Youth Service Advisory Board

NORWICH YOUTH & FAMILY SERVICES ADVISORY BOARD MEETING JANUARY 12, 2010 ROOM 335, NORWICH CITY HALL (860) 823-3782 - FAX (860) 892-6031 Email: nyfs@cityofnorwich.org MINUTES The Norwich Youth and Family Services Advisory Board Meeting was held on March 9, 2010 at 8:30 in Room 335 in Norwich City Hall. Those in attendance were as follows: Kay Eyberse-Coordinator Jodi M. Vara-President Debbie Kievits Ashley Sebastian Janet Paton Angela Duhaime Vouise Fonville-DCF Beverly Goulet-Director, Human Services Excused Absences: Soledad Metcalf-Juvenile Court, Connie Labassi-Norwich Public Schools. The meeting was called to order at 8:30. All members signed the attendence sheet and updated their e-mail addresses. The adopted minutes from the meeting on January 12, 2010 meeting were distributed, a minor transcription error was corrected and the minutes were approved. Kay announced that all Community Advisory Board members have been approved by the City Council over the past tow months. These include Duncan Profitt, Jan Paton, Ashley Sebastian, and Angela Duhaime. Quarterly Report/Program updates Updates-All Youth and Family programs were briefly discussed. The quarterly report was distributed and reviewed. It included all service numbers and ACU activities. New Business • L.I.S.T.-Local Interagency Service Team. Kay described the potential local impact of this important juvenile justice collaborative. As juvenile court revamps and begins to change how it and the community provides services to this vulnerable juvenile population there is an opportunity for this region to position itself for future funding for Family Support Centers. Youth Service Bureaus across the State have the responsibility for leading each area in designing recommendations for the justice system in this regard. Angelo Callis is the designated staff person who meets with this team and he also sits on the Executive Implementation Team. Both he and Kay received a refresher training in the best practice Juvenile Review Board model in January. Kay reported that after 15 years of running a successful JRB, Norwich is compliant in all areas. • Budget Woes-Kay updated the Advisory Board members as to the upcoming budget battle. The good news: We were just informed that Young Parents  Program Federal Funding was tentatively renewed for next year. The Work Force Investment Board is currently in the process of renewing funding for our youth employment and training program COOL Directions, and the CYSA lobbyist is optimistic that there will be no cuts to the DOE Youth Service Grant funds. Currently, DOE covers $87,000+ of the 2009/2010 NYFS budget. The City of Norwich must match those funds in partnership with the State or it will lose that funding. The bad news: Any further cuts will likely result in a loss of those funds. The City Manager is asking for 5%, 10%, 15% scenarios. Advisory Board members were reminded that Youth Services sustained a %54 decrease in the City’s financial commitment to Youth Services when the Director of the agency was cut in July 2009. As the budget situation becomes clearer all Advisory Board members will be asked to advocate on behalf of the agency. There was vocal support by all Advisory Members. Wrap up at 9:30 The next Advisory Board meeting will be held on May 11th at 8:30 in Room 335 in City Hall