Orange County students get behind-the-scenes look at county government

Steve Neuhaus may not have been in the room at the Orange County Government Center in Goshen, but 95 students still got a close look at the machinery of county government as they rotated through 21 departments during the annual Youth in Government County Service Day. The event, co-hosted by the Orange County Youth Bureau and Orange/Ulster BOCES, put teenagers from 12 school districts inside the offices that shape everyday life in Orange County, and it raised a bigger civic question: is the county building a pipeline of future public servants, or simply offering a polished day of ceremonial access?

The students spent the morning moving through offices tied to public safety, human rights, mental health, aging services, social services, probation, planning, parks and recreation, records and youth programming. Those assignments included Emergency Services, Human Rights, Human Resources, Mental Health, the Office for the Aging, Social Services, Probation, Planning, Parks and Recreation, the Youth Bureau and the County Clerk’s Office, giving students a practical look at how county government reaches residents long after a budget vote ends.

Several students were also handed mock leadership roles, serving as county executive, district attorney, assigned counsel, sheriff and judges in county and family courts. Two students assigned to Neuhaus’s office presented declarations recognizing Child Abuse Prevention Month and Autism Acceptance Month, a reminder that county government is not only about policy, but also about public recognition and the messages leaders choose to elevate.

The mock legislature met in the chambers for a special session and debated a resolution urging New York’s governor to enact legislation that would enhance criminal liability for parents and guardians who procure or facilitate minors’ access to firearms resulting in intentional homicide. The motion passed with two dissenting votes, giving students a direct lesson in how public policy, criminal law and local debate intersect.

Neuhaus joined the program virtually because he was deployed as an officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve. After the morning sessions, students and officials gathered for a luncheon at The Barn at Villa Venezia. Rachel Wilson, executive director of the Youth Bureau, said the program had grown from roughly 60 to 80 students to just under 100 this year. She also urged students to consider the Summer Youth Government Immersion Program, which is free and offers unpaid volunteer opportunities for high school sophomores, juniors and graduating seniors.

Orange County and BOCES both describe the program, formally known as the Amy Bull Crist Youth in Government Program, as the county’s longest standing and most encompassing youth government program in New York. In 1944, it began under Amy Bull Crist’s guidance after Katherine St. George argued that students understood national politics but not the workings of local town and county government. Eight decades later, Orange County is still betting that direct access to county operations can turn curiosity into civic leadership.