The Neighborhood Place (TNP) is the only free, non-clinical, therapeutic after-school arts program for children ages 5- 14 in New Haven. A collaboration between Junta and Yale Child Study Center, the after-school and summer program offers 33 children the opportunity to express themselves through the programs’ artistic and musical activities and explore their environment through the program’s many field trips. The curriculum includes various art forms including music, dance, visual art and poetry, sports, and field trips, coupled with on-site counseling, if needed, for children and their families.

This program helps working families and has multiple benefits for at-risk children: It gives them the opportunity to share positive experiences with others and offers creative outlets to improve their social, personal and academic growth. In addition, the program provides a safe place for children in the crucial hours when they leave school but their parents are still at work and cannot return home to take care of them. The Neighborhood Place was nationally-recognized as a successful program in the Handbook of Community-Based Clinical Practice, published by Oxford University Press, 2006.

The Neighborhood Place (TNP) offers a school year program:

The after school program is offered in the fall and spring Monday through Thursday, 3:30 pm – 5:30 pm.

On Thursdays the children have a lot of opportunities to participate in field trips in the outdoors, as well as wonderful historic sites such as museums.

Every month, the program provides an opportunity for parents to learn through workshops which enhance parenting skills, as well as better the home life of the program’s participants.

The Summer Program is during the month of August, Mondays through Fridays, 9 am – 5 pm.

The program includes a curriculum of arts and music in the morning and afternoon field trips to many outdoor sports and activities, such as hiking, tennis, and different parks.

Every summer the program participants are invited to come and watch one championship tennis match at the annual tennis tournament in New Haven.

WHO CAN ATTEND?
The TNP is a therapeutic program for children between the ages of 5 to 14, who reside in the city of New Haven. We accept 33 children, which are divided in 3 groups by age, 11 children in each group, and each group has its own counselor. We give priority to those children who are referred from therapeutic clinics such as Clifford Beers, Yale Child Study Center, and Hill Health Center.

For More Information
Please contact Agueda Ocasio, On-Site Program Coordinator, at 203-787-0191 or via email JLIB_HTML_CLOAKING .