Michael Mascarenas, Director  (518) 873-3630 mmascarenas@co.essex.ny.us

7533 Court Street, PO Box 217 Elizabethtown, New York 12932 Fax: (518) 873-3426

The Department of Community Resources was established in 2010 to better serve the residents of Essex County by combining the offices of Planning, Youth Bureau, Stop DWI, and Traffic Safety. By combining these offices the County is able to utilize staff to better manage the grants of the towns and county. Primary responsibilities of this office are: Provide grant services to Municipalities. Provide grant services to County departments. Complete and file claims. Complete and file progress reports and grant closeout forms. Provide accounting services for grants received. Report to the County Manager and Board of Supervisors on the status of all grants. Provide Youth Services (needs assessments, employment training and recreational services) to Municipalities. Process Stop DWI Services. Provide Traffic Safety Services. Contact us: the Essex County Office of Community Resources is here to help. Please contact us at the above phone number or e-mail with any questions you may have concerning any grant program or potential project in your community. Our extensive network of funding agencies will help to assist you in meeting yur project goals.

 

	Michael Mascarenas, Director (518) 873-3630 MMascarenas@co.essex.ny.us 7533 Court Street, PO Box 217 Elizabethtown, New York 12932 Fax: (518) 873-3426
Mission StatementTo develop and coordinate a comprehensive DWI counter-measure program to deter the incidence of drunk driving and the occurrence of alcohol-related traffic injuries and fatalities.Program DescriptionSTOP-DWI stands for “Special Traffic Options Program for Driving While Intoxicated”. The STOP-DWI Program was enacted by the State Legislature in 1981 for the purposes of empowering county governments to coordinate local efforts to reduce alcohol and other drug-related traffic crashes within the context of a comprehensive and financially self-sustaining alcohol and highway safety program. STOP DWI Request for Proposals | After Prom Request for Proposals | Drinking and Driving Shatters Lives (YouTube video)

Essex County Traffic Safety

The Traffic Safety Program is a comprehensive program designed to help reduce and prevent traffic related injuries and fatalities in our community. These programs and services are provided to the residents of Essex County at “no cost” to the taxpayer. Complete funding support is received from the New York State Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee through a grant award process. Without the Essex County Traffic Safety department, local police agencies and county departments would not qualify for the available G.T.S.C. grants.

Our mission is to promote safe driving practices, safe road conditions, safe pedestrian practices and a general awareness of safety on roads and railways of Essex County. The Essex County Traffic Safety office offers the following programs and services:

Highway Safety Grant: GTSC provides funding to the Essex County Traffic Safety office to help support our efforts to reduce the number of crashes, injuries and deaths on our county roadways. This funding helps our office provide educational opportunities to the residents of Essex County through media materials and events such as bicycle rodeos. It also provides funding for bicycle helmets to be distributed to the youth of our county.

Child Passenger Safety Grant: our Child Passenger Safety program provides education on the proper use and installation of child safety restraints. The Essex County Traffic Safety office has certified child passenger safety technicians that are trained to install car seats, and to instruct caregivers how to properly install their child’s seats. This program also provides funding to purchase new child restraints to be distributed to county residents that otherwise couldn’t afford to purchase a new restraint. These new safety seats are distributed to residents of Essex County through fitting station appointments and local child passenger safety seat check events held throughout the county. For more information on our Child Passenger Safety Seat program, or to have your child’s seat inspected, please contact the Traffic Safety office at 518-873-3630.

Selective Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP) Grant: Essex County Traffic Safety provides funding to the Essex County Sheriff’s Department to help offset the costs of enforcing existing traffic laws put in place to combat the issues of aggressive driving, distracted driving, and speeding. This funding allows for an increased number of STEP patrols throughout the year.

Below are some websites that can provide additional Traffic Safety information:

• SAFE NEW YORK – www.safeny.ny.gov
• NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION – www.nhtsa.gov
• SAFETYBELT SAFE USA – www.carseat.org

Michael Mascarenas, Director (518) 873-3630 mmascarenas@co.essex.ny.us

7533 Court Street, PO Box 217 Elizabethtown, New York 12932 Fax: (518) 873-3426

COMPREHENSIVE SERVICES

Essex County is a geographic behemoth, and it is the second largest county in New York State. Essex County features 18 distinct and unique communities. Essex County is replete with bucolic splendor and pristine lakes and rivers. Essex County is New York State’s recreational playground. Delivering services to county residents requires a substantial involvement by communities. This comprehensive approach allows for broad participation by persons of every age, and from every community perspective. The Essex County Youth Bureau is a uniquely-positioned agency, in that the Youth Bureau is concerned with all Essex County youth. The Essex County Youth Bureau welcomes any Essex County resident to participate in the planning, funding and delivery of youth services.

PLANNING FOR YOUTH SERVICES, AN AGENCY PRIORITY

The Essex County Youth Bureau conducts a variety of measurement activities over the planning cycle. These activities include conducting county-wide surveys such as the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, The Communities That Care Survey, and The Prevention Needs Assessment Survey. These surveys establish the level of risk-taking behaviors by Essex County Youth. Areas of measurement include underage drinking, binge drinking, tobacco use, and illicit drug use, to mention just a few priority domains. Our survey work also informs us of the good things that young people are encountering, and not just the difficulties that they are experiencing. The Youth Bureau conducts a recreation survey series during the summer recreation season that features three elements. The camper survey measures camper satisfaction with the program, and measures the skill sets that campers acquired during camp. The recreation counselor survey measures program effectiveness and key developmental knowledge regarding youth and related Youth Bureau training effectiveness. The director survey seeks to harvest the experiential knowledge that experienced directors possess, and asks directors what they would suggest to improve Youth Bureau trainings and technical assistance. The Youth Bureau monitors all direct and indirect service programs to ensure program compliance. Youth Bureau staff perform on-site evaluations during the program monitoring phase. These observations and evaluations assist the Youth Bureau in determining program effectiveness, funding priorities, and best practices.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

The Youth Bureau completes the needs assessment process, and then seeks youth programs to address identified needs and priorities. The Youth Bureau issues requests for proposals (RFPs) throughout the county, for consideration by local service providers. Program providers submit proposals that are evaluated by the Essex County Youth Bureau and Youth Planning Board. Funding decisions and local priorities are selected by the Youth Bureau Planning Board that respond to priorities identified in the needs assessment.

The Essex County Youth Bureau, in collaboration with The Prevention TEAM, administered the 2012 Prevention Needs Assessment Survey to Essex County Schools (grades 7th – 12th). The 2012 PNA Report shows the results for Essex County as a whole. For more information, please contact The Essex County Youth Bureau at 518-873-3630 or The Prevention TEAM at 518-585-7424 (survey coordination by the Prevention Team, 173 Lord Howe Street, Ticonderoga, NY 12803. Phone (518) 585-7424. Sponsored by the Essex County Youth Bureau, P.O. Box 217, 7533 Court Street, Elizabethtown, NY 12932. Phone (518) 873-3630)

Photo: A presentation that Mike Mascarenas (Director of Community Resources), Kristy Sprague (Essex County District Attorney) and Brody Hooper (Elizabethtown Central School Junior and ER Technician at ECH) did for the students of Willsboro Central School on the dangers of K2 and underage drinking on April 4th, 2012. For more information please contact Community Resources at 518-873-3630.

ACAP Holidays are for sharing: The Holidays are for Sharing Program is for low-income children. Low-income families living at or below the poverty level, and those slightly above the poverty level, are often unable to provide toys, food, and/or essential winter clothing for their children during the December holiday season. This program provides families with age-appropriate toys, food baskets, and/or clothing, such as hats, coats, and mittens, when other sources cannot be accessed for those items.

Ticonderoga Youth Center: The Ticonderoga Youth Center provides supportive and constructive after-school and weekend activities for the youth of Ticonderoga.

Schroon Summer Enrichment: The Schroon Summer Enrichment Program was developed to help those students with exceptional needs not necessarily met during the regular school year, or identified needs that can be met with continuing instruction.

Schroon Lake Library Program: The Schroon Summer Library Reading Programs main objective is to improve reading skills in youth in the Schroon, North Hudson area. The program is aimed at youth 4 to 10 years. Children are recruited through newspapers, notices in the school, in the area newsletter, and notices in the Library.

Arts Trek: The mission of the Ticonderoga Festival Guild, Inc. is to present, promote, develop, sustain, deliver, and advance the performing arts in the Ticonderoga area. Since 1983, the Guild has presented programs that fulfill this mission in regards to area youth and children. Youth programs in Essex County are informed and invited to the programs. Busloads come from summer youth programs. The Arts Trek performances take place each Wednesday morning, starting in July.

4-H After School Program: The purpose of this program is to provide a supportive and constructive after-school environment for children in grades Kindergarten through Eight at the Ausable Valley Central School District and the Crown Point Central School District. This program will enable the youth of Essex County to deal successfully with the challenges of adolescence, and prepare them for the independence and responsibilities of employment, parenting, and being community members.

Elizabethtown/Lewis Summer School Program: In keeping the Regents recommendations, we have developed a summer school program which offers students the opportunity to improve and maintain reading, writing, listening and speaking skills.

Teen Appreciation of Government (TAG) : The purpose of this program is to expand youth’s knowledge of the legislative process/government structure. This is the main goal of the TAG Program. Teen Appreciation of Government also seeks to provide teenagers with leadership training, and to instill a desire to be actively involved in community government at the town, county, and state levels of government.

The Getaway: The Saranac Lake Youth Center (know as the “Getaway”) serves both senior and middle school youth, drop-out youth, and older youth ages 11 – 20 years of age. Included in this population are high-risk and disadvantaged youth. We extend a special hand to these individuals, and try to incorporate them in our programming. We have also expanded our services to provide activities for day care, pre-school, and elementary children to participate in. The Saranac Lake area encompasses over 600 youth, and it ranks consistently high among the New York State unemployment rate. It is extremely difficult for many of these youth and their family members to obtain work.

Families First: Families First in Essex County was established to create a system of support services for families who have a child with emotional and/or behavioral difficulties. The unique aspect of this program is that it was designed by the families who are the recipients of services, and much of the program is also implemented by the parents of children with special needs. The project was initiated because of the dearth of resources in Essex County for children who have serious emotional disturbances. The planning and initial year of the program focused on parents, and during our second year we expanded our efforts in order to be more directly responsive to and inclusive of the youth themselves.

Thomas Shipman Youth Center: The Thomas Shipman Sr. Memorial Youth Center is located in the Town of North Elba. The center is open to youth ages 11 – 18. The center provides planned activities to increase self-esteem as well as cultural, educational, and recreational experiences.

St. Armand Youth Conservation Corps: Provides employment for 5 – 10 youth in the town of St. Armand. Youth selected for employment are those who are at risk for PINS referrals. The Youth Conservation Corps provides positive adult role models, generic vocational skills, and job expectation skills.

Moriah Youth Conservation Corps: Provides employment for 15 – 20 youth in the town of Moriah. Youth selected for employment are those who are at risk for PINS referrals. The Youth Conservation Corps provides positive adult role models, generic vocational skills, and job expectation skills.

Positive Consequences for Positive Changes: This program encourages and then rewards positive choices that youth receiving prevention services make. It strengthens the essential bonds between these youth and positive, pro-social adults. It fosters positive connections between the students and their schools.

Counselor in Training: The Counselor in Training program was created in order to have better qualified counselors in our summer recreation programs. Youth, generally aged 15, work under the direct supervision of a day camp director. Youth acquire skills in the area of employment and youth development. Many youth who have participated in this program then go on to be day camp counselors.

Essex County Fairgrounds, Westport, New York

Essex County Planning, a division of Essex County Office of Community Resources
Attn: Lynn Donaldson
7533 Court St., PO Box 217, Elizabethtown, NY 12932
Phone (518) 873-3687, Fax (518) 873-3751
email: ldonaldson@co.essex.ny.us