For Information Contact:

David Mathis
798-5908

Oneida County Executive Ralph J. Eannace, Jr., sits with Oneida County's Youth Mappers as they begin their training for the County's Youth Mapping Project.

Oneida County Executive Ralph J. Eannace, Jr., today announced that Community Youth Mappers will begin making their way through Utica, Rome and other communities as part of a regional effort to gather information about programs and activities for young people.

"Our Youth Mappers will give us a teen’s-eye view of the services that exist and help us explore ways to fill gaps that also exist," Eannace said. "Mappers will be looking at our communities to see whether they are youth-friendly and help us map a strategy for making key services available to our young people."

Mappers will be trained through the weekend by Raul Ratcliffe, a nationally known trainer from the Center for Youth Development and Policy Research in Washington, D.C.

Starting Monday, March 24^th, mappers will start surveying the Rome and Utica areas. Mappers to will then focus on the suburban and rural areas of Oneida County. Dates will be announced closer to the times mappers arrive in each town. Service providers can also go on line to Oneida County’s Web site, www.co.oneida.ny.us, download the survey form and send it to: Community Youth Mapping Project, Oneida County Workforce Development, 209 Elizabeth St., Utica, NY 13501. The fax number is 798-5909.

"Our Youth Mapping is a first step to help us make some closer connections between the youth programs and services we offer through our Working Solutions Centers and the programs and services that already exist in the community," said David Mathis, Director of Oneida County Workforce Development. "If we work cooperatively, we can stretch the resources coming into our community and help more young people. Mapping is an important first step so that we can better understand what’s out there and share that with the staff of our Centers and with the community."

The Youth Mapping project partnership includes the Oneida County School and Business Alliance (SABA) and the Oneida County Office of Workforce Development. Youth in Workforce Development’s AVE (Adolescent Vocational Exploration), PAVE (Progressive Adolescent Vocational Exploration) and Junior Green Team programs will be assisting the project, Mathis said. Funding for the project was obtained through a grant from the New York State Department of Labor.

Mapping is also under way in Herkimer and Madison counties, working through the Herkimer County Youth Bureau and Community Action of Madison County.

Mapping is one piece of a larger project operated by the Workforce Investment Board of Herkimer, Madison and Oneida Counties to enhance the youth services system in the tri-county region and build stronger connections between local youth and the Working Solutions One-Stop Career Centers.

The goal of the regional project is to help develop a shared vision of youth development among all youth services providers, begin building a regional, seamless youth services delivery system and increase awareness of existing service to avoid duplication and maximize efficiency.

"This grant puts in practice the philosophy we have been trying to achieve throughout our region – that we accomplish more by working together under a broad umbrella of cooperation than we can possible achieve on our own," said Eannace.

Through this project:

• The three BOCES (Oneida, Herkimer, and Madison) are working with the Working Solutions Youth Contacts to connect the local school districts with the Working Solutions Centers. Speakers from the Working Solutions Centers will make presentations in the schools to assist them with career development instruction.
• Groups of students from local schools will tour and evaluate the Working Solutions Centers as part of an effort to adapt the system to best meet the needs of young people.
• Community Action in Madison County is working with youth in DeRuyter, Cazenovia, Brookfield, and/or Chittenango to provide mentoring and other support services.
• Oneida County Workforce Development is working with youth in the Cornhill section of Utica to increase their awareness of programs operated through the Working Solutions system.

Tom Owens of ACCESS Federal Credit Union, who chairs the WIB’s Youth Council, said the efforts proposed in the project reflect the growth of regional cooperation.

"Last year, we broke new ground for our region by creating a regional Out-of-School Youth Program. Project CONNECT, which is operated by the BOCES Consortium, has been a tremendous step forward to help our youth," Owens said. "This project builds upon that cooperation and communication to help better integrate youth services across our region."

The project builds upon efforts from many partners, said Workforce Investment Board Executive Director Alice J. Savino. "Data from all three regions in our tri-county area show a need for us to help youth better identify career options. We have youth looking for career directions. We have the Working Solutions Centers. This project is a first step to help bring these two together."