CAPTAIN Community Human Services awarded federal grant
Shelter receives $166,169 federal grant
CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. >> A local human services provider with a 40year history of offering assistance and solutions to social issues to a wide-range of individuals and families has been awarded a three-year renewable grant from the federal government.
CAPTAIN Community Human Services was recently named the recipient of a $166,169 Basic Center Grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The grant was provided through the federal agency’s Family and Youth Services Bureau.
CAPTAIN officials said the money will be applied to the organization’s Emergency Runaway and Homeless Youth Shelter.
“Competition is fierce throughout the state,” said Sue Catroppa, CAPTAIN CHS’ executive director. “Being awarded this grant speaks to the high level of quality service we provide. We are very proud to be the recipient of this prestigious grant in New York State, and look forward to utilizing the grant to help homeless youth and those at-risk of homelessness in our community.”
The Runaway and Homeless Youth Act, passed in 1974, authorized the Basic Center Program which enabled community-based organizations to operate shortterm shelters to provide emergency care to runaway and homeless youth who were not already
receiving services from the child welfare or juvenile justice systems.
The Health and Human Services’ Basic Center Program helps to create and strengthen communitybased programs that meet the immediate needs of runaway and homeless youth who are under 18 years of age. The program also tries to reunite young people with their families or locate appropriate alternative placements.
In 1975, the Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) funded the first 66 centers with $5 million. Today, FYSB funds the Basic Center Program under provisions of the Reconnecting Homeless Youth Act of 2008. The Basic Center Program works to establish or strengthen community-based programs that meet the immediate needs of runaway and homeless youth and their families.
CAPTAIN’s Youth Shelter is a temporary shelter serving young people aged 13 to 17 years who are homeless, runaway, or in an otherwise unsafe situation. It certified by the state Office of Children and Family Services.
Opened in 1998 the eightbed shelter operates around the clock, every day of the year, accepting youth from various locations and referral sources.
Located in the Town of Malta, the shelter serves young people from Saratoga, Washington, Warren, Schenectady, Albany, Rensselaer, Montgomery and Fulton counties. They can utilize the program and services for up to 30 days or as long as necessary and know they will be safe and find refuge in a home-like environment.
The shelter provides case management services and involves the youth in daily activities while they receive support and encouragement from trained adults they can trust. It includes counseling, life-skills training, family mediation, educational support, and transportation.
During their stay, all efforts are made to connect the young people with a safe and stable home, by reuniting them with their families or finding another permanent living arrangement.
Young people who stay at the Shelter are provided with a comfortable living situation that resembles an average residential home in a beautiful, natural wooded setting free of crisis. Having this refuge and level of consistency in their lives allows them to stabilize and, with the help of case managers, they work to reunite with their estranged family or guardians or to find an alternative living situation that meets their needs.
CAPTAIN CHS officials said since opening in 1998, the Shelter has safely housed approximately 2,000 young people. In recent years the staff at the Shelter has seen an increase in both the numbers of young people being served and the complexity of the issues they present.
In addition to the runaway and homeless youth shelter, CAPTAIN CHS offers street outreach services, an emergency food and hygiene pantry, family assistance programs, various youth leadership programs, services for seniors, respite programs, and more.