Advisory council to eye youths’ needs
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By NATALIE EASTWOOD
Herald Staff Writer and Eric Poole Herald Assistant Editor | News
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Dec 17, 2017
— It’s a Catch-22.
One of the most daunting issues facing at-risk
young people in Mercer County is the need for jobs and transportation, said
Summer Knapp, executive director of the newly formed Youth Social Service
Advisory Committee.
The problem is, Knapp said, if a teenager
doesn’t have transportation, he or she will have a difficult time getting a
job. Without a job, and the paycheck that goes along with it, transportation is
often out of reach.
“A lot of these kids, they think, ‘I have to
learn how to get a job and be an adult, but I have no way to get to the job,’”
Knapp said.
The advisory committee, which held its first
meeting last month, is working out a way to overcome that conundrum.
Representatives from more than 10 groups, including Mercer County Children and
Youth Services, Mercer County Communities that Care, Catholic Charities and
Prince of Peace, attended that first meeting, and Knapp expects more
organizations to join up.
Knapp said the committee will meet once a
quarter, with the next session to be held in February. Initially, the group
will discuss the needs of young people either affected by poverty or in the
juvenile probation system.
In addition to transportation, necessary in
rural areas like much of Mercer County to reach jobs, Knapp said one
significant deficiency is a lack of mentors.
“A lot of these kids are in the system or
transitioning out of the system, and they have no one as a positive influence,”
Knapp said.
In the committee’s second phase, she said the
agencies will work on plans to address those needs. The third phase will be for
the groups to band together and to get help through federal and state funding
so they can implement the plans.
With the agencies all communicating with one
another, Knapp said they will all be pulling in the same direction, which will
increase their ability to gain state and federal support.
Another advantage to the interagency
communication is the elimination of duplicate efforts.
Thomas Hawkins, treasurer for MCJAC, said the
committee will offer greater opportunities for cooperation and efficiency among
agencies.
“We’re taking not a new tactic completely, but
a new strategy on how to work together,” Hawkins said
Hawkins cited the county’s opioid epidemic and
said that the community needs to ask what is wrong in peoples’ lives that would
cause them to turn to drugs.
Many agencies are so focused on fixing current
problems that they don’t try to find the root causes, he said. The committee
wants to take preventative measures by collaborating with different agencies
such as the school system, legislative bodies, social services and anyone
trying to help at-risk youths.
It’s more effective to work together, Hawkins
said, because all of the agencies are trying to help kids.
“You have to be stronger,” he said. “It’s like
a team. The team members practice together. They don’t practice in separate
rooms and then go out and try to play the game. And we’re trying to win the
game.”
Follow Natalie Eastwood on Facebook or on
Twitter at @natalie_herald. Email her at neastwood@sharonherald.com.
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