Youth Service Advisory Board

ESTABLISHED 1659 CITY OF NORWICH CONNECTICUT NORWICH YOUTH & FAMILY SERVICES 80 Broadway Norwich, CT 06360 (860) 823-3782 Fax (860) 892-6031 NORWICH YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES ADVISORY BOARD MINUTES Meeting Tuesday June 20, 2017 NYFS 80 Broadway 8:45-10:00 1. Welcome and introductions In Attendance  Angelo Callis – NYFS Coordinator  Erin Haggan – NYFS Youth & Family Caseworker  Jodi Vara – Norwich Free Academy  Katelyn Wagner – Norwich Public Schools  Angela Duhaime – PFS Coordinator  Stephanie Bonardi – Natchaug Joshua Center Thames Valley  Judith Post – Community Member  Patrick McMahon – Community Member 2. Program Review/Old Business o Motion to accept last month’s minutes Made by Pat, seconded by Katelyn, all in favor (MOTION PASSES) (group noted there were a couple of typos but content was accurate) o Angelo inquired about snacks for meetings, agreed upon to have coffee and munchkins 3. New Business:  City Council Budget: The budget that passed did not have a direct impact on Youth and Family Services. The Council plans to re-evaluate the budget in September and make adjustments based on the State budget. This means that some of the positions that were cut through City Budget, may be reinstated if we get enough money from the State. Could also mean more cuts if we don’t get as much as we are thinking. Angelo noted that we are currently receiving only 132,000 from city budget and the other 700,000 comes from grants. He asks that if we see council members or mayor, we thank them for their support of youth and family services.  ESTABLISHED 1659 CITY OF NORWICH CONNECTICUT NORWICH YOUTH & FAMILY SERVICES 80 Broadway Norwich, CT 06360 (860) 823-3782 Fax (860) 892-6031  Report on Juvenile Justice Changes: Juvenile Court will no longer accept FWSN referrals for truancy or defiant of school rules and YSB’s are charged with accepting referrals and setting up intake and referral procedures. As of yet, no funds have been provided for this extra service and so we will make it work with existing resources. This past year we doubled the number of youth diverted from Juvenile Court through JRB & FWSN Boards. There is a hope that we will have support of Educational Advocates from CT Legal Services to support YSB in this transition. This will help us ensure that the schools are following through with their legal obligations to students.  Summer Jam & Learn: Currently recruiting for this program from JRB and FWSN Boards and also from Middle Schools. Full funding has been received along with an enhancement to be able to higher an addition intervention specialist. The program will include character education, pro-social community activities. We are also recruiting volunteer workers from NFA for the program to assist. Judith inquired about media coverage – for this program and others. Discussed inviting grant funders to events along with the press. The Board discussed the benefits of compiling a video about the Summer Jam and other programs to show the community how we and the kids we service are making a difference. We discussed the balance between maintaining confidentiality and various ways we can make and market the video in an ethical way.  Cool Directions: This is our Youth Employment Program that works primarily with 12 grade students to develop a career pathway and plan. The program helps students to build a resume, complete some educational and math testing, obtain employment. This program services low income kids. o Noted that Summer Youth Employment Program is at risk for losing its’ funding through the state budget. Please contact State Reps regarding this. Members provided other ideas for funding sources including Sachem Fund, United Way, CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) and Otis Library.  Report of School Based Diversion Efforts o Angelo reported that YSB will be meeting with Abby Dolliver on 6/23 to discuss this coming school year’s efforts. He discussed the desire of YSB to focus more efforts in prevention at the elementary level and to also include a parent engagement piece. o Erin and Angela have completed two trainings on prevention evidence based curriculum  ESTABLISHED 1659 CITY OF NORWICH CONNECTICUT NORWICH YOUTH & FAMILY SERVICES 80 Broadway Norwich, CT 06360 (860) 823-3782 Fax (860) 892-6031 o Also exploring focusing on training for teachers regarding impact of trauma on the students, trauma sensitive responses to behavior and also to work with teachers to process the vicarious trauma they have experienced working with students. o Pat shared information on the Stewards for Children programming. o Teen Leadership/NYAC –Recruiting for Summer Teen Leadership which will be the week of July 31 – August 4th 830-1230 @ NFA. Jodi has 3 students already who have expressed interest.  Moving: NYFS will be relocating to the Recreation Department and the remainder of Human Services staff will be relocating to City Hall. Plans are in the development phase and the timeline is unclear but possible move mid-August. 4. Norwich Prevention Council Subcommittee  Angela took some time to explain the grants provided by DHMAS to every city for substance abuse and suicide prevention efforts. She described that grant funds given are based on city’s population and are to be used to address all substances across the entire life span (not just for youth). She explained that if funding through this grant comes through this next year we would be conducting a planning meeting to work towards consolidating the efforts of the Norwich Prevention Council, Heroin Task Force and other groups that may be already formed working towards substance abuse and suicide prevention in Norwich.. Suggestion made by committee members to have the planning meeting in September when more school representation will be in attendance. Interested YAB members will be invited to join the collaborative effort.  Efforts on Heroin/Prescription Drug Use: Angela also discussed the PFS (Partnership for Success) grant and the efforts that will be made through this grant to fill any gaps. The Board discussed efforts that will be made to connect with athletic directors and sports coaches. Jodi made the suggestion of making events regional through the ECC (Eastern Connecticut Conference) and utilizing connections at the LIST (Local Interagency Service Team) & CYSA (Connecticut Youth Services Association) meetings to make events happen. Addressing things regionally may help lessen the fear of a stigma for any individual school.  Angela shared about the readiness of any community to address a problem as being a factor in the success of efforts. She also shared data that Hispanic females are at the greatest risk as it related to prescription drug misuse.  ESTABLISHED 1659 CITY OF NORWICH CONNECTICUT NORWICH YOUTH & FAMILY SERVICES 80 Broadway Norwich, CT 06360 (860) 823-3782 Fax (860) 892-6031  Compliance Checks: Conducted June 15th – 5/16 package stores failed and serviced to minors and were charged with Risk of Injury to a Minor. Angela will schedule a TIPS training which will be made available to all of the package store employees. Pat made the suggestion that we speak with the GA 21 Prosecutor regarding suggestions on who fines/donations be made payable to and also suggested making the TIPS training a mandate.  Next meeting – discussion had regarding if meeting continue through Summer months and Board members agreed it would be beneficial to maintain the meetings throughout the Summer. Also a request was made about timing of meeting being 830am and it was discussed that this is a difficult time for school staff and that’s why it was changed to 845pm. o Discussion also had about compiling a new member orientation packet that would include roles of board members, commonly used acronyms etc. o Angelo will begin including Board Members on any trainings that may be pertinent to their role as board members. NEXT MEETING : July 18th @ 8:45am @ 80 Broadway Norwich.