Partners for Children, Youth and Families
The United Way of Seneca County’s Partners for Children, Youth and Families (“Partners”) is a county-wide Collaboration for Community Change established in 1997. Comprised of partner schools, agencies, and youth-serving organizations, its mission is to
“…coordinate efforts of existing community resources … to cultivate an environment in which our children will be born healthy, … have opportunities for positive youth development, experience family support and stability, have access to needed services, and become self-sufficient community members. Where the impact of existing services…is inadequate, Partners will develop additional resources to provide for unmet needs of children and families.”
Growing up in Seneca County
Seneca County is geographically isolated, over 30 miles long and wedged between Seneca and Cayuga lakes in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York. Young people in Seneca County are challenged to access community resources taken for granted by other youth: there is no hospital or urgent care center in the county; county services, government agencies, and the only community centers are in the north end of the county, over 20 miles from south-county residents. Movie theaters, skating rinks, public pools, bowling alleys – standard fare for the majority of communities, are “luxuries” largely missing for the youth of Seneca County.
In this rural culture, schools serve as the hub of the community – and as vital partners in positive youth development. Our key resource for youth aged 10-19 is the existing network of comprehensive, school-based after school programs for middle and high school students. Located in each school district county-wide, the after school programs provide an ideal existing framework within which to focus our positive youth development efforts.
Our Accomplishments
To date the Partners collaboration has experienced significant successes: county-wide public transportation, Workforce Development “One Stop,” and county-wide after school programs are directly attributable to our collaboration for community change. Impressive as our early accomplishments are, the clear and pressing need is for coordination and strategic planning to continue, support, and enhance the work of the Partners. To sustain the community momentum, we must build our internal capacity, and we must formalize our efforts with intentionality, coordination, communication, and education.
What We Do
With the ACT for Youth Grant, United Way of Seneca County Partners for Children, Youth and Families are able to:
- Employ a full-time professional coordinator
- Fully assess community resources, especially those driven by youth
- Implement a sustained initiative of community education and professional development
- Strengthen the partnership with intentionality, and focus on positive youth development, by engaging in broad-spectrum strategic planning with existing partners, community stakeholders, and most importantly, youth
- Utilize the community’s key resource of existing county-wide after school programs to implement Youth Leadership Teams in each district, providing a venue within which adults can support youth leadership development as teams learn about, prioritize, and focus on the community and social issues youth deem most relevant to their lives.
Contact
Susan Backlund
ACT for Youth Coordinator
United Way of Seneca County
(315) 539-1135
shbacklund@rochester.rr.com