Volunteers wanted at DYS By MARIAN A. MARAYA

The Division of Youth Services has mobilized its Protective Child Care Unit to search for individuals who have both the heart and vigor to take on volunteer work that will cater to the needs of distressed children.

DYS Volunteer Coordinator Erna Ngirchongor yesterday said the lack of volunteers has left the youth services helpless in the area of supervising over 360 youth clients in placement homes in pursuit of family preservation.

“We need as many as we can possibly get,” said Ms. Ngirchongor, appealing for community support.

Since 1998, DYS has been instrumental in island-wide public education and awareness programs on pressing youth concerns with the help of adult and youth volunteers.

The government-run service agency believes in collective volunteer programs that mobilize both the youth and adults to be more proactive in family-oriented programs and activities.

Ms. Ngirchongor expressed the need for more support staff to assist in DYS’ respite foster care services for children in placement.

“The more the merrier. It would be ideal if we had some 20 volunteers who would be available when the kids need it,” she added.

The youth services currently has five volunteers who put in an average of two hours per week.

One need not have experience in the field of child care to be a DYS volunteer, according to Ms. Ngirchongor.

“We can take just about everyone who loves children, who has patience working with them, and someone who has the interest to perform the kind of work required,” she said.

Interested individuals only need to submit an application form, complete with drivers’ license and police clearance after which they will undergo screening.

The youth services is not only in need of volunteers but foster parents as well to take in children who have been displaced from their own homes.

According to the DYS statistical summary of people served in Fiscal Year 1999, a total of 368 distressed children have been referred to the youth services due to physical neglect and abuse and sexual and emotional abuse.

As of last year, children in foster care reached 38.

The number of clients served by DYS has substantially dropped when the agency recorded 750 cases, an improvement attributed to stepped up public awareness.