Youth Service Advisory Board

NORWICH YOUTH & FAMILY SERVICES ADVISORY BOARD MEETING January 13th, 2015 ROOM 335, NORWICH CITY HALL (860) 823-3782 - FAX (860) 892-6031 Email: keyberse@cityofnorwich.org MINUTES The Norwich Youth and Family Services Advisory Board meeting was held on January 13th, in Room 335 in Norwich City Hall. Those in attendance were as follows: Jodi Vara-President Angela Rae Duhaime-Community Member Jamie Miller-Norwich Tech Kay Eyberse-Committee Coordinator Kevin Saythany-Community Member Duncan Profitt Mike McKinney-NPD Guests: Deb Kievits Absent: Mark Irons-Juvenile Probation Katie Wagner The meeting was called to order at 8:40am. Review of meeting minutes: The minutes from November 10th, 2014 were reviewed. Angela motioned to approve the minutes and Jamie second the motion. All members accepted the minutes as is without opposition. Officer McKinney came to the meeting eight minutes later and noticed that he was marked absent, but was present during the last meeting. Corrections will be made. YBS Programs: Kay reviewed recent programs regarding JRB/FWSN, COOL Directions and Girls Circle. New Business: • Officer McKinney updated everyone in the meeting concerning the Norwich Police Department and the need for more space. He reiterated his commitment to doing “Play by the Rules” training, which is usually done over the course of 8 hours or 2 days. NYFS will continue to brainstorm ways to partner. • Deb Kievits updated everyone regarding Bully Busters: • Art Show-To promote a positive experience for young kids. The art show will ask kids what their dreams are in life. The event is to be held on March 6th, 2015. There is increasing concern that the Salvation Army will not be ready post-fire, before “Summer Jam and Learn” is ready to kick off for the summer. Kay and Deb will brainstorm alternative possibilities for space for programming.  • Jennifer Rummel from Otis Library will be leaving to pursue her career as a Young Adult novelist. Community Center: Angela is a member of the Community Center committee and gave the Board an update on their progress. They have been: • Brain storming session (costs, space, needs). • Talked about gymnasium. • Did survey of the community. • Comparing Norwich’s demographics with other demographics from neighboring cities. • Kay will forward a letter to the Community Center committee. • Talked about pool for the Community Center. This conversation is vital to the concerns of youth in Norwich and the Board sees this as an opportunity to meet the needs of young people. Norwich Prevention Council Subcommittee: Setting up side meetings for subcommittee: • Kay continues to have difficulty recruiting kids from different towns to train for compliance checks. Regional YSBs have not done them recently and have not responded. Sgt. Camp is still VERY interested if we can find young people to do the contacts. • Jodi and Jamie scheduled a meeting time for Suicide prevention week (both will be meeting together next week). • Officer McKinney, Angela, Jodi, and Kay discussed about local ordinances regarding sale of paraphernalia and legal drugs. o Kay will be contacting the PD Clerk of Southington, CT about local ordinances. o Talked about crafting messages, PAs, etc. -Meeting adjourned at 10:05am.