Rockland County's Runaway and Homeless Youth Shelter

To contact the PTP Hotline call 1-877-540-7680

Since 1984, Project Turning Point (PTP) has provided temporary emergency shelter and counseling for a vulnerable population of youth ages 14-21 who are homeless or in a crisis, and who are at risk for hunger, violence, and sexual exploitation. Runaway and Homeless Youth are provided with shelter for up to 30 days. Project Turning Point is the only RHY Program in Rockland County dedicated to serving and stabilizing RHY. The program began providing services under the auspices of Children's Village in March of 2010.

Project Turning Point serves male and female youth who are aging out or have signed themselves out of foster care and youth in the community who are experiencing family disruption of some sort, all of whom have high needs for housing support and with furthering their education and employment. Because of their age, these young people have difficulty entering other DSS services and are vulnerable to homelessness. Project Turning Point provides a safe environment that stabilizes these young people and helps them get connected to other county services.

The objectives of Project Turning Point are:

• To protect RHY and, whenever possible and appropriate, reunite them with their families through an integrated network of residential and non-residential services in keeping with the Federal RHYA of 1978 and RHY Regulations. Where reunification is not possible, the goal is to protect youth and help them progress towards the goal of independent living.
• To ensure a safe and welcoming environment for all RHY including victims of abuse, youth involved with the criminal justice system, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth, regardless of culture or background.
• To provide residential and non-residential services for RHY that utilize the principles of Positive Youth Development and offer activities and experiences that help youth grow into healthy, caring, responsible, and resilient adults. Positive Youth Development principles include ensuring the safety, engagement, and empowerment of youth; building trusting relationships with youth and between youth and their peers; providing positive adult role models; setting high expectations; offering opportunities to develop skills and competencies, and strengthening family relationships.
• To facilitate access by RHY to needed resources and services through linkages and referrals to other service providers.
• To address problems and issues of RHY, help youth reduce unsafe, high-risk behaviors, and work towards constructive, healthy lifestyles and decisions.
• To engage in effective, culturally competent outreach, prevention, and education programs that result in reducing the number of RHY in Rockland County.
• To provide safe and appropriate housing options for eligible youth upon discharge.

Project Turning Point's existing services for runaway and homeless youth include:

• A 24-hour hotline
• Emergency food, clothing and access to medical care
• Individual, family, and group counseling
• Community outreach, prevention and education
• Advocacy
• Referral and aftercare services
• Temporary emergency shelter for youth ages 14-21

Youth 14 or 15 years old seeking respite care require approval from the Rockland County Youth Bureau as well as their parent or guardian and may receive shelter services for a maximum of 72 hours.

Youth between 16-21 seeking respite care may stay for a maximum of 21 days and require parental consent.

RHY Youth 16-21 seeking shelters do not need parental consent to stay and may stay for up to 30 days.

Shelter care is voluntary and ALL youth who seek services must do so with their own consent.