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Erie County Youth Bureau awarded $130,000 to participate in 'Safe Summer NY'

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Tue, Jul 13th 2021 05:20 pm

NYS Office of Children and Family Services allocates nearly $2 million in funding to focus on high gun violence neighborhoods throughout state

√ Funding will allow Youth Bureau to provide grants to local organizations to provide youth engagement activities for extended hours and on weekends

The New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) has allocated $130,000 to the Erie County Youth Bureau to participate in “Safe Summer NY 2021,” part of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s recent multipronged statewide response to gun violence. The state investment of nearly $2 million provides grants for high gun violence neighborhoods throughout New York and specific zones in New York City, as well as Erie, Albany, Onondaga, Suffolk and Nassau counties to support positive youth development activities that attract youth ages 14-24 at risk of being perpetrators or victims of gun violence in high-gun violence neighborhoods and census tracts.

“We have seen an increase in violence across our community in 2021 and this grant will be helpful in getting young people away from situations where gun violence happens,” Commissioner of Social Service Marie A. Cannon said. “By providing youth engagement activities at times when youth are more likely to congregate and potentially get into trouble, we can help to keep that trouble from happening.”

A press release stated, “The Erie County Department of Social Services will be identifying program partners to coordinate positive, ground-level connections with youth who may be involved with – or have the potential to be involved with – gun violence and intervene via a wide range of programming that could include mentorship, arts, recreation or other more nontraditional approaches. The ‘Safe Summer NY 2021’ initiative will have a local focus on ZIP codes 14201, 14202, 14206, 14207, 14209, 14210, 14211, 14212, 14215, 14216 and 14222.”

For more information on the Erie County Youth Bureau, click here; or on the Erie County Department of Social Services, visit https://www2.erie.gov/socialservices/.

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