Hi, I am Sarah Taylor and I am the President of New Directions Youth and Family Services. I attended SUNY Geneseo and earned a Bachelor's degree in Psychology. I then attended the University of Buffalo and earned a Master's Degree in Education with a concentration in School Counseling.
I started working for New Directions in December 2004. I was hired as a Wraparound Care Coordinator. Wraparound was a new program at the time. I loved that it was family driven and allowed me to think creatively in my work with families. After working as a Wraparound Care Coordinator for 2 years, I was promoted to the Program Supervisor. I also began to participate in applying for grants for new programs and expanded my role to oversee additional new programs. In 2014, I was promoted to a Director and, in 2019, I was promoted to a Chief Operating Officer. Throughout my time with New Directions, I helped to implement and expand programs a variety of community based programming across Western New York.
In my new role as president, some of my key responsibilities include:
supporting and investing in programs to ensure New Directions continues to deliver high quality services that best meet the needs of youth and families
partnering with New View Alliance and Gateway Longview.
Many of the things that I hope to see moving forward already exist and I hope to sustain them. I feel confident that New Directions will continue to be an agency that provides individualized, family-driven, trauma-informed services. I want to continue to be an agency that values employees and is a place where people desire to work. I'd like to continue our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging and make changes together that are consistent with that commitment. I would like to expand peer services and increase youth and family voice in our practices. I am excited that the fields of child welfare and mental health are expanding with knowledge of evidence-based practices and I'd like to see New Directions continue to grow and evolve with this knowledge.
I have always been proud to work for New Directions. We offer a variety of programs across Western New York. Each program/department is unique and has its own sense of team, but all take pride in delivering high quality services, collaboration, and upholding the agency norms of safety, responsibility, respect, and goal-directedness.
Three words that I think best describe me are: easygoing, curious, and empathetic. Outside of work, I live in Eden, NY with my husband, two sons (ages 13 and 10), 2 cats, 2 dogs, and 2 guinea pigs. I love to read and listen to audiobooks. I also like gardening, knitting, skiing, hiking, and traveling.