Family Services of Westchester
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Family Services of Westchester upFAdLL 2010a tISe SUE SIXTEEN Youth Councils Lobby for Gun Control, Encourage Tolerance, Create Literacy Film and Tend Community Garden Not every Westchester teen gets to travel to Albany to lobby for sensible gun legislation but that’s what members of the Westchester County Youth Council and the Westchester County Junior Youth Council did in late April. These fortunate teens were joined by 150 other high school students and community activists from around the state at the New Yorkers Against Gun Violence event. They also spoke to four state representatives, including Amy Paulin, Mike Spano, Ruth Hassell-Thompson and Andrea Stewart-Cousins. “The sky’s the limit for what these teens can do,” says Laura Achkar, former Director of Youth Empowerment Programs at FSW. “They have so much energy and enthusiasm that they bring a lot to any cause they embrace.” For the past 10 years, FSW has run the Senior Youth Council, whose members have traveled as far as Washington DC and Los Angeles to serve as advocates for issues concerning teens. This year, the senior group led the Youth Action Convention at Pace University, which drew 300 teens from across the county to discuss ways they can stop judging people and help prevent prejudicial behavior. “Both “The sky’s the limit for what these teens can do ”. Youth Councils succeed because the participants don’t limit themselves and their thinking is valued by the administrators who oversee the groups,” says Liz Mark, a strong county advocate for youth. This year’s highlights for the senior group included: • Attending the NYS Youth Bureau Leadership Forum in Albany; • Participating in the Martin Luther King Youth Legacy Awards Ceremony; member Benjamin Muhammad won an Award in the Social Action category; • Participating in a MLK community service project, sorting relief supplies for victims of the earthquake in Haiti. To find out more about the The Westchester County Junior Westchester County Youth Youth Council, which consists of ado - Councils, contact Terrell lescents ages 11 to 13, were also high - Wheeler at (914) 872-5225. ly productive this past year. Led by Terrell Wheeler, Program Specialist, the members created a 22-minute documentary about the importance of Child Literacy; created a comic strip and poster campaign with car - toonist Jerry Craft to launch a book drive; and collected more than 500 new and used books for the Maria Fereri Children’s Hospital at the Westchester Medical Center. Recently, the group has been tending a community garden plot in Mount Vernon planting tomatoes, peppers, Members of the Westchester County Youth Council traveled to Albany to weigh in on the debate at the New Yorkers Against Gun Violence event. The students met basil and cucumbers. The produce will be collected and donated to with New York Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, top row center. soup kitchens throughout Mount Vernon. FSW Collaborates with United Way on Two Major Initiatives $25,000 United Way Grant Aims to Help 20 At-Risk Youth A new “Participate to Graduate” initiative funded by a $25,000 grant from United Way will help 20 highly vulnerable Yonkers youth at risk for truancy stay in school and graduate from high school. These participants will be identified by the city and school dis - trict and will work within the framework of New Directions, an FSW intervention program designed to reduce juvenile offenses, and ADAPT, an FSW teen/parent mediation program. “We know that this model works well so we are optimistic that the students who participate in this program will stay in school and graduate,” says Marge Leffler, Vice President of Program Development for FSW. “The students identified for this project will be able to turn their lives around and be placed on a path that will lead to success in life.” “The initiative is unique in that it incorporates the entire family in the process,” explains Marissa Malett, Director of Criminal Justice Services at FSW. FSW social workers will conduct initial assessments and continued on page 3 www.fsw.org 914-937-2320 Our Mission: A Letter from the CEO, Family Services of Westchester, founded in 1954, offers a broad range of social Susan B. Wayne and mental health services to strengthen and support families, children and As we begin a new academic year, Family Services of Westchester is proud to work collabora - individuals at every stage of the life tively with so many school districts around the county. Our social workers, many of whom work onsite in school buildings, offer counseling and support services to hundreds of students each cycle, from infancy to adulthood. year. We have many programs in place that help school children of all ages thrive and stay in school and graduate. Adoption & Children’s Services Big Brothers Big Sisters Our new Gang Prevention Services Program targets 120 Mount Vernon youth and intervenes to keep them out of gangs and in school. JLaw , a Juvenile Law Education Program, presents work - Camp Viva for families shops in schools that teach young people their rights and responsibilities under the law, noting living with HIV/AIDS how one wrong turn can ruin a student’s lifetime. Our Westchester Youth Council and Junior Youth Child and Family Clinic-Plus Council place 60 youth from around the county in leadership and peer advocacy roles. Bienvenidas Girls is a pregnancy prevention program at Port Chester High School that works with Early Childhood Services new immigrants to encourage them to stay in school and graduate. Although Port Chester has one of the highest pregnancy rates in the county, not one of the participants in this four-year-old Elder Abuse Prevention program has become pregnant. Employee Assistance Program (EAP) We also have thriving local chapters of three important national youth organizations: Enriched Housing for Seniors Big Brothers Big Sisters, AmeriCorps Future Leaders , and Head Start/Early Head Start . Family Mental Health We are proud of our outreach to schools and to the students and families they educate. We hope all the families we serve, in school and out, have a healthy and productive school year. Family Support Services Fathers Count Susan B. Wayne FS Works Susan B. Wayne, Geriatric Outreach/ President, CEO Case Management Head Start/Early Head Start Home Health Care FSW Receives Grant from Alliance for Children and Intergenerational Families To Mentor a Peer Organization Adult Day Program Family Services of Westchester won a 12-month $18,500 grant from the Alliance for Children Parent Skills Training and Families to serve as a mentor to a peer organization, Operation ABLE, which is based in Detroit. The grant is part of the New Age of Aging, a major Partnership for Care five-year initiative designed to help prepare human HIV/AIDS Services service organizations to better serve older adults. The Prime Time Special-Ed Preschool $2.6 million New Age of Aging initiative is funded by The Atlantic Philanthropies. Special Needs Youth Programs “This important grant recognizes FSW as a leader in delivering innovative services to meet the needs of older Supported Youth Residences adults,” says Marge Leffler, Vice President of Program Yout h-At -Risk Interventions Development. “We are excited about this opportunity to work together with Operation ABLE and Spectrum Youth Mentoring Programs Human Services to develop strategies to strengthen services for older adults.” Westchester County Youth Councils “This important grant recognizes FSW as a leader in delivering innovative services to meet the needs of older adults.” FSW Update A publication of the Development Office FSW was selected to mentor Operation ABLE based on its experience launching FSWorks, a job-training and employment referral program that serves hundreds of older adults each year. Lynn Green, In collaboration with The Volunteer Center of United Way and Westchester Community College, Vice President, Development and External Affairs FSW opened the AARP Foundation employment referral program in Yonkers in May of 2009. Colleen Davis Gardephe, Operation ABLE, which is part of a large multiservice operation called Spectrum Human Services Marketing Associate and Affiliated Companies, also helps older workers upgrade their job skills and find employment. 2 PEACE Program Provides help for Divorcing Parents For children, one of the toughest aspects of experiencing their New York State Office of Court Administration to launch the PEACE: parents’ divorce or separation is listening to them argue and Parenting Apart program. FSW’s educational program consists of seeing them angry. An educational program for divorcing and two classes, each three hours long, held one week apart. Lawyers, separating parents that was previously administered by the state judges, therapists and mediators provide legal and psychological and county court systems is now information about the divorce being run by Family Services of process to participants through Westchester. The aim of the program, called PEACE: Parenting For more information about PEACE: Apart, is to educate divorcing Parenting Apart, contact Monica parents on how to navigate the Rickenberg at (914) 964-6767, ext. 33 challenging process of divorce or e-mail her at [email protected] more smoothly, with the goal of reducing the stress on their lectures, videos, role-play and children. The program is open discussion. to parents going through a The program is designed for separation as well. parents to participate separately, “Divorce is difficult for every - not as a unit, and can be attended one involved, but parents can by only one parent. While judges take steps to minimize the can recommend that a parent negative effects of their disagree - attend, FSW also takes referrals for ments on their children,” notes the program from lawyers, media - Monica Rickenberg, Esq., LMSW, tors, social service agencies, clergy, Program Coordinator for PEACE: pediatricians and others.