Youth Services Advisory Board

CITY OF NORWALK YOUTH SERVICES ADVISORY BOARD REGULAR MEETING DECEMBER 20, 2010 ATTENDANCE: Candace Mayer, Acting Chair; Lt. Ashley Gonzalez, Michael Mocciae, Darlene Young, Jessica Fogg. STAFF: Linda Wilock, Youth Services Director; Jason Getner, Juvenile Review Board. CALL TO ORDER Ms. Wilock asked Ms. Mayer to chair the meeting in Ms. Sarkin’s absence, and she called the meeting to order at 4:10 p.m. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF OCTOBER 19, 2010 ** MS. FOGG MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF OCTOBER 19, 2010, AS SUBMITTED. ** MR. MOCCIAE SECONDED. ** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. DEPARTMENT UPDATES Ms. Wilock stated that the two part time positions have been filled; a part-time counselor position by Frank Olivieri and a part time assistant to work with Mr. Getner, Robin Custer. She added that it is good to have males in these positions and added that Robin has hit the ground running and has embraced this role. Mr. Mocciae stated that there was not much to report, as due to budget cuts, there are fewer and fewer youth programs, resulting in contracting to third party co-sponsors for programs. He added that despite revenues being up from beach and boating programs, the budget for youth programs is very low and they hope to maintain programs that attract youth involvement as more and more residents are staying local for “day-cations.” Youth Services Advisory Board December 20, 2010 Page 1 of 3 Ms. Fogg stated that the Outward Bound program is in place again for the coming year, with February 1st as the target date for applications that are sent out to sophomores at the schools. She gave an overview of the program and application criteria, and summarized that from 20-22 in total from Greenwich to Weston, five applications are chosen from Norwalk. She added that the skills are cooperation based and team building, trust skills, where the group spends 16 days in the wilderness in the Delaware Water Gap area from June 26 – July 10, 2011. Ms. Mayer stated that there was no formal report from the Norwalk Housing Authority, but that donations were up this year, having just completed the holiday turkey donation program. JRB UPDATE Mr. Getner reported that a statistical compilation of data was attached, noting that as mentioned last month, the youngest client, age 7, has been submitted, and number of the cases are shoplifting related cases. Mr. Getner said that the JRB may become regional and that Westport and Wilton’s expressed interest is moving forward with referring their cases to the Norwalk JRB. The details of this are still being discussed. Ms. Wilock pointed out that state-wide, the emphasis is on regional concepts. Mr. Gonzalez added that he hopes to meet with the schools regarding cops being cut from games and the status of renewing the resource officers, which has worked out really well. He added that with DCF leaving Norwalk in the spring, it represents another hit and loss of youth services. Ms. Wilock said that the grant, which had been presented last month, is focused on offering on a science based program to deal with anger, and reviewed that there are three facets to the program: Structures Learning Techniques (SLT); Anger Control Training (ACT) and Moral Reasoning (MR). The groups run ten weeks and are segregated by age and sex. The items addressed in the course include: dealing with peer pressure, making pro-social complaints, and controlling impulsiveness in one hour sessions three times a week. Ms. Wilock said that she has some staffing issues relative to the training, and Community Solutions will now do the training of the facilitators. Ms. Mayer added that the Norwalk Housing Authority was interested in joining this training program, and Ms. Wilock replied that it would result in a higher quality program, and she is hoping for February implementation. OTHER Ms. Young said that the Mayor announced his support of the Mentor Challenge for City employees. She explained that there were some contacts with a few churches and other corporations, and the Fire Department and Policy Department have become involved in the challenge. She added that she was hopeful to have great success with the challenge program. Youth Services Advisory Board December 20, 2010 Page 2 of 3 Ms. Mayer reported that the Norwalk Housing Authority is working on a new truancy policy renamed as Student Success policy, which is a more proactive, success based effort to reduce the drop-out rate. She explained the program that is in development that makes the parents more involved by attending the learning center, which is academic-improvement based and encourages that parent service as a prevention tactic rather than the threat of formal intervention to avoid eviction. She added that she hopes to have a formal recommendation for Board of Education approval after the first of the year. BUDGET Ms. Wilock stated that after the holiday break, she will have a formal budget recommendation that reflects Jason’s position in the City budget as a regular item. She added that with the new council leadership positions, Rick McQuaid will add an element of advocacy for the Youth Services, as he is in the school system and is a big supporter of the youth programs in the city. ADJOURNMENT ** MS. FOGG MOVED TO ADJOURN. ** MR. MOCCIAE SECONDED. ** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. The meeting was adjourned at 5:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Marilyn Knox, Telesco Secretarial Services Youth Services Advisory Board December 20, 2010 Page 3 of 3