Weissman Children’s Foundation

In line with our global vision, proceeds directly fund our ability to offer evidence-based mental and behavioral health services to individuals and families for free or at a significantly reduced cost, as well as the development and initiatives of the Weissman Children’s Foundation, toward our end goal of accessible, evidence-based care for all.

WCF Initiatives

COVID Mental Health Relief Initiative  

• Our work to reduce generations-old barriers to mental healthcare began with the establishment of CFI’s partner nonprofit organization, Weissman Children’s Foundation (WCF) in 2020. Our work kicked off with our COVID Mental Health Relief Initiative through which we offered pro bono and pay-what-you-can virtual support groups for COVID-related anxiety, depression, OCD, trauma and grief, marital, family, and parental stress, along with many other telehealth services (e.g., individual and family CBT/DBT, psychiatry, neuropsychology, virtual reality therapy and biofeedback, creative arts therapy, speech and occupational therapy, nutrition, educational consulting, tutoring, home-schooling help, college prep, and more). Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, WCF was able to serve over 1,000 families in need.

Crisis Counseling Initiative

• The current crisis in Israel and Gaza, kickstarted by the events of October 7th, 2023, has escalated Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and the pre-existing mental health crisis within our local, national, and global communities, and accessible, timely mental healthcare is  more critical than ever. In an effort to provide immediate support, WCF launched our Phase II “Crisis Counseling Initiative” to provide pro-bono counseling to anyone seeking guidance, comfort, and a safe space to process current events and their reverberating effects in our community and around the world. Anyone seeking support through WCF’s CCI is welcome to up to 10 therapy sessions at no cost. 

Westchester Wellness Initiative

• our work not only provides accessible, evidence-based, and culturally-sensitive mental and behavioral health services to low-income families, but also evaluates clinical and cultural outcomes, including symptomatology (trauma, anxiety, depression, and behavior symptoms), therapeutic alliance, and cultural sensitivity and satisfaction. Through this effort, our team has developed the field’s first clinician cultural sensitivity and satisfaction questionnaire to evaluate families’ experience of our therapists’ cultural connectedness and humility, and to shed light on – and help mitigate – cultural barriers to equitable care. Our Westchester Wellness Initiative seeks to understand 1) whether the evidence-based treatments that have been designed at top academic institutions, often tested with white college students, are equally effective among underserved populations who have been historically denied healthcare access, and 2) whether we are successful in reducing two main hypothesized barriers to equitable care: cost and issues of stigma, shame, and lack of cultural sensitivity. Our Westchester Wellness Initiative will also feature an innovative “My Wellness” partnership with the Westchester County Youth Bureau and Westchester Children’s Association, and the county’s 62 after-school programs in underserved communities, providing pro bono care to children and families in greatest need.

IMPACT Initiative

• Our IMPACT Initiative (Innovating Meaningful Partnerships Across Community Therapists), expected to launch in 2025,  aims to establish a Pro-Bono Clinicians Collective whereby clinicians from far and wide will donate an hour (or more) each week to provide pro bono, evidence-based psychological care to individuals in need. Participating clinicians will be eligible to receive Continuing Education credits through CFI. Throughout Phase IV, CFI will continue to expand community partnerships and hopes to further establish a sustainable model for offering high-quality mental healthcare to all people, regardless of financial circumstance.