'Valuable Resources Needed to Better Serve Our Youth'

Editor's Note: The following is an open letter from the Youth Commission to town officials.

Dear Mr. Vavrek and members of the Town Council and Board of Finance,

The Monroe Youth Commission would like to go on record as supporting the Town budget requests for

• Ten thousand dollars for Social Services counseling program
• School Resource Officers

We believe these are valuable resources needed to better serve our youth and lay the foundation for future development of broad based family and youth services for our town.

We have recently begun the exploratory process of looking at the options available for expanding our ability to provide greater service to the town in the area of Community Services to help address substance abuse, family counseling, and youth at risk treatment and intervention.

These are areas that have been neglected within our community, yet are so critical. We support an all-encompassing approach to Community Services and agree that it is essential to the health and welfare of our citizens and families in need in order to combat further degradation of their situations both physically and psychologically. It is no longer acceptable to have citizens waiting until crisis intervention is required, when prevention could have ensured their safety, well-being, and mental state. This requires the proper funding, staffing, and private space.

The Youth Commission is comprised of six Monroe residents representing parents, law enforcement, schools, and youth serving agencies. We also have approximately twelve liaison and ex-officio members that greatly support our efforts and attend meetings. These include representatives from the Police Department Youth Office, Social Services, ADAM, Town Council, Board of Education, YMCA, and RYASAP to name a few. These members truly make the Commission function and provide for our youth.

The Commission will continue working on projects and advocating for our youth in town. We ask that the above budget requests be presented to the town residents for a vote.

Yours,

David H Ferris Jr.,

Chair