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The legislation was discussed Monday by the board's Seniors and Constituencies Committee and the Budget and Appropriations Committee, which sent it to the full board.
The program would be administered through an inter-municipal agreement with the City of Mount Vernon, through the Mount Vernon Youth Bureau.
“The Positive Youth development Program is a critical partnership between the County and Mount Vernon,” said Legislator Bernice Spreckman (R-Yonkers, Mount Vernon), who chairs the Seniors and Constituencies Committee. “The individual initiatives, which are financed through this funding, have demonstrated excellent results over the years and I’m glad that these programs will continue.”
The program has three components:
- The Safe Haven Program provides summer camp, after school and Saturday services to at risk youth. The mission of Safe Haven is to provide younger students with enhanced academic support in the core areas of English and math. The program serves older students with academic support that emphasizes the STEM concentration on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. Safe Haven targets schools where academic proficiency rates are low.
- The Youth Empowerment Program addresses the unemployment dilemma in the City of Mount Vernon by preparing juvenile delinquents and youth-under-court-supervision for the workforce. The program also assists youth with barriers to employment like low-income, homelessness and foster-care status to prepare for employment with workshops on resume writing, communication and presentation skills, time and money management, and organizational skills.
The Step Up Program aims to reduce the risk of gang involvement, juvenile delinquency, recidivism, academic failure and other risky behaviors among males ages 12-21.
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