Community Relations Commission

Approved Community Relations Commission: Youth Forum Subcommittee May 29, 2013 Terrace Room, 7pm The meeting was called to order at 7:07 p.m. in the Terrace Room at the Northbrook Village Hall by Community Relations Commission chair Ray Wehr. CRC Members present: Dr. Rochelle Singer. Also present: Nancy Vaccaro, Joy Start, Carla Slawson-Martens, Amy O’Leary, Village Manager Rich Nahrstadt, Sari Glazebrook, Howard Schultz, and Frank Lenordi. Also in attendance: Sharon Weingarten and Staff Liaison Kendal Maltas. Introductions and Welcome: Chair Ray Wehr welcomed the group and had everyone go around the table to introduce themselves. He noted that we had great first session last time and provided a brief synopsis. There were lots of topics discussed, but now we need to narrow the focus and get the information out to the public. There are lots of great things going on in the community already, but we can provide a link. Primarily for last meeting’s discussions, we are looking to focus on youth and youth/family. Tonight, we are looking to define the next steps: what do we have out there currently? Are there gaps? How are we going to put this together and get it out to community? Discussion:  A question to the service providers here tonight, what are you seeing? How can we break down some silos? We have some understanding of what is available, but we are also doing some guessing.  Two specifics moving forward: o Community needs to be aware of what is available, how are we getting this information out there? o We should be working with both parents and children, but there was a strong voice to get out to youth.  Do we start with youth? Do we start with adults?  We start with what everyone is doing and build a tapestry. We take every agency that is doing something youth related and create a universe that we can string things through as a framework. We should build on what is already planned.  The concept of a tapestry is good, but what are we going to build around? What are we going to talk about once there? Page 1 of 5  Aren’t we trying to find a normative environment? How do you stop being afraid? Being in an environment where you are comfortable.  Perhaps it does not help for us to be at events. The primary step should be letting everyone know where the resources are. Let’s make sure we have the resources that are available and effectively communicate them. From there, we can formulate what “Northbrook Cares” looks like and what we want to include.  Have we in fact established that “Northbrook Cares” is our catch phrase?  We are not out there to create events, but supplement events.  We want to help the youth feel comfortable, but shouldn’t we confront the issues as well?  We have to be careful that we, as this group, do not become direct service providers. We do not have the expertise. However, one thing we can do is talk to direct service providers. We can have a session with those individuals, those that are on the front line, and ask what is it that you guys see? What is it that you guys need? Do you have this network? Are you already working together? Do you want to get your name out there in some of these events?  Information is so powerful. Sometimes kids have the information, but parents do not. Some parents are comfortable using private practitioners, churches, youth groups, police counseling. But to provide a link to all of the information/resources that are available would be empowering to these individuals who need it.  New Trier Township Youth Forum Example (Sharon Weingarten): o The Youth Forum concept was born when one student on the Township’s youth commission stated “You [parents/adults] don’t have a clue.” o A subcommittee of the youth members met to develop a way in which to provide adults with a clue. o Facilitated group discussion with two professional moderators from different professional agencies. Youth members made up the panel. o Some starter questions were developed, but the conversation took off from there. o Names were not shared, it was an open, free discussion without judgment. o Audience questions were allowed. o Parents, kids and different agency members comprised the audience. o First year of the event there were approximately 20 individuals present, but it grew from there. o Many of the agency workers in the audience took discussion points they heard and developed programs to reach those needs. Page 2 of 5  I think we are all saying the same thing—get to kids.  Unfortunately, this is not uncommon in other communities as well. Over the past several years, there have been similar incidences in different communities over the past years. We have to take in the environment of the community in order to shape the program. Each community does it differently.  What if we started out by getting the service providers and schools together in a room to discuss. The service providers are on the front line and working with this every day.  GBN just had meeting with all service providers about a month ago, but it was focused more on response. It seems as though we are focusing more on prevention and intervention.  GBN had this meeting which is great, but what about the other schools with the younger grades?  We cannot define the problem on our own. We need to think broad. The first step is to get to the community/service leaders.  The events can be a prevention mechanism. We want the youth to know that we care about them and want them to be safe.  The Northbrook Youth Commission has discussed the tragedies, at their last meeting and directly after they occurred. One of the things noted by a youth member, was that after the tragedy happens, kids get really nice. The youth member went on to say that they really hope it stays because before it was not nice. Post tragedy, people do come together—is there a way to get that to stay?  The first step is to get the partners together. This was suggested at the first meeting, but it was rejected based on timeline. Where are we on the timeline?  The timeline is for this group to decide.  While it is great to get a larger meeting with all the service providers, we do need to have some focus and stay on momentum. This group should come to that meeting with suggested outline as a draft.  This large service provider meeting would not be a brainstorming session. We are getting information from the providers. o What do you do? o What are you seeing? Page 3 of 5  o What do you need? o Are there gaps in resources? o Do you want to join our community events already going on?  All of these agencies/groups are building community(ies) currently. Let’s bring them to work together.  Back to tapestry concept: with the answers we receive at this session, we can bring it all together.  Much of the calendar events would be the programs these organizations are currently putting on.  “Northbrook Cares”—maybe a small website/bulletin board that lists the information from these groups/agencies (that they can update) with direct links back to further information on their websites.  We need to get the information to the kids. o Technology can be a concern, but it can also be a great resource.  This meeting will bring out the synergies between the groups and where we can further develop interconnections.  After we see these connections, we also need to determine how the information will get out to the youth.  To define prevention is like trying to say what color is air. Prevention is a process of building resources. We are not directly saying we are trying to prevent you from doing this, but the resources/services provided do that.  How do they know Northbrook Cares is there?  If you want to do marketing, you need to have somewhere that that marketing directs you to. Youth Services, when you hear “Northbrook Cares”, what does that mean to you? How does that fall on you? We need the answers/message for what the marketing program is leading people to.  There is going to be a time to ask the youth questions, but we don’t know what to ask them yet. The experts at this meeting will say what we should ask because this is what they are seeing. Page 4 of 5  Next Steps:  Chair Wehr asked Nancy Vaccaro and Amy O’Leary to assist him in defining who the service groups/agencies are. We will then have an internal meeting, “Youth Summit” with these agencies, the schools and clergy, in which we ask them the questions defined earlier.  There will be an opening statement at this meeting in which we tell the group what we are looking to do, to build links/connections.  Tentative Date for Youth Summit: June 19 @ noon. Location: Village Hall. Lunch provided. News: On June 10, the Northbrook Youth Commission will be holding their annual Youth Film Festival. Two of the films to be shown are very close to this topic. One is about loss of a best friend and the other is issues with marriage and how it impacts kids. The meeting was adjourned at 8:55pm. Respectfully submitted, Kendal Maltas, Staff Liaison Page 5 of 5