Refining Reform
Dr. Jeremy Kohomban President and CEO of Children's Village shares his passion to make a significant impact on the child welfare system. This change does not just examine the superficial factors of a child but takes a holistic approach to ensure that the many ecological aspects of a child's life are considered. Dr. Kohomban speaks about how employee equity, foster care reform, improvement of public school systems, and affordable housing and collectively bring forth the outcomes that the various systems ultimately desire.
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Refining Reform
JEREMY CHRISTOPHER KOHOMBAN, Ph.D.
President and CEO, The Children’s Village
Dr. Jeremy Christopher Kohomban is the President and CEO of The Children’s Village and the President of Harlem Dowling. The Children’s Village, founded in 1851, and Harlem Dowling, founded in 1831, provide a broad continuum of residential and community-embedded programs, serving 15,000 children and families each year.
Dr. Kohomban is an author, sometimes an activist, and always a pragmatic leader. He has played a lead role in the family support and children’s residential program reforms that are transforming children’s care. Dr. Kohomban is driven by the belief that every child, regardless of age, deserves a family, and he is outspoken in his recognition of the social justice antecedents that drive child welfare and juvenile justice. Under his leadership, The Children’s Village, the nation’s oldest and once the largest children’s residential treatment center, has been transformed into a national model for community-embedded family support. The Children’s Village is the Gold Prize winner of the New York Community Trust-New York Magazine’s Nonprofit Excellence Awards, the US Congressional Coalition Angels in Adoption award, the Child Welfare League of America Exemplary Innovative Leadership Award and the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities, Samuel Gerson Nordlinger Leadership Award.
Dr. Kohomban’s leadership has been recognized by many, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Fox Business, and NPR. City Limits magazine identified him as a leader with a “clear vision for the future” and in his book, From Pariahs to Partners, How Parents and their Allies Changed New York City’s Child Welfare System, David Tobis describes him as “one of the most parent-focused, reform-minded, and effective administrators in the field”.
Dr. Kohomban testified before the US Senate Finance Committee on the need for finance reform that supports children, families and communities and, in March of 2018, with the passage of the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA), The Chronicle of Social Change noted that Dr. Kohomban was one of the most important off the Hill boosters of the FFPSA, described as the “biggest federal overhaul of foster care in decades”. Dr. Kohomban is the chair of the Human Services Council, co-chair of the national Children Need Amazing Parents (CHAMPS) campaign, and a Trustee of Save the Children.
For recent articles and commentary by Jeremy Kohomban, click here. Select links below
The Brookings Institution – The foster care system was unprepared for the last drug epidemic
Stanford Social Innovation Review – The Systematic Starvation of Those Who Do Good
Huffington Post – Survival Is Not Enough: Help Children Thrive, Not Just Survive
Chronicle of Philanthropy – Keeping Quiet About Wrongdoing at Nonprofits Only Makes Matters Worse
City and State – The Harsh Truths About Child Welfare in New York
CNN video – Our my parents ok
NYNP MediaWhat does a Close to Home facility look like from the inside?