child Study Center’s (KCSC’s) mission is to assist children who experience significant delays in learning and other areas of early childhood development.

We accomplish this mission by:

• Providing evaluation and diagnosis, comprehensive therapy, and high-quality preschool education to young children with delays in learning and other areas of development;
• Advancing the holistic well-being of the families we serve through family support, including Medicaid Service Coordination and information on healthy living and accessing community resources;
• Advocating for public policies that benefit young children with developmental delays, and developing programs to meet the changing needs of our families; and,
• Reinforcing best practices in early childhood special education through ongoing professional development for educators, therapists, and others working in the field.

Kennedy Child Study Center is an affiliated agency of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York. Kennedy Child Study Center is approved and funded by:

• New York State Education Department (NYSED) as a Special Education Preschool.
• New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) as a Day Care provider.
• New York State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) as a provider of Medicaid Service Coordination.
• Kennedy Child Study Center is incorporated in New York State and is registered as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization with the IRS.

KCSC’s services are offered free of charge to all eligible families. Our programs include special education preschool; related therapy services (including speech, occupational and physical therapy); comprehensive evaluations in English and Spanish; family support and Medicaid service coordination.

We reach over 1,000 children ages 3-5 annually through these programs, which operate at our sites in Manhattan and the Bronx. We serve a diverse range of New York’s preschoolers: 53% of our students are Latino/a and 15% are African American. In addition, 31% of our students are bilingual. Among the preschoolers at KCSC, over 85% qualify for Free or Reduced Lunch.