2001 Annual Report - Town of South Windsor

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T O W N O F S O U T H W I N D S O R www.southwindsor.org D E P A R T M E N T O F H U M A N S E R V I C E S The Department of Human Services is a multi-generation service agency whose mission is to enable South Windsor residents to achieve and maintain personal and social well being by providing a variety of services, programs and resources that are both proactive and responsive to the community’s needs. Youth and Family Services The Youth and Family Services Division provides support services and programs for the youth and families of South Windsor. These services include crisis intervention and referral, juvenile justice programs, prevention initiatives, positive youth development, employment services and parent education and support. A total of 115 youth received individual counseling and support services this year. In addition, 37 youth were involved in support groups addressing anger management and other teen issues. The popular Hire-A-Kid program successfully coordinated 135 job referrals for teen participants. Our Juvenile Review Board presided over 22 cases. A total of 350 community service hours were assigned and supervised by the board. Youth and Family Services continued its collaboration with the school system, providing training and technical support to the high school, middle school and elementary school Peer Mediation programs. This year, youth services provided team building and decision-making training to 283 peer mediators at the elementary and middle school levels. An exciting new School Based Mentoring Program was initiated in the spring. This important program pairs business volunteers with middle school students in an effort to provide positive role modeling and support to students in need. Mentors were recruited from Gerber Scientific, Tolland Bank, Fleet Bank, Rockville Bank and town hall to participate in the first round. These mentors receive thorough training and then are paired with students selected by middle school administration and support staff. Mentors will spend an hour a week with their students doing a variety of positive activities. Matches will be made and the program up and running by October 2001. The ACES (Alternative Community Experience) Program provides community service alternatives to students who are externally suspended from school. Working in conjunction with the schools, the YSB assigns and supervises community service projects for suspended students. Twelve youth participated this year, providing 74 hours of service to the community. Youth Services continues to provide support group facilitation, counseling support and other ancillary services to the schools. Our Intervention Coordinator, who is co-funded by the town and schools, worked with 56 youth experiencing difficulties with drugs and or alcohol. Our School Outreach Specialist is our liaison to Timothy Edwards Middle School and provides a direct referral route to our services. The outreach specialist is involved in a variety of support services including bully-proofing programs, strategy team meetings, the school climate committee and the new CARE initiative. The Youth and Family Services Director and the School Outreach Specialist continued as active participants in School Climate Committee meetings that produced a unique new community position statement on acceptance and respect. This new initiative, called CARE, posits that South Windsor is a Community that Accepts and Respects Everyone. This position statement has been adopted by the Board of Education and the Town Council and will be publicized throughout the community. Seventeen towns were involved in our PAWS (Peers Are Wonderful Support) Regional Peer Advocate Initiative. This program is funded by a grant from the Dept. of Education and involved three major events: a Leadership Training Retreat; a Diversity Awareness Conference and our annual PAWS Workshop Conference held at MCTC (400 28 2000-2001 ANNUAL REPORT
www.southwindsor.org T O W N O F S O U T H W I N D S O R D E P A R T M E N T O F H U M A N S E R V I C E S students in attendance). The goal of this initiative is to bring together students from towns in the region who dialogue and then work together to address issues like cultural diversity awareness, violence prevention and a host of other teen issues. South Windsor Youth and Family Services continues to provide outdoor adventure challenge services to groups of students. This year, we designed and facilitated team-building workshops for 453 students. In addition, we again assisted middle school staff with their annual Orienteering Unit. This year, over 200 7th grade students participated in the training that included group decision-making initiatives, group process games and two days of orienteering and Conn. River study units at Northfield Mountain in Massachusetts. The South Windsor Youth Advisory Board was again active in planning and implementing the ninth annual Family Awareness Day event. Over 650 residents enjoyed a full day of family fun and wellness programs including the Children’s One Mile Fun Run, Hog Jog, haunted house, Shriner’s clowns, face painting, Fidelco guide dogs, pony rides, games (facilitated by the Jaycees) and a mobile amusement center. A barbecue was prepared and served by the Super Sixties Sportsmen. Our very generous business community sponsored various elements of the event and many made product donations. This event involves the collaboration of several departments including Youth and Family Services, Police Services, Schools and Recreation. The South Windsor Teen Center enjoyed another successful year. 335 youth were registered and participated in 159 activities throughout the year. Members of the Student Advisory committee provided tremendous volunteer service to the community including participation in Adopt-A-Road, the Vernon Soup Kitchen, Peter’s Retreat and the Wapping Fair. The Teen Center continued to be the recipient of generosity from several organizations, including the South Windsor JayCees who once again sponsored a mini-golf tournament with all proceeds benefiting the Teen Center. Our annual Teen Center Tag Sale was again a successful community event that netted over $2000 for the center! Youth and Family Services continues to work with the schools and our Local Prevention Council to spearhead various community prevention initiatives including a week long smoking prevention campaign at the middle school. Other initiatives included the ‘Get Hooked On Fishing, Not Drugs!’ campaign at the town’s fishing derby and Operation Graduation. SWAN Our South Windsor Aid to Neighbors Program (SWAN) provides parenting information and support programs to families in the South Windsor Area. This program is funded by DCF as a Parent Education and Support program. The goal of the program is to help parents increase their abilities and to reduce the stresses of modern family life through access to information and resources. Programs include ParentShare (a twice monthly parent education and children’s play group); Grandparents as Parents (a group for Grandparents raising their Grandchildren) and the South Windsor Mentoring Program a new collaborative between Youth Services, the Board of Education and the Chamber of Commerce. 15 mentors have been recruited to work with 7th and 8th graders at Timothy Edwards School. 9 Grandparents attended support group meetings and 37 others received other support services. 18 parents used materials from the Parent Resource library. 236 parents and professionals received information and referral services. 2000-2001 ANNUAL REPORT 29
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2001 Annual Report - Town of South Windsor

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