FCYU-Feature Story

Getting Served
New York teens can get help at the Office of Youth Development

By Angel Fogah

What are young adults who are in care supposed to do when we're ready to age out? A lot of times our guidance counselors or social workers don't give us the information we need to know to get a job, go to college, or just get help. I want youth in care to know there are programs out there that can help you and give you the support that you need.

In New York, the Office of Youth Development (OYD) is one of the programs that can help you. OYD offers many different programs and services to prepare young adults for growing up.

Not long ago a few Represent writers and I went down to OYD and spoke to Ronni Fuchs, OYD's director. She told us about the programs that ACS offers and how they can benefit youth in care.

'Never Turn Money Away'

Ronni seemed like a very well-informed person. When we first walked in, Chaquana, another writer from Represent, mentioned that she's going to college.

"Did you apply for your Education and Training Voucher (ETV)?" Ronni asked.

"Yes, but I didn't finish it, because I got a scholarship," Chaquana told her.

"Just because you got scholarship money doesn't mean you can't also get ETVs," she said. "Never turn money away."

Getting Help With College

OYD works with teens in many ways to get them ready for college. They offer tutoring, SAT classes and college-visit programs that fit your schedule.

When you're ready to start college, they give back-to-school packages. They used to include the same things in every package, like laptops, calling cards and palm pilots.

"Then we found out that one size does not fit all," Ronni said. Now every package is different, depending on what you need.

OYD can also help you to find employment, or refer you to job-skills courses like the FutureKids computer training program.

Youth Leaders

OYD's biggest project is Project DEEP, which stands for Develop, Empower, Educate and Practice. This program is about youth taking a leadership role in the system and talking about foster care. Just two weeks ago the teens at Project DEEP had a meeting with Commissioner Mattingly, who is in charge of the entire New York City foster care system.

At the meeting they read a new proposal about how to prepare teens better for independence. Mattingly made the teen group into a youth advisory board that will meet with him every three months to talk about how the system is working for teens.

At the end of our visit, Ronni gave us a tour. There were magazines, flyers and booklets out telling teens about all different things to sign up for. I was excited because I wanted to join the education and employment programs. I plan to take the SAT programs and the Regents tutoring.

Getting Connected

Ronni sends information about OYD services to case managers, social workers and program leaders at the agencies. But if your agency doesn't tell you about the programs, you can check out the website or call OYD directly to find if they have the services you need. Ronnie said, "Just call and say, 'My name is ______, my agency is _______ and the type of help I need is _______'"

You can also make an appointment to stop by to talk to the program managers.

To contact OYD, you can call Ronni, the director, at 212-361-1974/5.

Or call:

Employment Services:
Sherri Clarke-Joseph 212-487-8555, Allen Hemmings, 212-487-8826

Education Services:
Sally Slater, program manager,
212-487-8597

ACS Office of Youth Development:
2 Washington St. 20th Fl.
Directions: Take the 1 to Rector St, exit at the front of the train, cross over the pedestrian bridge and the building is to your left.

You can also visit the OYD website: http://www.nyc.gov/html/acs/
html/support_youth/support_youth.shtml