Youth Bureau | Youth Services

Redirecting to our new, updated website ...

Youth Bureau Mission: To serve youth and families through asset development and advocacy, prevention, and intervention programs that strengthen families and communities.

810 East Ferry Street
Buffalo, NY 14211

(P) 716-923-4000
(F) 716-893-7929

Welcome to the website of the Erie County Youth Bureau! The ECYB annually grants funding to community based organizations providing positive youth development programs throughout Erie County. Funded agencies are selected through a competitive “Request for Proposal” process. Agency's past performance, monitoring, and performance measures are also taken into consideration. In addition, the ECYB enables Local Youth Bureaus to be eligible for New York State aid to run youth service and recreation programs. Youth services are offered in the following funding categories:

Youth Development Programs (YDP)
Runaway & Homeless Youth Agencies (RHYA)
Summer Primetime Programs

Each contracted agency/Local Youth Bureau is required to show performance measures. These measures provide data to display the quantitative and qualitative impact agencies are making in the lives of youth. In addition, all programs funded by the ECYB are monitored annually to ensure youth are receiving the highest level of quality programming available. These (usually) unannounced onsite monitoring visits are completed by the Program Planning Coordinator, the Director of the ECYB, and/or members of the Erie County Youth Board. Together these measures ensure the ECYB operates similarly to a highly functioning foundation.

The ECYB is also responsible for developing a Five Year Comprehensive Plan to identify youth needs throughout the county. That plan is then used to guide the ECYB in supporting agencies that provide programming to meet those needs identified in the Five Year Comprehensive Plan.

The ECYB has a volunteer advisory board that includes youth and adult community members. The members assist with reviewing, scoring and making allocation recommendations for grant proposals submitted in response to Requests for Proposals from the ECYB. The Board members also assist with onsite monitoring of funded agencies and researching additional funding sources.

The Erie County Youth Bureau (ECYB) falls under the leadership of the Department of Social Services, and its offices are housed at the Youth Services Center located at 810 East Ferry Street, Buffalo, NY 14211.

Examples of programs funded by the ECYB are afterschool programs, mentoring programs, literacy programs, technology instruction programs, leadership programs, job readiness training programs, counseling programs, mentoring programs, and more.

Help is available to prepare foster youth to prepare for, apply to, and receive financial aid for college. Visit the Youth in Care Corner website at www.youthincare.org, visit the Higher Education Services Corporation Go College NY website at www.gocollegeny.org, or navigate to the Fostering Youth Success Alliance website at https://www.fysany.org/college-success-guide.

Should you have any questions or would like to learn more about the Erie County Youth Bureau, please do not hesitate to contact the ECYB staff at any time.

Youth Bureau - Forms

This section of the Youth Bureau website contains all forms required from contractedagencies and Local Youth Bureaus (Year Round and Summer Primetime) receiving funding from the Erie County Youth Bureau. In addition, we have included technical assistance documents in order to guide you through this process. Please see the Youth Bureau Calendar for a list of dates that forms are due. You can also find these forms and many others by visiting: https://ocfs.ny.gov/main/documents/docs.asp?category_number=16&document_type=1

Erie County Youth Bureau: 2021 Calendar

Erie County Youth Bureau: 2021 Policy & Procedure Manual

Revised Program Description & Program Contact Update Form

Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS)

Help with Forms & Background Information