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16 fill the extreme gap between town expenditure requirements and available revenues. We therefore offer just a few no-cost recommendations for the Board’s consideration. Our premise is that the well-being of Lexington’s citizens, especially the youth who make up so much of its life as a residential community, depends in part on having ready access to mental health services within the town in the immediate years ahead. 1. The Board should make earnest and sustained efforts to encourage the Lexington School Committee to change its current policies of risk management and avoidance of psychological and counseling assistance to students. The change should be strongly toward the provision of mental health services by appropriate staff now employed by the Lexington Public Schools. 2. Lexington school policy makers and staff practitioners should also be encouraged to better utilize the considerable professional resources available within Lexington as part of consultation and training to support their clinical work. We have a clear impression that some local providers might gladly donate their time if they were approached effectively. For instance, during the first two decades of work by RePlace, volunteer participation was very high. A rescue home for runaway youths who needed a temporary haven was one of the features of this approach. 3. The position of Social Services Coordinator for Lexington should be reconfigured. Presently, the Coordinator is spread thin. He provides information and referral, case management and even counseling help for clients, and runs groups and staffs committees for the Board of Selectmen. We recommend that the Social Service Coordinator be charged as a priority with coordinating mental health services for Lexington that involve Eliot, Edinburg, and Wayside/RePlace. In this model, all adult services and most services for youth with serious