Manchester youth services requests six counselors to fill coverage gaps in schools and community

Mike Quigley, director of the Office of Youth Services (OYS), presented a strategic staffing initiative to the Manchester Board of Mayor & Aldermen at the board meeting, outlining gaps in school coverage and a proposal to add six youth service counselors to expand services in schools and the community.

Quigley told the board the office served about 350 young people last year and is seeing referrals rise. "We're up about 26% this year, with the same amount of staffing," he said, and said the proposed hires would allow OYS to serve an estimated 220 additional youth. He described persistent coverage gaps at West High School, Hillside Middle School, Southside, and the MST site and said more than 70% of OYS clients lack transportation to get to after-school or evening programs.

The proposal would add six full-time youth service counselors to provide one staff member per middle and high school now lacking dedicated coverage, start a pilot position for elementary schools, and assign a staff member to better cover charter campuses such as Founders Academy. Quigley said the department currently relies on a mix of dedicated staff, community-based programming and interns; he named Mario Pena as the in-school programs manager who is covering West High while also overseeing other responsibilities, and identified Yusuf Uyama as a youth development coach who is covering Hillside while still managing community programs.

Quigley described supervision concerns at some schools where interns from Southern New Hampshire University provide services without on-site, seasoned OYS counselors. He also noted partnerships memorialized by memoranda of understanding with the school district and community partners including My Turn, MCRC, Safari Youth Club, Girls Inc., the Salvation Army and the YMCA.

Aldermen questioned priorities and funding. Alderman Vincent asked the staff to be realistic given budget constraints and asked which schools would be prioritized if only two positions were funded; Quigley replied, "We prioritize West High School and Hillside Middle School." Quigley said OYS staff will meet with the mayor this week to discuss the department's budget request and encouraged a conversation with the school district: he recounted that the district superintendent told them, "of course, we, we love you guys. You've, you've just never asked," and that the superintendent suggested the city identify whether it could cover positions so the district could consider matching support.

Elected members suggested pursuing multiple funding avenues, including city budget allocations, school-district collaboration and outside grants; Alderman Barry and others recommended finding permanent office space on the West Side so staff do not lose neighborhood access. Alderman Barry also supported pursuing a grant writer for the city.

Quigley provided additional program details: roughly half of OYS programming is delivered in schools (including the "big program," Future Success and Take Control) and the other half is community-based (leadership academy, summer programming, school-vacation activities). He said OYS recently expanded the youth council from about six participants to nearly 30 and is engaged with an Opportunity Youth Task Force focused on workforce development for disconnected young people.

Board members asked for data follow-ups. Quigley said he would provide a school-by-school breakdown of referrals; during the meeting he reported 46 school-origin referrals in the previous four months and said about one-third of this year's referrals have come from community sources such as parents or ACERT. Aldermen also asked the clerk and public works to check the status of an earlier Sherman Park master plan and the possible site (the former Regis Lemiere Center) as a permanent OYS home.

No formal vote on hiring or budget allocations occurred during the presentation. The meeting ended with a motion to adjourn by Alderman Barry, seconded by Alderman Allheart, which the board carried without a recorded roll-call tally.