Mansfield Youth Service Bureau Advisory Board

MINUTES

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

12:00 noon @ Mansfield Town Hall

Council Chambers

PRESENT: E. Mantzaris (Chair), F. Perrotti, E. Griffin, C. Morrel, K. Grunwald (staff), P. Michalak (staff), K. Taylor (Secretary)

            ABSENT: J. Marchon, H. Spottiswoode, S. Riffle, A. Hoyt, K. McNamara

I. Call to Order: Chair E. Mantzaris called the meeting to order at 12:07 PM.

II. Approval of minutes: The minutes of the 12/09/08 meeting were reviewed.  F. Perrotti made a motion to approve the minutes as submitted. Unanimously approved.

III. Reports

   Director’s Report – K. Grunwald informed the Board that he and P. Michalak had gone over the budget and made minimal preliminary cuts.  He will be meeting with the Town Manger and the Finance Director soon.  He will keep the Board informed as to the status of the budget.

K. Grunwald advised the Board that the Holiday Program was very     successful and that the different divisions within Human Services worked well collaboratively in accomplishing this success.  Cash and gift cards were also donated towards helping the Department meet the needs of Mansfield residents during the Holiday season. 

E. Mantzaris questioned the process for receiving and distributing the gift cards; how are they kept track of?  K. Taylor advised that there is a log specifically for receiving and distributing the donated gift cards that needs to be initialed by the workers that distribute them to residents. 

K. Grunwald informed the Board that we are receiving the annual Agency Funding Requests for the upcoming fiscal year and that NECASA was requesting $3,108.00.  The request will be discussed further at the next meeting.               

Coordinator’s Report – P. Michalak summarized the monthly activities listed below for the board:

Youth Services Advisory Board

December Activities 2008

• Coordinated and hosted the Annual CYSA Eastern Region Legislative Breakfast.   Six Legislators and Coordinators of Youth Services Bureaus from twelve surrounding towns attended, as did the Mayor, the Town Manager and the Chairperson of our Advisory Board. The purpose of this forum was to discuss the present financial climate and its potential impact on services.
• Coordinated the end of the semester appreciation night dinner for the UConn mentors and the children.  Pizza was served to all the mentors, children and the parents.    The evening ended with special guest appearances from the UConn Baseball Team who spoke to the children about the importance of education and team work.  The mayor was on hand to thank everyone for their commitment to the Mansfield community.
• Multi-family group was held this month and this continues to be a successful group for families. Our consulting psychiatrist is in attendance at all of these meeting and provides collaborative assessment and treatment.

· Participated in the planning and coordination of the PAWS Annual Leadership Conference.

· Attended a meeting with the school psychologists and the Director of Special Education. YSB staff will attend a segment of the school psychologists’ monthly meetings to enhance collaboration so that we may all better serve our community during these very difficult times.

· Due to the present economic climate YBS is attempting to be more proactive by creating a clinical assessment track that will best suit the needs of the community.  This is an ongoing discussion with our staff of two.

· YSB and the school psychologist from Goodwin met with the Director of Admissions at Natchaug Hospital to discuss their various day treatment programs for children and what the admission requirements are.

· Continue to facilitate the Grandparents raising Grandchildren Group and helped coordinated the holiday gift giving for many of these families.

· Collaborated with school guidance counselors’ to help new families transition to YSB for ongoing services. 

· Collaborated with Tolland YSB Holiday Program called “Fill a Cruiser” this collects holiday gifts for children.  Helped organize the gift giving distribution center.

· Collected and distributed hats and gloves from the South East School Giving Tree. Many families were served.

IV. Old Business

Budget:  This was covered in K. Grunwald’s Director’s Report.

V. New Business

iParentNetwork: K. Grunwald advised the Board that the iParentNetwork is moving forward and there is positive interest and support for the website.

A side discussion ensued about the set-up and monitoring of the content submitted, posted questions, interactive capabilities, supervision and what role the Youth Service Bureau will have in the program.

VI. Other: none.

Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 12:40 PM.  The next meeting will be on February 10th at noon in Conference Room B.

Respectfully submitted,

Karen L. Taylor

Secretary