Barnstable County 5th Annual Youth Summit to Be Held March 21st

Barnstable County 5th Annual Youth Summit at Cape Cod Community College
Friday March 21st from  8:30am–12:30pm

HYANNIS -- The 5th Annual Youth Summit will be held on Friday, March 21 from 8:30 am until 12:30 pm at the Tilden Arts Center at Cape Cod Community College on Rt. 132 in West Barnstable.

Everyone who works with children and youth or who cares about them on Cape Cod is invited to join the Barnstable County Council for Children, Youth and Families at the 5th Annual Youth Summit.

This summit is free and has something to interest everyone who has a child or who works with children.  It is open to all concerned adults and youth!  

Enjoy great speakers and workshops that revolve around the five promises that we make to all our young people;

1. Caring Adults
2. Safe Places
3. A Healthy Start
4. Effective Education
5. Opportunities to Help Others. 

Cape youth will also have displays and information about the local programs that serve kids on the Cape that they are involved in!  To register call Barnstable Human Services at 508-375-0290, or email HumanServices@BCHumanServices.net 

The Council is pleased to announce that the Community Champion Award will be presented at the Summit by the Honorable Judge Reardon to Mary LeClair, a long time County Commissioner and advocate for children and human services.

The Barnstable County Council for Children, Youth, and Families (BCCCYF) is a unified network of collaborating organizations and community members working to identify needs and assets, influence policy, plan and coordinate resources, and advocate for solutions based on best practices to ensure the health and well-being of children, youth, and families on Cape Cod and the Islands.

Some of the work that they do helps to:

• Address regional needs that affect children, youth, and families
• Identify key issues affecting our region’s children, youth, and families, and educate the public about potential solutions
• Identify and create model practices and solutions to address regional needs of children, youth, and families

The BCCCYF acts as an umbrella group for any agency or individual interested in helping to serve the needs of children and youth on Cape Cod and is currently a clearing house and resource for over 100 organizations and non-profits that serve children on Cape Cod.   The Council meets monthly on the 2^nd Tuesday of each month to share information, learn about best practices, and build collaborations between the members.   The meetings are open to the public.  They hold an annual conference in the spring to disseminate information and develop action agendas for the future.   In addition, they reinstituted and now run the Cape Cod and Islands Youth Congress for local  teens.  The Council contributes to several monthly newsletters, reaching over 2000 providers and policy makers on Cape Cod.

Established only three short years ago, the Council has already developed strategies that help to guide future funding decisions around children and youth issues.  One of those resources is the Teen Yellow Pages, an information resource published annually that focuses on critical topics and offers accessible information and contact numbers to develop awareness of teen services throughout Cape Cod.  It also contains a lot of information that is useful for teens in everyday situations, including where to go for help, fun, what their rights are and how to find support and help.

The Council also provided strong input and guidance in developing the recently released report, “Child Care: Key to Keeping Working Families on Cape Cod”, that documents the challenges working families encounter securing quality affordable child care on Cape Cod.

In addition, it was through the efforts of the BCCCYF that Cape Cod received the prestigious America’s Promise award as one of the 100 Best Communities for Children in the nation three years in a row.  The County received that award, not because we are perfect and have no troubled youth, but because of the collaborations and efforts to support our children that are a direct result of the work of the Barnstable County Council for Children Youth and Families.

For more information about the Youth Summit or the Barnstable County Council for Children, Youth and Families, contact Barnstable County Human Services at 508-375-6628.