School vacations present special challenges to students
with special needs - and to their families. Busy parents
balancing jobs, their own lives, the demands of all their
children and, often, those of senior family members as well,
are most in need of time – time to take care of errands and
time to take care of themselves. And they need a respite
from the countless extra demands of caring for a child with
special needs!

At the CGS School Holidays Respite Program, Brooklyn and
Manhattan students with developmental disabilities enjoy
safe and structured social and recreational activities during
twenty (20) holidays when the public schools are closed. We
also provide door-to-door transportation.

The recreational activities include day trips, ice skating, picnics, museums, the circus, sports events, apple and pumpkin picking, craft classes, live theater productions, boat rides, mini-golfing, bowling, cooking lessons, ceramic painting, and other activities suggested by the participants themselves.

Program participants must meet the following eligibility requirements:
•  Live in Brooklyn or Manhattan
•  Attend public or private school in Brooklyn or Manhattan
•  Present challenging behaviors and some physical limitations
•  Live in a household in which the head of the family has multiple family obligations
•  Meet the requirements for OMRDD eligibility and for Waiver Services