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Mission Statement

Family & Children's Service of Ithaca is dedicated to providing affordable, professional services that support children, families, and organizations in finding solutions to the challenges of life today.

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The Dispositional Alternatives Program (DAP), a community-based, family-centered program, provides comprehensive, supportive services to youth, aged seven to 18, and their families. Through counseling, case management, enrichment activities, family meetings, and referrals and follow-up services, DAP fosters positive changes in behavior and attitude for youth who are having difficulties at home, school, or in the community.

DAP case managers work with the entire family because adult involvement is crucial for successful outcomes. The DAP staff believes that young people can learn how to live within their families and community, and therefore offers an opportunity for a young person to make positive changes in his or her life.

Dispositional Alternative is a legal term that refers to a judge's decision to give a youthful offender an alternative to incarceration or out-of-home placement.Referrals to the program are from many sources including the Department of Social Services, the court system, school officials, and family members. Staff members are case managers for each family and serve as liaisons between the family and the school, court system, and other involved agencies.

The length of DAP involvement allows for an opportunity to create trust and rapport, as well as develop and maintain a one-to-one relationship between the staff and the youth. This, in turn, allows the staff to provide thorough and consistent support for the youth and their families.

DAP offers a continuum of services from early intervention to intensive case management, including support for family members and referrals to appropriate community services. Some components of Youth Services/DAP include:

• Participation in the Work Experience Project (WEP), a paid apprenticeship program for youth that frequently results in further employment opportunities.
  
  
• Participation in several enrichment opportunities that build meaningful relationships, expose youth to new, positive, and educational experiences, and provide healthy and productive recreation. Some such activities are summer softball, the Salvation Army Kettle Campaign, upkeep of Van Horn Park, and a planting and cultivation of vegetables, flowers, and herbs at the Community Garden.
  
  
• Participation in wellness groups to focus on learning healthy habits, such as not smoking or drinking, as well healthy eating and exercise.
  
  
• Participation in an annual Spaghetti Dinner open to the community to allow kids a wonderful opportunity to feel successful and engage with the public in a positive and appropriate way. Proceeds from the dinner go the to DAP Enrichment Fund to help defray costs of field trips, YMCA memberships, and other recreational activities.