KINGSTON – Ulster County’s Youth Bureau director told the county legislature’s Legislative Programs, Education and Community Services Committee that summer programs in the county were successful in adapting to COVID changes this year and had found ways to keep youths safe and engaged through mainly virtual means.
Director Nina Dawson said on Tuesday, during a presentation to the committee, that virtual programming had been a success and provided adequate involvement in the lives of youths that could be in potentially dangerous situations, despite the enrollment numbers being much lower and having lack of in-person interaction many of these programs thrive on.
“I met with some of my key programs and we actually started doing virtual programming, which was probably the hottest thing for this whole summer,” said Dawson. “Everybody has been doing virtual programming and by interacting with them on a daily basis, it put youth that are possibly dangerous situations, whether it’s at home or with a caretaker, and puts them in a position where we’re actually still involved in their day-to-day activities,” she said.
Dawson estimated there were more than 1,000 youths involved in various county summer programs but hadn’t any specific numbers.
Those programs that are primarily designed to interact with youths in-person, including The Boys and Girls Club, The Hodge Center, and The Rondout Neighborhood Center adapted by providing hot meals to youths who would have normally relied on them and used their resources to deliver those meals.
Dawson also shared successes with their Brighter Futures Pilot, having a number of at-risk youths graduate from high school this year; the program is set to take on 10 more youths for 2021.
Their main concern, right now, is funding, according to Dawson. The county has leftover funding from 2019 they can utilize, but they are still waiting on the state to make a decision.
“As for 2021, we have been faced with, just like anyone else who is getting funding from the state, we’re waiting for our definites after the election,” said Dawson. “We’ve been advised that we will definitely get funding, but we don’t have any figures to give any definites,” she said.
Dawson added she is optimistic and that the state considers programming, like the ones provided by the youth bureau, to be a priority.
