10 Dec 2007
Senator Jim Wright announced today that Oswego County Opportunities, Inc. has received a $132,890 grant from the New York State Office of Children and Family Services. The funding, which is available through the William B. Hoyt Memorial Children and Family Trust Fund, will be used to assist OCO in preventing domestic violence, child abuse and supporting family relations by expanding supervised visitation services to families. "Families are an essential component to a stable society, and there should be a place of support to instill responsibility and values in the next generation," said Senator Wright. "This funding will assist OCO in providing important services to families and children in order to prevent domestic violence by creating a more stable environment for children, teenagers, and adults.""No matter what the circumstances, children and families want to spend time with each other. This connection to family is important," said Diane Cooper-Currier, OCO’s Executive Director. "The Supervised Visitation Center provides the opportunity for children and families to meet in a safe, supervised setting where adults can learn and develop skills to interact in a positive and supporting manner with children." As part of its Services to Aid Families program, OCO will provide a safe environment for families in need of supervised visitation and monitored exchanges. Child Advocates monitor the arrival and departure of adults and their visits with children. They also meet with children and adults separately following the visit to do review how the visit went from the child and/or adult’s perspective and develop plans for their next supervised visit. This new funding expands supervised visitation services currently operating only in Fulton, to the area of Richland. This program will reside at the Rural and Migrant Ministries of Oswego County office. Rural Migrant Ministries and OCO will partner together in providing supervised visits, parent education and supportive services to children and families.The William B. Hoyt Trust Fund, administered by the Office of Children and Family Service, was established by statute in 1984 to help prevent family violence in all its forms, and to engage families before abuse occurs. Projects funded by this trust fund are primarily focused on the development, continuation and/or enhancement of programs that stress secondary and primary prevention.###
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