Youth Service Advisory Board

November 19th, 2019 Time: 8:45 a.m. Attendance Present: Erin Haggan (NYFS), Christine Goracy (NYFS), Tiana Powell (PFS), Rayallen Bergman (PFS/DFC), Jodi Savage (NFA), Judith Post (Community Member), Jaime Miller (Norwich Tech), Steve Callender (Norwich PD), Kerry Sisson (Joshua Center), Kim Charles (Juvenile Probation), Kevin (Dept. of Children and Families). Absent: Pat McMahon (Community Member), Katelyn Wagner (Norwich Public Schools), Sue Dubb (Uncas Health) Review of October’s Meeting Minutes • Jodi noted one minor change needed for October minutes, in that they noted Pat McMahon was not in attendance at the meeting, and he was present. Old Business • Board Members Month in Review: o Rayallen: Partnership for Success (PFS) surveys have been completed at the high schools. Teachers Global Studies will be completing on Friday and Kelly STEAM is working to have it done before Thanksgiving break. The PFS site visit will be on December 16th and a panel will be put together. o Christine: The pilot programs that are in place at Wequonnoc Elementary, Christine hopes to bring to other elementary schools in the spring. Christine and Erin are working on parent workshops that will include topics like healthy and fun eating, how to identify anxiety and depression, understanding challenging behaviors and mindful parenting. They will also be bringing a Hidden in Plain Sight program for parents. o Jodi: She is facilitating Girls Circle at Integrated Day Charter School (IDCS). She has students from her leadership program present at the Connecticut Children’s Coalitions (CCC) Conference. They presented on self-care and self-esteem and had the most attendees in a workshop compared to the others. The Norwich Youth Action Council (NYAC) will be hosting a Family Fun Night on December 4th at the Senior Center. It’s meant for families with children in grades K-4 and it is free. Jodi hopes that NFA will have another speaker to present on vaping. o Erin: Erin put in a grant proposal for a wellness after-school program at two elementary schools. She submitted another proposal to the Lord Foundation to run Joining Forces again with the Norwich Police Dept. Erin recently attended a Family First training through Dept. of Children and Families (DCF). She would like to work with young parents and adoptive parents in the future. As a team at Norwich Youth & Family Services (NYFS) we are working on our vision and goals. • Board Inventory: The group discussed what is working and what is not working on this board, any changes that board members would like to see and how we can grow. o Things that are Working:
Members like hearing about the program information that is being shared
Members like the structured agenda 
Members like the time and day of the month/week the meeting is held
Members like that the meeting presents opportunities for networking o Things that are Pain Points (areas for improvement)
Members would like more opportunities to contribute and participate in programming/events/projects
Members would like the by-laws reviewed, updated and clarified, including the exploration and use of Robert’s Rules to keep meeting structured
Need clarity on who continues to be invested as Board Members
Members feel it is important to keep the NPC portion of the meeting separate from the YAB portion
Board Members roles need more clarity
Board Members want to feel that participation in the board is a valuable use of their time and that they are getting out of it, as much as they are putting into it
Board Members would like to increase community based activities and opportunities to engage parents in events/activities/programs
Board members would like a written update on all the program offerings from all agencies as a resource to refer back to and share with others New Business • Location of January and February Meetings: Due to there being no school on those two days the Recreation Dept. will be using our community room. We will move our meeting location to the Norwich Fire Dept. at 10 North Thames Street in Norwich for those months. Park in the back and do not block any fire trucks. Norwich Prevention Council • LPC Grant: The group discussed different ways to use the grant funds whether it be on existing or new programs. Some ideas presented were: continued alcohol/tobacco/vaping compliance checks, training for staff on evidence based trauma, attachment and parenting curriculum so that agency staff can conduct trainings/interventions with parents/youth/families, increase education/advocacy for youth on psychotropic medications for mental health challenges (including the risks of self-medication), Suicide Prevention Week/Walk to include QPR training that week and possible peer mentoring opportunities with High School and Middle School youth around that time period, Adult-Youth mentoring program (sub-contract with Creative Potential), mentoring program matching individuals (including adults) with others who have overcome similar experiences/challenges, using the PAWSOME children’s book in reading buddies program, World Youth Day. • DFC Grant: We were awarded the Drug Free Communities (DFC) grant! Rayallen shared our year one goals of the grant which are to increase community collaboration and to prevent and reduce use of marijuana and alcohol. • Suicide Prevention Walk/Week: The date for the walk in April 25, 2020. Jodi & Jaime would like to move the “week” to the week after the walk since Spring Break is the week before the walk. This way the walk will be the kickoff and the week will include World Youth Day. Jodi and Jaime will get their kids working on this project together by January. They do want to do some kind of community visual. Next Meeting: December 17th, 2019 at 8:45am Youth & Family Services 75 Mohegan Rd Page 2