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PROGRAMS FOR YOUTH
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Youth Booth: To Visit our Youth Booth Section on this Web Site click here
The Youth Booth is situated in a highly visible and easily accessible location in the Hudson Valley Mall. Young people are invited to congregate in a safe place to discuss whatever is on their minds while developing social and coping skills necessary to confront the issues they face.
On Friday and Saturday nights, the Youth Booth staff ensures a casual and non-threatening environment where youth can feel comfortable talking about their concerns with a nonjudgmental and friendly adult. The staff can also make referrals and assist youth in obtaining other community services relevant to their needs.
Staff at the Youth Booth are coupled; one MHA employee and one SUNY New Paltz Student AmeriCorps Member. By serving as role models and fostering nurturing interactions with Youth Booth attendees, MHA employees and AmeriCorps Members encourage a commitment to learning, positive values and a sense of positive identity. We believe that relationships developed with staff members who model social competencies will encourage youth to enhance there own abilities in the areas of interpersonal skills, planning and decision making as well as conflict resolution and resistance to negative peer influences.
The Youth Booth represents a caring community that supports our youth as it functions as a conduit to other community resources. Parents, as well as youth, have come to obtain reliable information regarding community services for youth and/or educational materials pertaining to specific topics.
Updated in 2004, the Youth Booth web site section continues to include informative links for youth and parents, including a calendar of services and programs available through the MHA's Family and Youth Department. The Youth Booth Coordinator continues to maintain the program's web presence as well as correspondence through the program's e-mail address, youthbooth@youthbooth.org
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Connections: Connections is a support program for the siblings and/or children of persons who have mental health issues. The group is appropriate for children or siblings of persons who use or abuse alcohol and other drugs. The program serves three different age groups: 10-13, 14-17, and 18-25. Connections offers its members the opportunity to better understand their relationship with their family member. Topics include how they may ease the pain they may feel, and how to understand the meaning of the mental health diagnosis. More help is offered to those who are in need of further services. Call Ext. 131.
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Kids Together: This is a therapeutic activity group for children and young adolescents with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and/or those experiencing other social, emotional, or behavioral difficulties. Group activities include opportunities for children to form friendships, build self-esteem, learn to identify emotions, improve cooperation skills and develop social and problem solving skills. The goals of the program include educating the children about how ADHD and other disorders affect their lives with a particular focus on behavioral outcomes of the various disorders in an attempt to decrease negative behaviors and to improve self awareness as well as self-esteem. The Kids Together program was created and is maintained as a collaborative effort among the Family & Youth Services Department of the Mental Health Association, Ulster County Mental Health Department, and the YMCA of Kingston and Ulster County. Kids Together operates as a synthesis of the therapeutic groups for children and its parent group counterpart, Kidology Together. For information and registration contact Michele Bertelle at Ext. 132.
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