Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-YB-1996-09-30 r , Ithaca Youth Bureau Advisory Board Minutes of the September 30, 1996 Meeting Attendance: Cathy Currier, David Delchamps, Joan Spielholz, Deb Traunstein, William Murphy, Sally Grubb; Staff: Sam Cohen, Alice Green, Marilyn Hall Excused: Jack Sherman, Gino Bush, Amy Kuo, Jesse Seeber The meeting was called to order at 7:35 p.m. by Sam Cohen in Chair Jack Sherman's absence. August minutes were distributed and will be approved at the next meeting. The Board welcomes new member Sally Grubb, liaison from ICSD Board. Special Item: Sam reviewed the energy savings project proposed as a capital project for Cass Rink presented to B & A in June. Because we will have major expenditures in the near future. we want to appoint an ad hoc committee to study Cass Park issues. The committee will be comprised of: a) two members from IYB Board (David Delchamps volunteered), b) member from Board of Public Works (possibly Carol Reeves) and DPW staff member, c) a major user of public skating (John Doyle can furnish names), d) John Doyle (Facilities Manager), d) a representative from Youth Hockey, e) a Recreation Partnership Committee member, and f) I.H.S. hockey coach. This committee will look at the Rink's operation over the years and make a recommendation for Common Council and the Mayor. Board members feel it is important for City to maintain public skating. STAFF AND COMMITTEE REPORTS 1) DIRECTOR'S REPORT - Youth Bureau/GIAC Budget Meeting was held with the Mayor. No recommendation has been made yet. More meetings will follow. Personnel Update: Samuel Agahiu has been appointed as Youth Worker in the Paul Schreurs Memorial Program, Brenda Harris is a Youth Worker with Youth Employment Service. There is one Youth Worker vacancy in One-to-One, and one Youth Worker vacancy in Youth Program at GIAC, one Youth Worker and one Youth Development Program Leader vacancies in Bottom Line Program at GIAC. - The Report on Children and Youth in Ithaca shares significant information and it is alarming to see the large number of youth in the City that live in poverty. A question was raised on how the poverty rate is based - on consumption or is it based on set amount of dollars. Sara Shenk and Tom Hanna will be guests at our November 12 meeting to present the Children and Youth in Ithaca report and answer further questions. - Slate of Officers for 1997 - the Executive Committee will select a list of names at their October 29 meeting for nomination of officers for next year. The Leadership and Multi Cultural Alliance - volunteers have been continually working year to year to bring together teenagers from all over the county in every walk of local life to overcome barriers between human beings, build real support groups, encourage their own uniqueness and individuality. In the past the City has funded the Alliance $2,500/year. B&A want to reduce this amount to $1,500/year. Sam brought this to the Board tonite because of the time frame involved to not lose this money in the Julie Conley Holcomb City Clerk ITHACA YOUTH BUREAU ADVISORY BOARD Agenda for Tuesday, November 12, 1996 Meeting Ithaca Youth Bureau Building 1 James L. Gibbs Dr. First Floor Activities Room Call to order/approval of minutes H. Special Item: Review of Report on Children and Youth in Ithaca III. STAFF AND COMMITTEE REPORTS 1) Director A) Budget 1. large deficit 2. Youth Bureau efforts to trim budget 3. Youth Development/County dollars and County participation 4. Rink and Pool fees 2) Recreation Items • General Recreation: - Fall/Winter Programs - Fee setting for 1997 Sports and Camp Programs • Cass Park: Rink Committee Study Group • Recreation Mainstreaming Program: Fall program review Camp Iroquois fee 3) Youth Development Fall program review Outing Program - Youth Conservation Corps video 4) Nomination of Officers for 1997 III. BOARD COMMENTS/ISSUES IV. OLD BUSINESS V. NEW BUSINESS VI. ADJOURNMENT budget process. Youth Bureau staff consider this a very important teen program. The Youth Bureau Board voted to support the alliance and request Council to fund at least at last year's level based on the following considerations: 1. Great success in reaching out to a diverse group of area young people. 2. Great success in helping young people build leadership skills. 3. The importance of breaking down barriers between our young people and beginning to build a stronger unity and support within our local community. 4. The ability of the Alliance to foster and encourage the unique potential of every individual they work with. 5. This has been an extraordinary collaborative effort amongst people from different agencies and volunteers with very little funding but with a strong commitment. Staff involved have done a great deal of important work with few resources. The Alliance has served 100 youngsters over the past few years, 57 of whom are from the City of Ithaca. In the 1995-96 school year 18 of 20 of the youngsters served were City of Ithaca youngsters. 6. The Alliance teaches constructive alternatives to violence at a time when violence is an increasingly alarming issue in our schools. 2) RECREATION - Recreation Partnership Program- Alice reports Partnership Board members have been working hard with municipalities and the county in renewing the funding to continue the partnership. A meeting was held with Town Supervisors and representatives from the Tompkins County Board in which Cathy Valentino gave a heartfelt pitch to join again. Although the County reflected that they initially funded the pilot for two years it looks like members are leaning to renew for a longer commitment. Currently the City, Town of Ithaca, and Village of Lansing are the largest contributors. The Partnership is asking the County to participate again at $35,000. At this point it makes sense to bring together the Recreation Committee of IYB Board with Rec Partnership Board. Also there is a need to alter the by-laws to reflect the new relationship with Partnership Board. Fall Youth Soccer has 44 teams with 650 kids signed up this season. - Small Fry Football has a total of 80 kids. Play continues in the Tompkins County Football Conference. - Fall sports deadlines will continue to be advertised thru the news media. The brochure is distributed in early spring and often parents need a reminder after school is actually in session that signups are usually due the first week of school. It is possible that a pre- registration for `97 soccer will take place at the end of this soccer season. - Bantam Basketball program will be in place soon. They would like to look at court time availability and possibly base Bantam at school sites this year. 3) YOUTH DEVELOPMENT- due to the length of the meeting it was decided to have the Youth Conservation Corp tape shown at the beginning of next meeting. T- OLD BUSINESS Fencing for boys and girls age 11-18 is beginning on Saturday, October 5th, from 1-2 p.m. at the Youth Bureau. Registration forms were distributed to the physical education teachers in middle and high schools throughout the County as well as publicity thru the news media. Tot Spot Open House is tentatively set for October 26th. Executive Committee will meet on October 29th at 4 p.m. The next scheduled full Board meeting will be Tuesday, November 12th, at 7:30 p.m. Meeting adjourned at 9:10 p.m. • ONE-TO-ONE HAVING FRIENDS, BEING FRIENDS Ithaca Youth Bureau One James Gibbs Drive Ithaca, NY 14850 October 30, 1996 TO: Youth Bureau Board members From: John Bailey Re: County funding for Youth Development Here is the text of a letter I've sent to County Board members. I hope this will encourage them to fulfill the mayor's request for additional funds for Youth Development. I also hope you will be willing to contact board members and encourage them to allocate these funds. Thanks in advance for your help. Dear <<board member»: In the next few weeks the Tompkins County Board of Representatives will need to decide whether to recommend increased funding for the Ithaca Youth Bureau's Youth Development programs. This decision will have a profound effect on the ability to serve Tompkins County children in 1997 and into the future. I urge you and your fellow board members to support funding that will maintain services at the present level. Even with current program staffing we at One-to-One find it very difficult to provide services for all the children who come to us. As of September 30 of this year, there are one hundred and seventy-eight children waiting to be served. Sixty-one percent of these children are from outside the City of Ithaca. We have children waiting (and children matched with One-to-One Friends) in every town and village in the County. These children were referred because their parents have been unable to find ways to meet important needs for companionship, guidance, and encouragement. One-to-One keeps children from falling through the cracks; it preserves a link with the community when children and families become isolated and discouraged. Three quarters of the children in One-to-One live in poverty. Three quarters live with only one parent or don't live with their parents at all. Many are referred by schools and human service agencies who see that one-to-one attention is desperately needed. In 1989 One-to-One went through the wrenching experience of telling families outside the Ithaca School District that we could no longer serve them. Thanks to the willingness of the County to step in and fill the funding gap we were able to restore that service, but much damage was done. One-to-One friendships were left without staff support and some families never found their way back into the program. After the restoration of funds for countywide service we redoubled our efforts to serve village and rural youth, and thus we find ourselves in our present position. One-to-One should remain a countywide program. We learned this the hard way in 1989. It is frustrating for a teacher or caseworker to hear that we can serve some of the children they refer but not others. It is discouraging for a parent, or a child, to learn about the program from a friend and call us only to find that they live in the wrong place. Many families move around the county frequently due to housing costs and other factors. How are we to serve them? Tompkins County has many fine human service programs, public and private, all of which serve people throughout the county. I hope you will do what you can to help One-to-One remain among them. Sincerely, John Bailey Program Coordinator, One-to-One cc: Nancy Zahler Mayor Alan Cohen Sam Cohen Allen Green Members of Tompkins County Board of Representatives Members of the Ithaca Youth Bureau Board Members of Ithaca Common Council