Southborough Youth Commission reports 271 survey responses, expands summer outreach and pilot programs

The Southborough Youth Commission on July 8 heard a director’s report outlining summer outreach efforts, pilot programming and progress on a community needs assessment that has collected 271 responses so far toward a goal of 366, Director Sarah Mikas said.

The survey will inform youth programming and services across the Town of Southborough. Mikas told commissioners that staff have pursued multiple outreach channels this summer — including on-site visits at the town transfer station, a presence at community events, and planned tabling at select summer concerts — to boost response rates.

Commission members were told the outreach at the transfer station produced about "30 to 35 responses just from doing that," Mikas said, and that Recreation invited staff to a block party at the Finn School to further promote the survey. "As of today, I think the last time I checked, we had 271 responses," Mikas said. The commission’s target of 366 responses corresponds to the threshold staff identified as statistically significant for Southborough’s population; Mikas said the team expects to continue collecting replies through early fall and open houses at the start of the school year.

Mikas described several program and partnership developments. Staff met with the director of a new Family Promise program operating out of space provided by St. Mark’s Church, which offers temporary shelter and vocational supports for families; the commission discussed ways to connect families in Southborough with that resource. The commission also discussed a partnership with the Southborough Housing Authority (Colonial Gardens) to pilot weekly on-site consultation hours. "I'm going to be there — I believe it's 9 to 10 to start," Mikas said of the Thursday consultation hours. She said the plan is to start with one hour and, pending demand and facilities work, expand staff- or intern-led programming on site.

Staff described a leadership training collaboration with Southborough Extended Day for counselors-in-training, and three newly developed info sessions for the summer and coming school year: a formalized "navigating the mental health system" session, "embracing adversity," and a recently completed one-hour session titled "why mindfulness." Mikas also said staff are pursuing QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) gatekeeper instructor training to offer suicide-prevention instruction in the fall.

Commissioners were asked to share the survey broadly; staff said they have printed copies available to place in residents’ mailboxes and to provide at outreach locations for residents without online access. Mikas said Friends of the Southborough Youth Commission will join her at St. Mark’s Church for the congregation’s Open Plate fundraiser and that staff will attend a Southborough blood drive with materials to solicit survey responses.

Commissioners asked clarifying questions about logistics and next steps: Melissa Shields asked what time the Colonial Gardens consultation hours would begin, and Mikas confirmed the 9 a.m. start. Commissioners discussed staffing and the need for multiple volunteers to cover fall school open houses, where tabling is busy and requires two people at many schools to be effective.

The commission plans to continue outreach through summer and early fall events with the explicit objective of meeting the 366-response goal and using the survey results to shape programming for the coming school year.