Greene County Youth Bureau Funding
2025-2026 Request for Applications
Release Date: 8/11/2025
The Greene County Youth Bureau is a division of the Greene County Department of Human Services and is funded in part by the NYS Office of Children and Family Services and the Greene County Legislature. The major responsibilities of the Youth Bureau are aimed at improving & enhancing the welfare of Greene County youth.
The Youth Bureau is supported by the Greene County Youth Advisory Board (YAB) whose purpose is to develop and recommend policies and procedures that guide the activities of the Youth Bureau. In addition, the Advisory Board reviews community youth program applications and makes funding recommendations based on guidance provided by NYS Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS). Requests for funding from youth programs serving Greene County youth are open to any 501(c)(3) (Non-profit tax-exempt charitable organization per IRS).
Applications are now being accepted for programs serving Greene County youth that will operate between October 1, 2025 and September 30, 2026. Interested parties should apply to the Greene County Department of Human Services by September 30, 2025. All submitted applications will be reviewed by the Youth Advisory Board at their October and November meetings. Any applications received after the deadline will be reviewed only if funding remains. Recipients of 2024-2025 funding will not be considered for 2025-2026 if they have not completed all past requirements for grants. Applicants will be notified of awards by early December 2025. Awarded funding is released following the completion of the program, monitoring and all required NYS OCFS documentation being submitted.
All funded programs must aim to foster the following:
- Educational connection and achievement – More youth attending and completing school with increased attainment, including collegiate placement success.
- Physical health and well-being – Increasing physical activity and positive relationships to one’s body.
- Mental health and well-being – Improving outcomes related to youth’s mental health, and social and emotional skills development and connectedness.
- Employment – Increasing qualifications and skills, such as collective problem-solving, teamwork, and dispute resolution, which help prepare youth for suitable employment.
- Community cohesion – Breaking down barriers to reduce discrimination, crime, and violence in communities and help young leaders emerge.
Programs eligible for funding must meet the following criteria:
- Operate in NYS and provide activities for youth ages 6-17 (some up to age 21)
- Demonstrate basic competency in the areas of governance, monitoring and evaluation, partnership, and financial stewardship.
- Have a child protection policy in place that includes adherence to local city, agency, school district, and state child protection guidelines.
- Can collect registration data, including participant demographic information, as required by OCFS
Organizations, expenditures, and activities not eligible for funding:
- For-profit organizations or businesses; or Private foundations, as defined in section 509(a) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code.
- Organizations that discriminate based on any protected characteristic under local, state, and/or federal law.
- Elite or private sports camps, programs, or teams that charge a fee to participate without a plan for ensuring all youth have equal access regardless of income.
- Endowments, memorials, budget deficits, or fundraising activities.
- Religious organizations that do not have a secular and community focus.
- Capital projects.
There are 3 distinct avenues of funding: Youth Development Programs, Youth Sports & Education Funding, and Youth Team Sports Allocation Funding.
- Youth Development Programs (YDP) – Greene County will receive $44,657 from NYS for programs and initiatives that enable youth to build on their strengths; provide opportunities for youth to gain important life skills and core competencies, and that allow youth to have meaningful roles in their communities; initiatives that benefit young people in their homes and neighborhoods, in schools, as well as in foster care and residential treatment.
- Youth Sports & Education (YSEF) – Greene County will receive $23,664 from NYS for programs that provide a variety of sports for a broad range of youth; encourages a wide and flexible definition of sports that includes organized activities with movement, including physical fitness activities including but not limited to yoga, hiking, dance, and active outdoors pursuits.
- Youth Team Sports Allocation (YTS) – Greene County will receive $18,969 from NYS to provide awards to support youth team sports programs. Unlike YSEF, YTS has a sole focus on team sports. For the purposes of YTS, a “team sport” is defined as an organized physical activity in which groups of two or more individuals are in competition with two or more opposing individuals. Sporting activities where individuals engage in competitions on behalf of an organized group (i.e. swimming or skiing) are included in this definition.
Line-item budgets for funded programs should focus on programming costs, including, but not limited to, the following:
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- Direct staff/Instructors/Coaches, etc. necessary to support youth’s ability to learn and participate from program.
- YSEF or YTS: Purchase of equipment or uniforms
- Facility/field space cost
- Purchase of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) by local nonprofit or community-based organizations to support the requirements of Chapter 681 of the Laws of 2023, as amended by Chapter 9 of the Laws of 2024
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- YSEF only: Swimming facilities, fields, fences, storage, lighting (capital investments)
- YTS only: Referee fees.
All applications must include:
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- OCFS-5001 Program Application (Municipalities be signed by Chief Elected Official).
- OCFS-5002 Program Profile
- OCFS-5003 Program Components
- List of current Board members with contact information and employer noted.
- List of board members or staff who are authorized to sign claims.
- OCFS 5011 – Universal Sports Funding Application (YTS & YSEF)
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The required forms required are available on the county website: Office of Children & Family Services (OCFS) | Greene County, New York
Completed applications with signatures should be submitted to Greene County Human Services (Youth Bureau), 411 Main Street, Catskill N. Y. 12414, Attention: Maureen Murphy/Office Manager. If you applied in past years, kindly send an email to mmurphy@greenecountyny.gov & state you wish your 2025 grant “recycled”. In this case, we will only require Form OCFS-5001 with an original signature mailed back to Greene County Human Services (Youth Bureau), 411 Main Street, Catskill N. Y. 12414. All applications submitted will be checked to ensure the required paperwork is complete. The Department of Human Services and Greene County Youth Advisory Board reserve the right to reject or to seek modification of any application. Applicants, if requested, must present supplemental information clarifying their applications, either in writing or in a presentation. If requests exceed the monetary amount received from NYS, a reduction based on available funding will be made.
Awards may be appealed by submitting in writing a request to the Executive Director of the Department of Human Services within ten (10) days of the award announcement. All appeals will be reviewed by the Executive Committee of the YAB within fourteen (14) days of receiving the appeal.
Contract:
An executed contract with Greene County, including insurance documentation, is required as part of the award agreement. In the event of termination of the agreement for any reason, applicant must
(a) Account for and refund to the County, within 30 calendar days, any funds which have been paid to the agency pursuant to its agreement with the County which are more than expenses incurred prior to the notice of termination.
(b) Not incur any further obligations pursuant to this agreement beyond the termination date.
(c) Submit, within 30 calendar days of termination, a full report, report of receipts, expenditures of funds, program activities and accomplishments, and obstacles encountered relating to this agreement.
Please contact Maureen Murphy, Department of Human Services Office Manager at (518) 719-3555, mmurphy@greenecountyny.gov if questions.