Welcome to Tompkins County Youth Services’ first issue of Youth Services Snapshot! Our new quarterly newsletter allows us to keep you updated on the exciting initiatives that our Department is working on to support all young people in Tompkins County. 

Runaway and Homeless Youth Month

The month of November often makes us think of turkeys, pumpkin spiced lattes, and jumping into fall leaves. It is a sad reality that many youths in Tompkins County are not so fortunate and struggle to find a safe place to live.  As we are moving into November, which is national Runaway and Homeless Youth Month, we wanted to draw attention to their housing struggles. For most young people, being homeless looks like “couch surfing,” as the generosity of family and friends allow them to sleep over and not be out on the street. However, like most everything else, Covid19 has drastically changed this landscape, and youth are now facing a  world where those same families and friends are dealing with economic insecurity, mental health issues, and they simply do not have the bandwidth to open their doors to another person in their home. This means that we have seen a drastic increase in the number of youths who need housing, and while we have dedicated partners who work tirelessly to help support those youth, they need your help. If you would like to help, reach out to me at kshanks@tompkins-co.org and I can connect you with those dedicated nonprofits supporting youth in their time of great need. Thanks for caring!

New York State Governor’s Youth Council

This great initiative is back for another year, and we are seeking a youth to represent Tompkins County on the Governor’s Youth Council! This youth needs to be between the ages of 13-21, live in Tompkins County, and be able to complete a two-year term that would start in January 2022. This is a unique opportunity for a youth to receive training in civics, government budgets, and learn about other topics that are pertinent to youth development. Most exciting is that this youth, along with their peers from around NYS, will be making actual recommendations to the State to shape policies on those same youth development topics.  The deadline to complete the online application is November 14, 2021.

Eligibility requirements and the application can be found online by clicking the button below.

Questions may be submitted to the Tompkins County Youth Services Department here: https://www2.tompkinscountyny.gov/youth/email

Thanks again for checking us out!  Looking forward to hearing from you!

Sincerely,

Kate Shanks-Booth, Director