CANTON — The St. Lawrence County Youth Bureau is now accepting funding proposals from community-based non-profit organizations, public agencies, faith-based organizations, St. Lawrence County municipalities, and government agencies to provide services to the youth of St. Lawrence County.  These programs fall under New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) Youth Development Program (YDP), Youth Sports & Education Opportunity Funding (YSEF), and Youth Team Sports (YTS) funds distributed through the Youth Bureau for programs operating from October 1, 2024 through September 30, 2025.

Youth Development Programs (YDP) promote the following:

• Citizenship and Civic Engagement
• Community
• Economic Security
• Physical and Emotional Health
• Educational “Out of School” Programming
• Family

All Youth Development Programs must promote the well-being of youth by fostering:

• Physical and psychological safety
• Appropriate structure
• Supportive relationships and opportunities to belong
• Positive social norms and support for efficacy
• Opportunities for skill-building and integration of family, school, and community

Youth Sports and Education (YSEF) and Youth Team Sports (YTS) programs are guided by these principles:

• Sports are effective tools in positive youth development and family engagement
• Sports improves the lives of young people by promoting positive social, emotional, health, and educational outcomes and have important life-long effects
• Sports enable opportunities for youth people to thrive in leadership roles
• Coaching education greatly improves young people’s sports experience and development outcomes

Youth Sports and Education Funding (YSEF) activities and programs should foster educational connection, physical and mental health & well-being, problem solving, and community cohesion.

Similar to the Youth Sports and Education Opportunity Funding (YSEF), YTS is grounded in the principles of positive youth development. It is intended to provide support to local team sports programs across New York State in communities where such programs may be scarce or under-resourced. Unlike YSEF, YTS has a sole focus on team sports. For the purposes of YTS, a “team sport” is defined as an organized physical activity in which groups of two or more individuals compete with two or more opposing individuals. Sporting activities where individuals engage in competition on behalf of an organized group, including, but not limited to, team tennis, team golf, or racing sports such as swimming or skiing, are included in this definition

The Request for Proposal (RFP) supports YDP programs for youth 0-21 years of age, YSEF programs for youth ages 6-17, and YTS for youth under age 18. Eligible programs must be outcome based and provide quantifiable and verifiable indicators by which program performance will be measured. All programs seeking funding must track outcome measures for the service, opportunity and support the program is addressing.

The Youth Bureau is offering a virtual Q&A on Tuesday, July 30, at 10 a.m.

Proposals for funding must be submitted to the St. Lawrence County Youth Bureau by Friday, August 30, 2024.  Proposals received after this date will not be considered.  Contact the Youth Bureau at (315) 379-9464 or email slcyouthbureau@gmail.com for an electronic copy of the RFP, application, and Zoom link.