Who We Are

ACT for Youth of Erie County has been an integral part of the NYS Regional Coordinated School Health Network Center at Erie 1 BOCES since July of 2000. Since that time, it has evolved into a major collaborative of over two hundred cross-systems partners unified by a common mission: Working together as a community to give our young people what they need to survive and thrive as healthy, fulfilled, civically engaged and academically successful young adults and inspired by a common vision that Erie County is a safe, caring place for our young people to grow up. Highlights of the ACT for Youth Initiative in Erie County include:

  • Change Agent for Increasing Public Awareness Around Positive Youth Development, Strength-based Programming and Asset Building
  • Clearinghouse for State of the Art Research and Materials on Positive Youth Development, Asset Building and Related Health Issues
  • Training Resource for Community Capacity Building and Systemic Change for Community Youth Development
  • Technical Assistance for the Implementation and Evaluation of Effective Positive Youth Development Practice
  • Catalyst and Support for Community-wide Collaboration around Positive Youth Development

Goals for ACT for Youth of Erie County

  • Increasing community awareness and alignment with the effective practices of positive youth development and the 40 Developmental Assets Framework
  • Building the capacity of community stakeholder groups to incorporate the 40 Developmental Assets Framework into their organizations and programming
  • Developing, modeling and showcasing positive youth development programming in order to demonstrate effective practices to the community
  • Increasing the quantity and quality of opportunities for youth engagement in positive youth development programming
  • Implementing the Search Institute Search of Attitudes and Behaviors to provide the County with baseline data to drive planning, programming and funding
  • Mobilizing Community-wide ACTion Teams to respond to the results of the Search Institute Survey with strength-based strategies and approaches

Accomplishments

One of the major accomplishments of ACT for Youth of Erie County has been our ACT Internship, Youth United in ACTion and LIFE Project Programs, all of which are student driven service learning pathways that engage youth as true Partners in the ACT for Youth Initiative. Nearly 100 diverse students from Buffalo and Erie County engage weekly in ACTion Teams to develop, plan, implement and evaluate intergenerational asset building activities that respond to real community needs around positive youth development.

Contact

Susan Morisson
ACT for Youth Coordinator
Erie 1 BOCES, 355 Harlem Road Building C
West Seneca, NY 14224
Phone: (716) 821-7562 
Fax: (716) 821-7551
Email: smorisson@e1b.org