Foster Parent Orientation

Attend a Foster Parent Orientation to learn more about becoming a foster parent for a child in need.  Please call 631.782.6516 and let us know that you will be able to attend. 

August’s orientation will be held on Saturday, August 29, 2015 from 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM at the Hospitality Room at the Full Gospel Christian Center, 415 Old Town Road, Port Jefferson Station, NY 11776.  

The next orientations are Tuesday, September 29 and Tuesday, October 27 and Tuesday November 17th from 6:30 PM-8:30 PM at the main office.  

Back Pack Mission for a Difference

Special Fundraiser at Adventureland in Support of Hope For Youth

Looking to take the Family to Adventureland and support Hope For Youth? Join us on August 8th to receive a discounted rate of $22 for unlimited rides. (This POP Bracelet* is normally $29… that’s a $7 savings!) 

Many thanks to Ladies United In Vision — a college group from Farmingdale State College — for hosting and managing this fundraiser at Advenutureland for HFY.

Questions? Contact ctravers@hfyny.org.  

*To buy this discounted bracelette proceed to the Ladies in Vision/ Hope For Youth table located inside the park near the back entrance by the DJ stage. Be sure to bring a school supply to donate in order to take advantage of this special rate. All proceeds support the purchase of text books for HFY students attending college in the Fall.

HFY Teens Gain Valuable Summer Work Experience

Thanks to a Department of Labor grant four youth from our Foster Care and Group Home programs worked right here at Hope for Youth!  They fixed fences and helped with other various maintenance tasks. This experience not only contributed to each youth’s new-found sense of independence; each teen gained real-life work skills that will no doubt enhance future job applications and resumes.

 

The program’s schedule made time for each youth to practice interview skills and spend one-on-one time with HFY Director of Human Resources, Tracy. Tracy provided a work readiness workshop and impressed upon the new workers that when interviewing for a job “your first impression is your last impression.” The interviewing skills including tips on presenting one’s self professionally, filling out an application, and asking questions at an interview.

 

With these new skills we are positive and optimistic that tour youth will continue to make a difference in the Long Island workforce!  Without this supported opportunity, these high risk youth may have bounced from job to job all summer, or been unable to find work at all.  Hope For Youth has once again been able to engage and stabilize adolescents in need of extra guidance and a leading hand.

Celebrating 45 Years and Counting…

Hope For Youth is thrilled to celebrate 45 years of service to the children and families of Long Island. Fueled by the passion and vision of Nassau County Family Court Judge Elizabeth Bass-Golding, HFY was established to provide community-based alternatives for youth in the child welfare system. HFY has a rich history and has made significant contributions to improve the landscape of the social welfare system. The Honorable Elizabeth Bass-Golding successful championed legislation to ensure community-based services were available for all youth in the child welfare system. Dr. David Hegarty, our distinguished leader, has committed over 30 years of his career to the agency. He began as a group home manager and now serves as the Executive Director/ CEO.

We opened our doors in 1969 with a single therapeutic boys group home and today we operate four group homes. Our residential service reach includes over 50 certified foster homes and our specialized Family Ties program. Family Ties is the only program of its kind in downstate New York. The program provides residential care for sibling groups that have been removed by Child Protective Services from their homes due to neglect or abuse. Our team of caring child care and therapeutic professionals helps to reduce the trauma associated with such a removal. Together they work towards reunification goals with the family or alternate placement. Our Suffolk County Intensive Management program is a preventive program that seeks to prevent out-of-home placement by working closely with the families to address core mental health or social challenges and to meet unaddressed needs.

In addition, HFY quickly realized that there was an overlap and linkage between the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. The agency took action and developed targeted services including our Non-Secure Detention, Diagnostic and the Community Reinvestment programs. All of these programs address the core issues that have driven a child to engage in negative behaviors and provide appropriate clinical services to help get the child back on a positive track for their future. Non-Secure Detention and Diagnostic are both short-term residential programs. HFY is the largest provider of juvenile justice services in Suffolk County.

Our growth did not stop there. Many of our children exhibited challenges with substance abuse and academics. HFY started the Multi-Dimensional Family Therapy program that is an evidence-based best practice to address the growing adolescent substance abuse issues on Long Island. This push-in therapeutic approach treats the child and the adult influencers in their life. Therapy is provided in the home, community and on site at HFY’s main office in an effort to address all the factors that impact the child’s negative behavior. HFY’s Learning Center is an on-site academic program that provides classroom instruction and tutorial support for the youth in our residential programs to ensure they keep pace with their peers.

HFY has had strong and consistent outcomes for all our programs and is the go-to-agency for challenging cases. Our dedicated team of 130 employees and our over 100 volunteers are the root of our success. The agency remains true to its mission of facilitating positive change in the lives of children, adolescents and families. We provide stable, nurturing, residential care, foster care, preventive and out-patient programs which educate, motivate and empower individuals to become self-sufficient and achieve their full potential. We will continue to strive to be the pillar of hope and strength for every child that is abused or neglected on Long Island. Their success is our most important goal. We look forward to the privilege of serving this population and the Long Island community for many years to come. Thank you to our supporters for making our work possible. We could not have done any of this without you.   

To learn more about Hope For Youth visit our website at www.hfyny.org or connect with us on Facebook @HFYNY or Twitter @Hope_For_Youth.