Youth Services

The Department of Youth Services serves some 30,000 young people in the County every year, most in the areas of juvenile delinquency and youth development.

The Youth Division contracts with not-for-profit groups to serve young people in the areas of counseling, education, employment, health, and runaways. These programs operate through such groups as the Boys Club, Be-A-Friend, Parents Anonymous, Catholic Charities, and Child & Family Services in Buffalo, Amherst, Cheektowaga, Hamburg, Lancaster, Orchard Park, West Seneca, and Tonawanda.

One of the most costly of all County run programs is that for Handicapped Children up to age 5. The cost of transportation and programs for these 1,600 children is $27 million in 1994. Groups that the County contracts with to help these children include the Center for Handicapped children, the United Cerebral Palsy Association, the Blind Association and Children's Hospital.

Lately, there has been a tremendous growth in the cost of these programs because of the increasing numbers of children born to mothers who used drugs, especially cocaine, during pregnancy.

The department also runs a Youth Detention Facility.

FAST FACT: One of every four people in the County (269,000) is under the age of 21.