I am excited be now be a part of the YOUTH POWER! Team.  I have an extreme passion for the work we do here for "labeled" youth. I was in the Foster Care system for 7 years and have been involved with youth advocacy for 10 years now. I started my journey of seeking change with the NYS regional advocacy team YIP (Youth In Progress). I have experience working in the Child Welfare system and was able to see the system through the eyes of a young person in the system as well as an adult working for the system. Having experience on both sides of the fence has opened my eyes to many issues that need to be addressed across all state systems. I also worked for the "At-Risk Youth College Access Program", where I educated youth in Foster Care and the Juvenile Justice System about obtaining a higher education. I graduated with an associate's degree in Humanities with a concentration in Psychology from SUNY Cobleskill in 2010 and obtained my Bachelors in Forensic Psychology from Walden University in 2013.

I am the new Central Regional Youth Partner for YP! and am eager to start working with a team of young people who share a passion to change the system. I believe that youth voice should be heard and practiced and that youth should be considered partners and not clients. I enjoy sharing my experience about being in the system and how I overcame barriers to be where I am today. I cannot say enough how honored I am to have been given this opportunity to not only perform the work I have a passion for, but to also work with a team of great people that share the same passions.

Contact Katie at krushlo@youthpowerny.org or 315-679-1476

On Tuesday, Americans across the country will head to the polls to cast ballots in races for local, state and national offices. Here, Democrat Governor Andrew Cuomo is running for reelection against Republican Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino. Third party candidates include Howie Hawkins of the Green Party. Governor Cuomo has been cross endorsed by the Working Family, Women's Equality and Independence parties. Rob Astorino has been cross-endorsed on the Stop Common Core party. Read up on the three candidates by following the links to their websites.

Other statewide races include Attorney General and Comptroller. 

All members of the Senate and the Assembly are up for re-election.

All members of the United States House of Representative are up for re-election. Neither of New York's two United States Senators are up for re-election this year.

Exercise your right to vote! Don't complain if you don't vote.

Find your polling locations here.

The Finger Lakes Parent Network Inc. Youth Program presents the 8th Annual Teen Conference

Chain Reaction: Today's decision affects tomorrow's choice

November 15, 2014, Avoca Baptist Church

Workshops for youth and parents/guardians

Contact Cassandra Morse at 607-776-2164 or cmorse@flpn.org for more information.

Voices from the Emotional Underground will take place on November 20 starting at 6:00 pm at the Sanctuary for Independent Media in Troy, New York.

Admission by donation is $10 (suggested) or $5 students/low income.

Bring food for a potluck starting at 6:00 pm. 

Do you struggle to find a job or continue your education? Can you think about a time when no matter how hard you tried to pursue a goal, things just kept getting in your way?

If so, it is time to SPEAK UP and SPEAK OUT!

YP! is working with the NYS Department of Labor for their youth employment initiative E3: Engage. Educate. Employ. This initiative will provide training and webinars to youth and youth service professionals on critical education/workforce topics ranging anywhere from knowing where to start and knowing your rights to becoming an entrepreneur!

To ensure that YOUR voices are heard, we are looking for YOUth to share their stories and experiences facing barriers to education or employment.

Send a quote providing insight into the barriers you face, or a story describing a situation where you were not able to pursue an educational/employment goal to Brianna Valesey, Youth Engagement Consultant, at bvalesey@youthpowerny.org or 518-432-0333 ext. 31.

Be sure to check in on our Facebook page for updates on the initiative!

COMING SOON:  

• YP! Tumblr 
• New section of the YP! Website dedicated to E3
• "Introducing YOUTH POWER! and how we can help you"
• Webinar for youth service professionals
• November 12th at 9:30 am

For more information, or questions regarding E3 Contact Brianna Valesey at

bvalesey@youthpowerny.org or 518-432-0333 ext. 31
 

It is important that OPWDD hears from young people. Please consider offering written or verbal comments.  Follow this link to review the agency's current strategic plan, Statewide Comprehensive Plan for Services: 

It is crucial that families are encouraged to speak up in writing or at the hearing.  Please consider sharing your experiences with services and/or concerns for the future and recommendations for change.

See the notice below to learn how you can offer comments.

The New York State Office for People With Developmental Disabilities

OPWDD will be accepting your comments, feedback and testimony at the hearing to help develop our 5.07 Statewide Comprehensive Plan for Services 2014-2018. This hearing will be held at eight locations across the state and will be conducted as a live video-conference with Acting Commissioner Kerry Delaney. 

OPWDD urges self-advocates, parents as well as other family members, non-profit providers, professionals, advocates, and other interested parties to participate in the hearing.

The Statewide Comprehensive Plan for Services will reflect OPWDD's mission and vision and will project our 5 year plan for implementing the transformational agenda around supporting people with developmental disabilities to enjoy meaningful relationships, experience personal health and growth, live in the home of their choice and fully participate in their communities. 

Speakers will be asked to register in advance of the public hearing, limit their comments to three (3) minutes, and bring three (3) copies of the testimony.  Deadline for registration is close of business on Thursday, October 23. Opportunity for presentation will be limited to a first come first served basis as time permits. 

If you are unable to attend, written testimony can be submitted to:

raymond.l.pierce@opwdd.ny.gov.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today signed an executive order to establish the Employment First Commission, tasked with creating an Employment First policy for New York, which makes competitive, integrated employment the first option when considering supports and services for people with disabilities. 

The initiative aims to increase the employment rate and decrease the poverty rate for New Yorkers who are receiving services from the State, as well as register 100 businesses as having formal policies to hire people with disabilities as part of their workforce strategy.

"Equality and inclusiveness play a central role in the history of New York State and today we are continuing that legacy by standing up for the employment needs of people with disabilities," Governor Cuomo said. "This Executive Order relays what we stand for as New Yorkers - it will help provide fair opportunities to all people, and I am proud to move our state forward by signing it."

The Employment First policy is part of a national movement to support the employment of people with disabilities. The employment rate for a New Yorker with a disability aged 18-64 is 31.2% compared to 72% for a person without a disability. In addition, the poverty rate for New Yorkers with disabilities aged 18-64 living in the community is 28.6%, which is more than twice that of people in New York State without disabilities 12.3%. 

The Governor has set a tentative goal of a 5% increase in the employment rate and a 5% decrease in the poverty rate for people with disabilities.

Click Here to read the official press release, and Executive Order. 

 YOUTH POWER! is working with the New York State Department of Labor to build career empowerment and self advocacy skills in young people with disabilities as they enter the workforce. We will will also educate workforce professionals to improve youth targeted service delivery. 

For more information about the Youth Employment Initiative, contact Brianna Valesey, Youth Engagement Consultant at bvalesey@youthpowerny.org or 518-432-0333 ext. 31.

Over the summer, the Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services implemented a public-awareness campaign in partnership with with Department of Health. A website targeted at parents, adults and young people was developed. It includes information about warning signs of heroin and opioid abuse and misuse, access to OASAS treatment providers and helpful ideas for parents and providers to initiate a conversation about drug use.

Throughout the ages, solitary confinement has been used to punish criminals both youth and adult. Humans are by our very nature social creatures, and being thrown into seclusion can make a person go nuts and do a lot of psychological damage. While solitary confinement can damage anyone, it is especially damaging when done on youth.

New York is only one of two states that still tries 16 and 17 year olds as adults and puts 16 and 17 year olds in adult prisons. One such adult prison is Rikers Island near New York City. This prison is well known for being high security and very tough on its inmates. Recently, however, it has put in place a ban on solitary confinement for 16 and 17 year olds.

Adolescents are at a time in their lives when their brains are doing a lot of developing. Solitary confinement can mess if this development and alter the youth's brain for life. If the youth had a mental illness before, solitary confinement makes it worse. Not only has that, but being placed in solitary makes a youth more likely to commit violent acts.

The Prison Reform movement is working very hard to be sure youth in the adult criminal system are treated properly. Other new rules include youth not sharing cells with adults, and increased training of professionals who work with this age group.

YP!'s hope is that we will eventually live in a state where 16 and 17 year olds are not kept in adult prisons, and where seclusion in both juvenile and adult facilities is nonexistent. The Raise the Age and Eliminate Restraint and Seclusion campaigns are working toward this. Raise The Age's goal is to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 16 to 18, and is backed by the Raise the Age coalition. Eliminate Restraint and Seclusion is about removing these two practices from mental health facilities, schools, and juvenile and criminal justice facilities. Both campaigns will help end the suffering of youth at Rikers Island and other prisons. 

October is the month in which schools and organizations throughout the country, and even one day during the month the entire world, stops to observe bullying prevention.  Bullying is a prevalent issue that is affecting youth of all ages and even adults in schools, workplaces, communities and their homes.  It includes repeated behaviors that are verbal (name calling, threats, teasing), graphic (written statements), psychological (social exclusion, extortion, spreading rumors), or physical (physical restraint, pushing, stealing, unwanted sexual touching) in nature.  The bullying that we read about in newspapers or see on national news broadcasts today isn't like the bullying of days past as now the millennial generation has a whole new platform allowing them to take bullying to a whole new level coining a whole new term: Cyberbullying.

Cyberbullying, defined by the Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use, is 'being cruel to others by sending or posting harmful material using the internet or a cell phone."  This can include a personal web page, blog, email or instant message, text or image message via cell phone, and chat room discussions.  What makes cyberbullying unique is that sometimes bullying can be anonymous in nature, it provides the ability to reach mass audiences, it can cause others to feel less social pressure to intervene and can reach the target at anytime, anywhere; targets no longer have a safe haven within their own homes.  Social media unfortunately provides bullies with more ammo, with thicker skin and the ability to bully from a distance.

Studies have shown that children with disabilities are two to three times more likely to be victims of bullying than peers without disabilities.  Often times youth with disabilities demonstrate behavioral, vocal or physical challenges that make them stand out and their peers, who lack understanding, misinterpret the behavior.  Bullying can also have a greater impact on a child with a disability as they are less likely to feel comfortable to stand up for themselves.

 How can the internet and social media tools that we love and work with everyday cause so much damage to young people, especially those with disabilities? What can we do about this?  The goal of National Bullying Prevention month is to encourage communities to work together to stop bullying and cyberbullying; we can do this by increasing awareness of the prevalence and impact on children of all ages.  We can no longer plead ignorance and dismiss Facebook and other social media platforms or ban our children from it because they will be on them anyhow.  We must protect our vulnerable children, learn and understand how these platforms work, discover the risks and teach our youth how to set up personal accounts properly.  Teach them to use privacy settings, to connect only with friends, to think about what they post before they post it, to deal with inappropriate behavior by reporting the bully to parents and teachers, saving what the person says and unfriending them, and setting a standing of not being hurtful toward others but being kind.

Bullying and discrimination should not be tolerated and victims deserve the highest level of respect and protection. Furthermore, bullies need youth-driven support and positive interventions. YOUTH POWER! calls on every person in New York State to address this important community problem. Make sure you do your part to spread awareness.