Youth Services
Bridging the Journey from Youth to Adulthood
At Lincoln Square Neighborhood Center, we have created a multi-faceted program to give our teens the resources they need to believe in themselves, handle major life changes successfully and enter into adulthood successfully.
The LSNC Youth Services Program combines educational support, artistic expression, sports, leadership development training and informational counseling on sexuality and social behavior in a regular series of programs and workshops available to teens Monday through Friday.
Our program offers young people from 11 – 18 years old: a safe and protected environment, committed to empowering young people competent, skilled, diverse and experienced staff, who serve as advocates, services that are broad, continuous and coherent and tailored to their needs services that involve family members, a nutritious hot meal (prepared on site) is served daily.
After-school hours, ranging from 3:00 pm to 9:30 pm. Monday through Friday/some Weekends, no cost.
For more information, please contact:
Youth Development Coordinator
Lincoln Square Neighborhood Center
206 West 64th Street
New York, New York 10023
(212) 874-0860
Everybody Wins—Early Adolescent Support Services
This year we launched an initiative, which expanded and deepened our services for those younger teens with whom we have worked. Everybody Wins engages 50, 11-14 year olds in an after school program, which takes place Monday through Friday, from 3:00pm-6:00pm, during the school year. The program is called Everybody Wins, because it is the agency‘s belief that each individual that comes through the door is already a "winner" and has the ability to be successful in school and life by having additional support.
Of those participants who attend the program half are failing one or more subjects. 75% are a grade or more behind in reading and 50% don‘t have a clear understanding of the fundamentals of math (i.e., addition, subtraction, multiplication, division). Although, participants enjoy spending most of their time in groups, almost all exhibit poor socialization skills, a lack of empathy for their peers, and almost no sense of community. Fifty percent come from single parent families, in which their parents are often times not available to them in the afternoon and early evening hours. Only 40% of the participants have some idea of what careers or jobs they would like to pursue in the future.
Through this initiative, we primarily engage young people who are residents of Amsterdam Houses and Amsterdam Addition, who may have participated in our after school or teen programs previously, but we also outreach to those young people who would be new to Lincoln Square, especially as we want to focus on the youngest group, the 11 year olds; so that we can engage them successfully and can have the deepest impact over time, and fully utilize the lessons we learned from our past work.
The greatest lesson learned was our fully understanding the poor social development of our young people, the limited social supports available to them and the need for us to spend intensive time, put forth diligent and consistent efforts, be committed and supportive, over time; so that, through our work they would begin to believe in the necessity of structure, gain motivation and believe in their ability to succeed.
Youth Connections – Adolescent and Young Adult Support Services
The key to the success for our young people is to build their motivation to success from receiving the consistent and positive support in an environment with caring adults. In a neighborhood where there are few resources for our youth, our youth services programs work to stabilize the lives of its participants via social work services, advocacy and outreach to schools and families, workshops that focus on character development and life skills, and recreational programming that serves as a much needed outlet for participants. Through program components that offer consistency, continuity and coherence, young people are able to participate through our:
Technology Center
Teens use our computer center to sharpen the technology skills that will be critical to their ability to compete and succeed in education and employment.
Creative Expressions
Teens explore alternative ways to express their emotions, as well as, explore and develop artistic interests and talents through visual, culinary and performing arts workshops.
Educational Support
Teens receive academic tutoring, homework help, as well as, school outreach providing advocacy around the range of school issues facing young people and parents.
Family Life and Sex Education
Responsible adult behavior hinges on our teens developing knowledge, competence, motivation and personal power. Through gender and age-based workshops and individual counseling, these assets are strengthened around the issues of body image, self-esteem and family relationships.
Goals/Objectives—Everybody Wins
- 70% of the participants, who enrolled in the program, attended on a regular basis.
- 70% of the participants completed all of their homework assignments for school.
- 75% of the participants showed an increase in self-expression via communication and/or artistic skills.
- 60% of the participants exhibited a decrease in negative verbal and physical behaviors.
- Participants showed an increase in planning or beginning to plan for the future.
- 65% of the participants that attend the Family Life / Sex Education Workshop Series showed a greater knowledge of their bodies, female and male sexuality and health issues and practices. There were no pregnancies within the program this year.
Our Programs:
Everybody Wins: "Tweens", 11 – 14 Year Olds
Youth Connections: Adolescent and Young Adult Support Services, 14–18 Year Olds
Our “Tweens”
Understanding that being between the ages of 11-14 (the "tweens") is a critical age for young people, for it is a time of transition when they are about to develop into young adults instead of children, the goal of Everybody Wins is to provide a safe and healthy after school environment for "tween youth" in which they will strengthen their academic skills, explore their interests and become better decision makers.
Everybody Wins primarily engages young people who are residents of Amsterdam Houses and Amsterdam Addition, who may have participated in our after school or teen programs previously, but we also outreach to those young people who would be new to our neighborhood and Center.
The program is called Everybody Wins, because it is the agency‘s belief that each individual that comes through the door is already a "winner" and has the ability to be successful 11-14 year olds in an after school program, which takes place Monday through Friday, from 3:00pm-6:00pm, during the school year.
Our Tweens and Teens
Both programs, Everybody Wins and Youth Connections draw from the Youth Development Institute's five principles: having a close relationship with an adult, having high expectations, providing engaging activities, insuring youth participation and offering continuity. The program integrates these principles into two main areas of support: education and social development, by offering participants opportunities to receive assistance with their academics and a chance to connect and build an empowering relationship with a caring adult.
Both programs include the following components:
The Technology Center
Teens use our computer center to sharpen the technology skills that will be critical to their ability to compete and succeed in education and employment.
Creative Expressions
Teens explore alternative ways to express their emotions as well as, explore and develop artistic interests and talents through visual, culinary and performing arts workshops.
Educational Support
Teens receive academic tutoring, homework help, as well as, school outreach aimed as serving as an advocate around the range of school issues facing young people and parents.
Family Life and Sex Education
Responsible adult behavior hinges on our teens developing knowledge, competence, motivation and personal power. Through gender and age-based workshops and individual counseling, these assets are strengthened around the issues of body image, self-esteem and family relationships.
Mental Health Counseling
Teens have access to group and individual counseling to address the complex emotional issues that accompany this time in their lives.
Lifetime Sports
Involvement, instruction and practice in a variety of sports provide the physical and mental training that helps teens develop confidence, explore options, compete effectively and acquire team and individual skills.
Teen Leadership Workshops
The Ramapo Anchorage Camp in Rhinebeck, New York offers our youth more opportunities for personal development. This is an education and recreation program that challenges teens to reach beyond their limits, work with others to solve problems, and experience individual and group success.
What We Do Best
The key to the success for our young people is to build their motivation to success from receiving the consistent and positive support in an environment with caring adults. In a neighborhood where there are few resources for our youth, our youth services programs work to stabilize the lives of its participants via social work services, advocacy and outreach to schools and families, workshops that focus on character development and life skills, and recreational programming that serves as a much needed outlet for participants.
We provide strategies for young people to positively engage in learning and we offer support for families by giving them the information they need to confidently engage their adolescent children.
We collaborate with schools to address the specific educational and emotional needs of young adults. This is particularly helpful in supporting children who have been identified as being at risk of failure, in need of clinical testing for a learning disability or in need of more structured or focused parental support.