HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-11-07-YSC-min Youth Services Council Minutes
November 7, 2007
Members Present Becky Kosterman, Bill Blout, Helen Cohen, Norman Cohen, Laura
Smith, Dewey Weiner
We began at 3 00 with an excellent and amazingly informative presentation by Tina
Grosowsky, Substance Abuse Coordinator in Westford, who was one of the group that
created the Red Flags and Resources booklet This is a guide to youth issues and
available responses for the towns of Acton, Boxborough, Carlisle, Concord, Dunstable,
Groton, Littleton, Maynard, and Westford. It grew out of a smaller brochure created by
Concord, and the towns involved are all participants in the Youth Risk Behavior Survey
sponsored by Emerson Hospital.
The group who wrote the booklet are town staff and board members from these towns, all
serving as volunteers Part of the funding for their work comes from Emerson as a DON
payment for towns it serves (Nobody there knew what DON stands for) It has also
received support from town budgets, local United Way chapters, the Crossroads
Foundation in Sudbury, fund-raising efforts, etc Recent support for Concord's youth
programs has also come from Tufts University, in connection with their involvement in
the work of PETER BENSON Benson has written books talking about the 40 assets that
all children need to grow into healthy adulthood and how to build them, and how to build
healthy communities
The booklet is aimed at both parents and teens, and in Westford was mailed to all high
school homes, and sent home in middle school backpacks when it first came out (4 or 5
years ago) Now it is is given annually to new sixth-graders It is also available online
from town websites The YSC members discussed what political issues might occur in
distributing such booklets in Lexington, and agreed we needed to explore this question.
We imagined having them available at Town Hall, the Library, religious institutions, etc
Tina also showed us a smaller brochure Just on Substance Abuse resources which some
members felt might be a model for beginning the larger booklet
Tina also referred us to a variety of federal and state support sites that can provide help,
including
(1)the Community Health Network Areas (CHNA, from which Lexington has received
grants),
(2)the Office of Healthy Communities at the Mass Department of Public Health. This
office has Centers for Healthy Communities, and Lexington belongs to the Metrowest
Center, which has offices in Central Square, Cambridge, and provides free help and a
resource library,
(3) SAMHSA. the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration,
which provides ideas and resources for individuals and communities It promotes
"environmental strategies," the social aspects of health and wellness, such as policy
changes, communication, education. [I looked up their website as I was writing these
minutes It's outstanding.]
Tina stressed the importance of collaboration among all people and organizations
connected with youth health and wellness She has clearly made that a constructive and
exciting practice We thanked her profusely for coming and helping us
After she had to leave at 3 30, we talked about how we need to absorb all that we heard,
and figure out how to apply it to Lexington. Bill suggested that we ask our Outreach sub-
committee to consider working on brochures/booklets Laura (high school counselor)
said that she has two interns who might be able to help with such projects Though the
Red Flags does not contain lists of private practitioners, we agreed that we could put in a
link to HelpPro, the website database that Bill Blout has developed, or to a specifically-
Lexington version which he has been working on.
In terms of funding, Norman suggested that we should contact Lahey Clinic, Children's
Hospital, and Beth Israel, all of which have satellites in Lexington. Do they have some
kind of DON responsibilities
Our next meeting is WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5, at 3 00 P.M. We hope to have high
attendance to follow up on what we learned. Please let Becky know if you can't make it
Respectfully submitted,
Helen Cohen