Untitled Document

Youth Bureau

(585)243-6909

Vision
All youth in Livingston County will have the opportunity to become healthy, productive, responsible , caring and commited community members.

2012 Teen Recognition Forms and Sample

2011 Teen Recognition Summaries

2011 Teen Recognition Photos

Livingston Youth @ Goodwill

Youth Bureau

The Livingston County Youth Bureau was established in 1978 and is a department of County government. New York State's Office of Children and Family Services funds are channeled through the Youth Bureau to programs and services for youth under the age of 21 in the county. The state aid distributed by the Bureau to municipal and non-profit agencies provides both recreational and delinquency prevention services to county youth and promotes positive youth development.

Youth Board

An active Youth Board helps guide our work. The citizens advisory group, which includes youth, is appointed by the Livingston County Board of Supervisors and represents youth oriented agencies and individual townships. The Youth Board and its committees meet regularly to set priorities, review funding applications, and offer guidance to the Bureau. Community involvement enhances our ability to identify gaps in supports and opportunities which provide youth with the assets needed to promote positive and healthy development.

For More Information Contact:
Livingston County Youth Bureau
Livingston County Government Center
6 Court Street Room 105
Geneseo, NY 14454
E-mail: nhawkins@co.livingston.ny.us
Phone:(585) 243-6909
Fax:(585) 243-7598

Youth Bureau Staff
Director: Keith Mitchell
Coordinator: Nita Rae Hawkins

Our Mission...
is to develop, implement, and evaluate a county-wide system of services for youth.

What We Do...

Build Healthy Communities Securing broad community support for a better quality of life for our children and youth is of vital importance. The Youth Bureau is involved in a community mobilization project titled Healthy Communities that Care(http://casaoflc.org/hctc/) . It also provides technical assistance to youth serving organizations in the area of program development. The Youth Bureau works with many councils, committees, and groups to promote the policies and services that will foster the healthy growth and development of youth. An annual Teen Recognition Award process recognizes youth in the county that have a positive influence on their community by their service participation.
Plan and Coordinate The Youth Bureau assesses youth needs to help determine priorities for funding. Long range goals and more specific yearly objectives are featured in five year County Comprehensive Family Services Plan for youthand famlies. To fulfill the objectives in this plan requires the creation of a maintenance of linkages among service providers and the funding sources. The Youth Bureau is active in many county collaborations and coalitions.
Fund The Youth Bureau allocates funds made available to Livingston County from the New Office of Children and Family Services. . Municipalities and non-profit agencies receive grants to conduct youth development and prevention programs for young people. All OCFS funded programs are monitored and evaluated to determine their effectiveness.

Youth Development

Taken from - http://www.youthworkcentral.org/youth-development.html
Youth development can be defined as “a process by which youth develop the personal, social, academic, and citizenship competencies necessary for adolescence and adult life based on their capacities, strengths, and formative needs.”
From the Advancing Youth Development curriculum, Academy for Educational Development/Center for Youth Development and Policy Research.
Youth development is both a philosophy and an approach. As a philosophy, it emphasizes the importance of young people's personal development and their contributions to their communities. The youth development approach is an effective method for supporting young people and achieving desired outcomes. This approach can be integrated into any kind of service or program for youth.

Youth development differs from traditional youth service programs because it is an approach that:
Engages youth as resources, not simply recipients of services
Focuses on strengthening youth, not attempting to “fix” them
Recognizes that preventing problems does not by itself promote development
Ensures that youth are included as a part of planning and decision-making processes

Core principles of the youth development approach include a focus on positive youth outcomes, balancing services, opportunities and supports and ensuring youth participation—real decision making power.
As a youth-centered approach, youth development emphasizes the importance of positive youth outcomes that focus on young people as individuals, as well as, program outcomes. Positive youth outcomes are the knowledge areas, skills, and attributes young people need to be healthy, caring, and responsible adolescents and young adults. There are three types of positive youth outcomes:
Developmental outcomes, such as,

becoming employable or
building intellectual ability

Achievement outcomes, such as,

graduation from high school or
getting a job

Problem-free/Prevention outcomes, such as,

being alcohol and drug-free or
not engaging in violent behavior

Program outcomes, by contrast, focus on the impact of a program on a larger population, such as decreasing alcohol use in the broader community or establishing a youth center in a town. Youth development aims to integrate program outcomes with positive youth outcomes with a particular emphasis on developmental outcomes. For example, youth peer leaders can develop their own intellectual and social skills (developmental outcomes) while working to reduce youth tobacco use in their community (a program outcome).
Another key element of the youth development approach is youth participation, which is:

A process in which youth actively participate in decision making
The empowerment of youth to take responsibility for creating positive change in their lives and in their communities

There are many ways of involving youth in decision making and program planning, such as, creating opportunities for them to manage field trips, lead workshops, plan budgets, or implement programs.

Youth development supports the power of young people.

Livingston Youth
Open to teens ages 12 to graduation!

Livingston Youth provides youth development opportunities for any youth in the county. An advisory board made of youth and staff from the Youth Bureau, Healthy Communities that Care and the Goodwill work together to plan, develop and implement a youth leadership council and leadership opportunities. Shane Carman, a Geneseo Central School junior founded Livingston Youth as a freshman.
Events and open youth center nights take place at the Goodwill Community Center on Lakeville Road in Geneseo. Leadership opportunities include youth speak outs, responsibility for planning and implementing events and activities, team building activities, and interacting with other youth and adults. Youth are asked to provide opinions on youth issues and be involved in service projects. Open nights include video and board games, ping-pong, snacks, open mic, DJ, etc. Special events and community service projects have included a fashion show, food pantry collection, litter clean-up, etc.

Meetings – usually 4th Tuesday of the month at 6:30 pm
Open Nights - the 2nd and 4th Friday of the month, 7-10 pm
Goodwill Community Center, Lakeville Road, Geneseo

The youth center needs caring adults that are willing to volunteer for specific projects, events or to be part of the steering committee.

Recreation Programs
Contact individual village or town or the Youth Bureau. Livingston County recreation programs sponsor summer activities for youth. Most provide arts and crafts, playground and educational activities, swim instruction and competitive and non-competitive sports. Sponsors include the towns and villages of: Avon, Caledonia, Conesus, Dansville/Sparta/Ossian, Geneseo/Groveland, Lima, Livonia, Mount Morris, Nunda/Portage, Springwater, West Sparta, & York/Leicester. Programs may be free or charge a minimum fee.

Prevention and Intervention Programs

Community of Caring
Michelle Dourie
Catholic Charities of Livingston County
10 Chapel Street
Mt. Morris, N Y 14510
(585) 658-4466
http://www.aboutcclc.org/ways-we-help/community-of-caring/
Catholic Charities, in collaboration with area agencies,provides services to meet the diverse needs of pregnant and parenting teens. l A broad range of intensive, primarily home-based, counseling and supportive services are provided by an MSW case manager. Goals are to help the mom have a healthy baby and to prepare an appropriate and healthy environment for the child. Program includes education on nurturing behavior and parenting skills and assistance to help the family become self sufficeint in the future.

Community Service Program
Mary Jo Acomb
Hillside Children’s Center
Hillside Family of Agencies
1183 Monroe Avenue
Rochester, NY 14620
(585) 658-5525
http://www.hillside.com
The Hillside Children's Center is the lead agency for this program that assures the completion of community service on the part of youth who have become involved with the Juvenile Justice system . Community service hours are assigned by a municipal court, the youth court, family court or a school. Agencies, municipals, churches, and business may take on a youth to work off their hours. Youth gain work experience, learn to understand there are consequences to behavior and are mentored by the adults in the program and on the worksites.

Hillside Youth Court
Steven Todisco
Hillside Children’s Center
Hillside Family of Agencies
1183 Monroe Avenue
Rochester, NY 14620
(585) 658-5502
http://www.hillside.com
Livingston County Youth Court is a voluntary alternative to the traditional Juvenile Justice System for young people who are first-time offenders of a non-violent crime or offense. The offender has already admitted guilt and agrees to have his case heard by a group of peers between the ages of 14 to 19. The goals of Youth Court are to intervene in early anti-social, delinquent or criminal behaviors, teach new behaviors and skills, and hold the offenders accountable by offering opportunities to make amends and to educate them on the impact of their actions on themselves, their victims, and the community.

HOPE Mentoring
Carrie Lyons
Catholic Chanties of Livingston County
10 Chapel Street, Mt. Morris, NY 14510
(585) 658-4466
http://www.aboutcclc.org/ways-we-help/hope-youth-mentoring
Helping One Person Excel is a mentoring program that matches youth who could benefit from a positive role model outside of the family. Youth are matched in 1:1 relationships with a screened adult who offers them guidance and friendship. Youth range in age 6-14 and are referred from local agencies and schools. "The classic definition of mentoring is of an older experienced guide who is acceptable to the young person and who can help ease the transition to adulthood by a mix of support and challenge. In this sense it is a developmental relationship in which the young person is inducted into the world of adulthood. Mentoring programs have been shown, when implemented effectively, to promote positive developmental outcomes in youth within the domains of work and school, mental and physical health, and behavior.

Juvenile Mediation
Letitia Rosenthal, Director
Center for Dispute Settlement
6 Court Street, Room 103
Geneseo, NY 14454
(585) 243-7007
www.cdsadr.org
Center for Dispute Settlement provides mediation for youth who are experiencing conflicts with other youth, parents, and other adults to negotiate solutions for these conflicts and prevent involvement in the criminal justice system. Training may be provided in violence prevention and school peer mediation. The program diverts youth from more costly services such as court and probation.

Youth Advocacy
Stuart Atkin, Advocate
Legal Aid Society of Rochester
6 Court Street, Room 105
Geneseo, NY 14454
(585) 243-7049
www.lasruc.org/youth_adv.html
This program provides direct case advocacy and/or case management services to youth experiencing problems with school or other agencies in obtaining services. Information and referral services are also provided. Technical assistance is given to education and human service agencies Suspended youth spend less time in out of school suspension. Children and teens are assisted with special education services and families appreciate that their child has a higher chance of success.

Livingston County Youth Board

Avon	vacant
Caledonia	Betty McClenney
Conesus	Edward Erhard
Geneseo	Larry Kelley
Groveland	Ted Saunders
Leicester	Howard Mankoff
Lima	Martin Gardner
Livonia	vacant
Mount Morris	William Chichester
North Dansville	Lauren Schwenzer
Nunda	Geri Stokes
Ossian	Rita Wittig
Portage	Holly Adams
Sparta	Alise Rounsville
Springwater	Donald Haywood
West Sparta	Patricia Levey
York	Sharon Deming
Business Education Alliance	Carrie Malone
Community Services	Jessica Spike
Cornell Cooperative Ext.	Donna Horton
Council on Alcoholism	Donald Hassett
Dept. of Social Services	Vacant
Dept. of Health	James Peraino
Probation Department	Michelle Wolfanger
Public Schools	Carol Godsave
Sheriff's Department	Brian Applin
Youth Member	Shane Carman

Funding Source
o NY State Office of Children & Family Services
o Livingston County