Update: JCCA Responds To Migrant State Of Emergency In Mount Pleasant

MOUNT PLEASANT, NY — The Pleasantville Cottage School is not part of New York City Mayor Eric Adams' controversial program to temporarily house some of the thousands of asylum-seekers outside the city limits, agency officials said.

"JCCA cares for young people, and our campus is not licensed to house families or single adults. We have no plans to house migrants relocated by Mayor Adams from New York City," said spokeswoman Anna Gold.

Town officials in Mount Pleasant announced Friday they had not had any direct communication with state or New York City officials but had "been made aware" that the Pleasantville Cottage School could be used to house asylum-seekers.

"Given this recent development, it is appropriate for the Town to issue a State of Emergency similar to the action taken by other local municipalities," town officials said in an unsigned statement. "The Town is without the necessary resources (both at the Town level and at a school level) to handle an influx of migrants to the Town. Further, the housing of migrants at the Pleasantville Cottage School is illegal as it would violate the Town’s zoning laws."

In the declaration, Town Supervisor Carl Fulgenzi said local services are already stressed "without an unnatural spike in population caused by New York City's failed promise and mass transportation of asylum seeking persons to outside jurisdictions."

Read Mount Pleasant's state of emergency declaration, here.

JCCA, formerly known as Jewish Child Care Association, provides comprehensive care including foster and residential care, educational assistance and remediation, case management for young people with mental health challenges and services to families to prevent child abuse and maltreatment. JCCA programs help more than 17,000 children and families annually.

"We have helped more than a million abused, traumatized and neglected children heal physically and emotionally through compassionate, quality care that enables them to lead independent, productive lives," the organization says on its website.

The first cottage-style residential center in the country, the Pleasantville Cottage School celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2012. Pleasantville also was home to the first psychiatric clinic in an American child care institution.

Pleasantville Cottage School is home to emotionally troubled boys and girls, ages 7-16 (at admission), with educational, behavioral, and emotional challenges. The JCCA philosophy is that the child is part of a family that must be engaged and helped so that the child can safely return home permanently. "We believe that most of the children in our care have strengths we can build on to resolve the problems that made it necessary for them to come into care," the organization said on its website.

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