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HomeMy WebLinkAboutno-date-DAC-rpt.pdf PROGRESS REPORT OF THE SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE SELECTMAN' S DRUG ADVISORY COMMITTEE The committee, which is made up of the following• Jack Sermonian Tony Clough Charlie McManus Sumner Perlman has been taking a look at what overall youth program should be recommended to the town. Approach An outline of our approach is given in Attachment 1. Discussion with A. Johnson, Arlington Youth Council The notes from this discussion are given in Attachment 2. There are many things that can be learned from the Arlington group. A single coordinator, A. Johnson, has been one of the key elements in making this program a success. Although they have been success- ful in using the clinical as opposed to the volunteer approach, it is not clear at this stage whether this is the best approach for Lexington. Role of Replace - Only non-traditional youth resource in town. - Needed changes--possibly greater community role. - Impact of major town funding on operation of Replace. Potential Need for Youth Director for Town - Overall role--coordinating and planning. - Relationship between Youth Director and head of Replace. - Recreation is a vital part of youth services and should be under the responsibility of Youth Director. Communication - Coordination between Organizations within town concerned with youth. - Need definition of roles for different groups . - Obtain integrated action among groups . -2- What Is Required - Agreement that there is a need. - Willingness by town to assume responsibility--$, resources , plans, etc. - How? ATTACHMENT 1 LEXINGTON SELECTMEN' S ADVISORY COMMITTEE SUBCOMMITTEE ON RECOMMENDED TOWN PROGRAM FOR YOUTH Youth Problems/Needs (Age group 12-22 years) Drug abuse Alcohol abuse Acting out Vandalism Boredom Place to congregate Police-youth confrontation Jobs Lack of effective counseling at High School Court referrals and service-void Services (Apparently) Needed Crisis intervention -- Hot line -- Drop in -- Referral Outreach -- Street workers Facilities (recreational? lighted?) -- Available for non-organized kids? Counseling for court referrals -'- Assess probability of success for individual cases and apply resources accordingly. Coordination among town services and between town and kids . Police-kids communication -- Kassler. ' s committee? Other -2- Available Resources chool system RePlace Mystic Valley Limited and structured recreation Churches and synagogues Family counseling Drug counselor Co-op Suggested Plan Identify youth needs -- Quantify and prioritize Identify available services -- Assess their ability to meet needs -- Make determination for cases where needs are not being fully met of the shortcomings . Identify town-wide communication and/or integration needs . Identify need for ongoing assessment and evaluation of the available services . Become familiar with e -isting (apparently successful) programs in other communities . How are they organized' Why? -- What services do they offer? - Relationship with town? Police? Youth? - How effective are they? What measures are available? Develop recommended program. - Resources • New ' Use of existing • Modification of existing - Scope ' Town only • Court • Residence now--future -3- - Role 3- Role of town Control Director ' Committee Relationships • Funding -- Integra.tion and coordination • Role of town • Role of Director -- Feedback and control - Future possible directions ATTACHMENT 2 DISCUSSION WITH ARTHUR JOHNSON, HEAD OF ARLINGTON YOUTH COUNCIL Listed below are the results of a discussion held among C. McManus and S. Perlman of the Drug Advisory Committee and A. Johnson of the Arlington Youth Council. - The Arlington program was set up in 1961 primarily to handle delinquents. - Its initial orientation was the Hotline staffed by volunteer kids . It presently is manned by a full-time staff of adults and has a strong clinicly-oriented approach. - They found over the years that there was not an advantage having kids man phones . There was a need for very complete orientation for the volunteers and problem counseling for individual staff. There apparently was a large turnover of youth volunteers and a lessening of enthusiasm as time went on. - They presently have (since 1970) a staff of ten full-time people including six Case Workers and four others , plus two Street Workers . They have had ten student placements from the Social Work schools each year. In addition, they have three summer students , one Coordinator of Volunteers, one full-time clerk and one part-time clerk. Apparently, one of the Social Workers doubles as a clerk. - They combine the looseness of the drop-in center with the professionalism of a clinic. - In recent years there has been little involvement by volunteers. - There is a board of eight members appointed by the Selectman and Town Manager called the Board of Directors of Youth Services . Their primary role is to serve as interface with the town. - The primary communication channel upwards is from Johnson to the Town Manager. - The budget which is put together by Johnson is fully funded by the town at a yearly rate of $175K. The maximum budget prior to the drug crisis was $55K. - They have built up confidence with the Police, the community and the school. They conduct a "Growth and Behavior" course in the schools . They enjoy a highly informal relationship with the school advisors at the High School. -2- - They do training with the Police--weekly two-hour training sessions for recruits. They have cooperation that starts at the top with the Administration, Selectman and Chief. Arthur feels that this is due to their building up of respect and confidence in the community. - They are very circumspect about gathering statistics and reports from their Social Workers . Their case load is 600 cases per year with 200 new cases each year. They come mainly from self-referrals , outside referrals and some Police referrals. - They have hired an outside family consultant and pay for the services of a psychiatrist for 12-15 hours a week. - They have a couple of programs with the Concord Court. The first is a pre-release program with the prison (twenty people) . The second is the first-offenders/diversionary program (ten people) . - They are a registered drug center; and, as such, have an obligation to take in cases from other towns . However, out of the total case load, only three to four come from outside Arlington. - Johnson was named as Human Resources Head for the town five years ago. It includes Youth, Aging, Veterans and Recreation. - Their physical facilities are not very attractive, but this might be advantageous . - As an example of some of their activities , Johnson and his staff, particularly Street Workers , recently met with the Police and Parks people to identify potential trouble spots in town and to work out plans . - All of the paid staff of the Youth Consultation Center are Civil Service employees.