2009 Annual Report - Belknap County

We are proud and pleased with the level of expertise and commitment of our
council members and the effort contributed by many of our local agency leaders
who participated throughout this initiative. John Tuell, our project’s national
consultant from the Child welfare League of America, had this to say: “While I
have worked with numerous states on similar system reform, New Hampshire’s
initiative is the only one to have emerged from a grassroots, volunteer effort. The
leadership of the Belknap County Citizens Council on Children and Families has
been both excellent and expeditious.” See the Council’s website www.bccj.org for
the final report, executive summary and protocol presented to the NH Department
of Health & Human Services.
A final report was also submitted by the Council to the New Hampshire House
and Senate on HB1370, a bill to allow information sharing among juvenile justice
providers in Belknap County. This bill was introduced by Rep. Alida Millham
and cosponsored by Reps. Jim Pilliod, Judie Reever and Beth Arsenault to allow
providers to share specified information for purposes of improving services to
juveniles who repeat offenses and to enhance the providers’ ability to track recidivism.
This report is also filed on the Council’s website.
On October 2, 2009, the Council said goodbye to Judy Buswell after nearly eight
years of service to the Council. Judy was recognized for her many contributions to
the council and juvenile justice system serving, along with Sheila Weeks, as one
of the prime movers behind the development of the Council and the Restorative
Justice movement in Belknap County. Judy’s retirement from County service
gave us all cause to reflect on the many accomplishments she made to the Council
and to the future of children and families in Belknap County.
And finally, after eight years of bringing systemic planning, program development
and system change to Belknap County services for children, youth and
families, the Citizens Council will be ending its work under the auspices of the
Belknap County Commission. This move developed as the Council was informed
that the County would no longer fund its efforts due to economic conditions and
the decision to realign county expenditures with county responsibilities. In discussions
between the County Commission and United Way leadership, a realignment
of services was proposed that would see elder services, formerly funded by
the United Way, fall under the county’s umbrella while the planning, coordination
and system integration activities performed by the Citizens Council become part
of the array of services provided by the United Way. On January 4, 2010, Council
Executive Director, Alan Robichaud will begin working for the Lakes Region
Belknap County Commissioners
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