In the 2007-2008 program year, 802 youth and 440 adult volunteers participated in ACT for Youth in the metro New York area. ACT for Youth also provides youth development workshops to staff of NYS Department of Health adolescent sexual health programs and other agencies located in New York City. To date, nine workshops, for 270 youth workers, have been provided, thus strengthening their skills for working with thousands of New York City youth.
The Nassau County ACT for Youth initiative turned their $28,000 ACT for Youth budget allotment into a budget of $100,000. With this money the Collaboration for Community Change (CCC) youth/adult partnership funded 10 projects that create opportunities for youth and adults to work together. The projects have ranged from creating a cookbook called “Hempstead Cooks,” with recipes of seniors interpreted by the youth who interviewed them, to building a space for a youth program that could be warmed in the winter and cooled in the summer, to hosting a senior/senior prom, in which seniors from a nursing home were invited to participate in a dance with the senior class of a local high school. These projects have impacted 1,500 youth and more than 250 adults.
Forty-five people participating in youth/adult partnerships in Queens planted 25 trees in Flushing, Queens. The young people worked hand in hand with politicians, seniors, and youth development professionals to make a business community more green and attractive. In addition, the Queens Youth Council represented the youth of Queens at the Borough President’s budget meeting and was awarded $7,000 to provide training and workshops to Queens youth through Beacons on the political process, how to facilitate, and team building during the 2008-2009 school year.
With the shift to working to support NYS Department of Health provider groups that are addressing issues related to adolescent sexual health, additional resources have been provided to groups through the Center of Excellence website. In addition, a Youth Network has been formed in NYC to advise the NYS Department of Health as projects are being development. Additional trainings will be held for providers in the summer and fall of 2010.
impact statement issue
Youth today are facing challenges to their health and overall development. Each year, there are approximately 19 million new sexually transmitted infections, and almost half of them are among youth aged 15 to 24. In 2006, an estimated 5,000 young people aged 13 to 24 in the 33 states reporting to the national Centers for Disease Control (CDC) were diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, representing about 14 percent of the persons diagnosed that year. Every 26 seconds, a student drops out of high school in America, which adds up to more than 1.1 million students per year. These issues as well as others, such as adolescent pregnancy, dating violence, obesity, and youth unemployment, are among the multitude of challenges that have negatively impacted individuals and communities in recent years. New approaches are needed that involve youth in addressing the problems in a meaningful way.
impact statement response
The New York State ACT for Youth Initiative is addressing these issues by getting community organizations and institutions, youth, and parents to work together toward common goals, sometimes in new ways. Rather than focusing solely on reducing negative outcomes, communities prepare their young people for healthy and productive adulthoods by helping them build their strengths, competencies, and values. All sectors have a role to play in making the community a great place to grow up. Involving youth in this process is essential to their sense of self and future abilities to make decisions.
In essence, the ACT for Youth initiative helps communities create the conditions for young people to lead healthy and fulfilling lives through the development of community-based, youth/adult Collaborations for Community Change (CCC). CUCE-NYC supports three CCCs in the metropolitan New York area as part of the NYS Department of Health-funded ACT for Youth Center of Excellence, which is based at Cornell University’s Family Life Development Center.
The New York City metropolitan area CCCs are located in Queens, Staten Island, and Nassau County (there are nine other CCCs throughout NYS). Each CCC consists of 10 or more partner agencies and organizations that work collaboratively with a youth advisory group to strengthen youth development programming, related policies, and overall community development. CUCE-NYC’s regional ACT Training and Technical Assistance coordinator provides ongoing training and support to each of the CCCs based on the needs of the CCC site coordinators and their advisory boards (consisting of youth and adult members who meet and plan collaboratively). As of July, 2009 the Center for Excellence is focusing its effort on supporting newly funded NYS Department of Health provider groups in addressing issues related to adolescent sexual health working from a positive youth development/youth/ adult partnership approach.
impact statement summary
Through the statewide ACT for Youth Initiative, Cornell University Cooperative Extension-New York City (CUCE-NYC) supported the formation of three cross-sector community partnerships in the metropolitan New York City area through June, 2009. These partnerships are charged with creating systemic changes in their organizations and communities to build communities where young people feel safe, are connected to adults and community institutions, and have developmentally supportive opportunities to be active agents in their lives and communities. Starting in July, 2009, the ACT for Youth Center of Excellence shifted focus to support selected provider groups that address issues related to adolescent sexual health based on the principles of positive youth development and youth adult partnerships.
