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Youth & Family Services reports full calendar, grant losses and a push on youth survey and prevention
Summary
Youth & Family Services told selectmen the holiday-giving program has 86 children enrolled, fall events drew hundreds, and a major five‑year prevention grant (about $131,000/year) ended in June; staff said a federal Drug‑Free Communities application failed and the department will seek other funding while running a youth-risk survey in mid‑December.
At the selectmen meeting, a Youth & Family Services presenter updated the board on programming, outreach and funding challenges facing the department.
"It's officially underway… we've got 86 kids signing up," the Youth & Family Services representative said about the holiday-giving program, listing two upcoming distribution events (Nov. 30 and Dec. 6) and a 37th annual holiday craft fair at the middle school on Dec. 6. The presenter said fall events drew strong community turnout — the fall fest approached 1,000 attendees and a pumpkin run had more than 400 participants across races, children's runs and community tables.
On funding, the presenter said a five-year prevention and communities grant that paid roughly $131,000 a year (about 30% of the department's budget) ended in June. The town applied as fiduciary for a federal Drug‑Free Communities grant but the national program announced no award this cycle. "Not great times for prevention," the presenter said, adding the department will continue to seek funding.
The presenter described about $70,000 remaining from opioid-prevention sources that have arrived in intermittent small disbursements and said those funds have supported programming but are not a stable payroll source. The department will conduct a biennial youth-risk survey for grades 7–12 on Dec. 18–19 to gather data on mental health, substance use and risky behavior — data officials said is vital to support funding applications and program design.
Selectmen and the presenter also discussed problem gambling among youth and adults, and the presenter noted the department's prevention programming and outreach on gaming and social-media influences. The board expressed support for outreach and for public engagement about next steps.
The selectmen took no formal action on funding at the meeting; staff reiterated they will pursue grants and report back on any formal funding requests.
