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Waterbury Prevention Policy Board
History of the Collaborative
In 1997, the CT Community Foundation (formerly the Waterbury Foundation) and the United Way of Greater Waterbury commissioned a Community Mapping Study to determine what, if any, after school programs were available and being offered in 5 at risk neighborhoods in Waterbury. The "Waterbury After School Study" was conducted that year by the Yale Consultation Center. The study used census data to target the 5 key neighborhoods. Throughout the process, the Yale Consultation Center also did statistical analysis, conducted service provider meetings, youth forums and interviews, neighborhood forums, and went through a community mapping process.
Key findings of the "Waterbury After School Study" include:
- Too few after school programs located in the five target neighborhoods
- Limited programs for students between the ages of 10 and 14 between the hours of 2:30-6 p.m. daily
- Too few academic, enrichment, tutoring, arts or cultural programs in the City of Waterbury
- Reduced opportunities for girls
- Many more crisis based after school programs
- Lack of transportation for students and families to and from after school programs
While studying the results, the Yale Consultation Center found that there was a large population of middle school youth who were unable to participate in programs of any type due to the responsibility of caring for younger siblings.
The following year, the Waterbury Board of Education proposed programs for up to 100 students at each of Waterbury's then three middle schools. They were awarded funding from the federal 21st Century Community Learning Center Grant Program, and were funded for three years.
That same year, YouthNet after school programs began at 12 community sites within the five target neighborhoods of the "After School Study".
In 1999, the Waterbury Education Department received the Safe Schools/Healthy Students federal grant. Because of this grant funding, thirty-five community agencies, organization, and stakeholders came together to develop and implement the proposed activities. This same year, the Youth Development Advisory Committee was also formed. The Youth Development Advisory Committee, YDAC, was tasked to do evaluation, research, professional development, and host events.
In 2002, initiatives such as the Title V grants, MEAN, YDAC, 21st Century Community Learning Centers, Youth Council, Youth NET, Combating Underage Drinking Task Force, the Mayor's Task Force Against Substance Abuse, and others were all active in Waterbury. But Waterbury needed a governing body.
Building upon previous community planning efforts, the Waterbury Prevention Policy Board was formed and coordinated by Waterbury Youth Service Systems Inc. as the governing body of this city. Its purpose is to build and support an infrastructure of Waterbury stakeholders that will increase opportunities for positive youth development on multiple levels.
Today, the Waterbury Prevention Policy Board is a community-wide collaborative with over 50 members representing various agencies, organizations, schools, and families. The WPPB has eight committees, and has had tremendous accomplishments since its creation in 2002.
Waterbury Prevention Policy Board Committees
1) Executive Committee
The Executive Committee serves as the steering committee of the Waterbury Prevention Policy Board. The Executive Committee leads and supports the Developmental Assets initiative and the ongoing work of the Prevention Policy Board Committees.
The Executive Committee will be responsible for the sustainability of the Waterbury PPB through the exploration of available funding opportunities.
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2) YDAC- Youth Development Assets Committee
YDAC members will focus their work on the implementation of the developmental assets into organizations and in the community.
The objectives of the Youth Developmental Assets Committee are:
- Committee members will support the Search Institute’s developmental assets framework.
- Committee members will identify and use a process of applying and integrating developmental assets intentionally into youth programs.
- Committee members will identify ways that their program(s) currently build assets and areas where assets might be more intentionally infused.
- Committee members will identify strategies and actions for implementing asset priorities, develop a program assets observation tool and commit to personal asset-building action.
- Committee members will review and support the Core Competencies needed to work -effectively with and to facilitate age-appropriate activities for youth fraudulent occurred
The Youth Worker Core Competencies are:
- Demonstrates willingness to apply basic youth and adolescent development principles.
- Demonstrates ability to communicate and develop relationships with youth.
- Demonstrates ability to adapt and facilitate age-appropriate activities for the group.
- Demonstrates both a respect for and an ability to honor cultural and human diversity.
- Demonstrates the capacity to involve and empower youth.
- Demonstrates ability to identify potential risk factors (in a program environment) and take measures to reduce those risks.
- Demonstrates ability to care for, involve, and work with families.
- Demonstrates ability to work as part of a team and be professional.
- Demonstrates the attributes and qualities of a positive role model.
- Demonstrates ability to interact and relate to youth in ways that build assets or support asset building.
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3) Afterschool Committee
The Afterschool Committee will be responsible for all issues and opportunities related to afterschool program. The Afterschool Committee focuses their work on growing and sustaining afterschool programs within the City of Waterbury.
This committee works to:
- Explore funding opportunities to sustain and grow afterschool programs in Waterbury
- Conduct resource mapping to understand the number of out-of-school time programs in Waterbury, the number of youth being served, and the number of youth not being served by out-of-school time programs.
- To raise awareness about the importance of afterschool programs in Waterbury and for Waterbury's youth.
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4) Mayor's Task Force Against Substance Abuse
The Mayor's Task Force Against Substance Abuse is working toward the education and prevention of substance abuse. Together with the Prevention Services Team of the Waterbury School System, this group designated and steers the spending of prevention dollars from the Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services.
The Mayor's Task Force Against Substance Abuse works to:
- Increase public awareness focused on the prevention of ATOD abuse and to stimulate the development and implementation of local substance abuse prevention activities.
- Provide information about these substances and activities to everyone in the community, from birth-100 years.
- Plan and deliver education on a variety of topics related to alcohol, tobacco, and other drug (ATOD) use, such as refusal skills, signs and symptoms of use, harmful consequences of use, etc.
- Allow for a community based process with regard to ATOD issues, convening representatives from various community sectors and groups who can impact the prevention of substance use in Waterbury.
- Provide alternative activities and opportunities for good decision making and peer support through programs such as Natural Peer Helpers.
- Increase the conflict-management skills of our youth.
- Identify problems and refer to appropriate services and supports within the community.
- Create environmental change, looking at ATOD policies and enforcement of rules and laws created to prevent and intervene where substance use may be occurring.
The Mayor's Task Force Against Substance Abuse will be providing the No Butts About It presentation, which is an interactive performance with Bill Ross of Screaming With Pleasure Productions. The performance will be delivered to every 5th grader in the city. The presentation contends that "middle school is a real balancing act!" and addresses the topics of tobacco- smoking, chewing tobacco, and living with a smoker; drugs & alcohol- addiction, related violence, seeking help, and alternatives to substance use; and school violence- name calling, harassment, bullying, intolerance. Veteran educator and performer Bill Ross uses comedy, drama, juggling, unicycling, music, and poetry to illustrate facts, dispel misconceptions, and inspire critical thought.
The Mayor's Task Force has also presented The Hard Truth at two high schools in years past, rotating the location from year to year, so that 11th and 12th grade students across the city all receive this information in either their Junior or Senior year. Waterbury Hospital , MADD CT and The Connecticut College of Emergency Physicians presents this program on drinking and driving. It takes a no nonsense approach presenting the facts and tragic consequences that results from drinking and driving. The program consists of a graphic power point presentation showing the results of motor vehicle crashes. The program includes guest speakers, victims who have lost their loved ones or have been injured as a result of a DUI Crash, and those offenders responsible for taking a life in an alcohol-related crash.
The Mayor’s Task Force Against Substance Abuse also is supporting training and conference attendance for Natural Peer Helper programs. Natural Peer Helpers work as Peer Mediators or Peer Advocates within their schools. The program is based on the premise that when young people have problems, they often turn to their friends or other adults whom they trust for help and that within every school an informal “helping network” exists. The program seeks to identify this informal network and provide training and support to young people and adults who are already serving as helpers.
Please click here to see the Mayor's Task Force Against Substance Abuse list of prevention resources and services:Resource Guide
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5) Community Valuing Youth and Safety
According to the results of the youth survey, a low percentage of Waterbury youth perceive themselves to be valued by the community or to be viewed by the community as a positive and contributing asset. Also, a relatively small percentage of Waterbury youth feel safe compared to the national population. This percentage is disproportionately lower for girls.
The Valuing Youth and Safety Committee will work to:
- Identify areas in which youth do not feel safe in order to prevent our youth from being exposed to hurtful situations.
- Explore reasons why our youth do not feel safe.
- Explore and provide opportunities for young people to have an active and positive role in community planning and development.
- Work with parents and youth to develop strategies and procedures that will encourage all individuals to discuss and explore the issue of safety in a consistent fashion.
- Work to explore opportunities to strengthen the communication, decision-making and conflict-management skills of our youth.
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6) Parent and Family Involvement Committee
According to the youth survey, Waterbury youth report high levels of family support but poor family boundaries and low family communication levels. Results of the organizational survey and informal discussions with youth program staff indicate that the provision of programs to assist parents to set boundaries, communicate with children and support a child's emotional progress is limited.
The Family and Parental Involvement Committee will work to:
- Strengthen the ability of middle and high school parents to communicate with and set appropriate boundaries for their children.
- Strengthen the ability of youth to communicate with their parents and to learn to ask for and understand positive parental support.
- Increase the percentage of boys and girls who experience positive family support, appropriate boundaries and good communication with their families.
This committee will work with the entire community to increase parental and family involvement. They will use the framework of the Developmental Assets, and use Developmental Assets language.
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7) Children’s Mental Health
In 2007, the Prevention Policy Board received a Children’s Mental Health Planning Grant from the CT Health Foundation. The purpose of this grant is to develop a comprehensive community based system of early assessment, identification and brief interventions aimed at decreasing the number of at-risk youth ages 6-14 entering the Juvenile Justice System, and intensive treatment because of mental health problems. The team is charged by the CT Health Foundation to produce a blueprint to create a comprehensive community bases system of early screenings, identification of brief interventions for children and youth who are experiencing early signs of social, emotional, or behavioral programs.
Members of the Children’s Mental Health team are:
- Sandra Porteus- Executive Director, Family Services of Greater Waterbury
- Gary Steck- Executive Director, Wellpath
- Kelly Cronin- Executive Director, Waterbury Youth Service Systems Inc.
- Attorney Rebecca Iannantuoni- Children’s Probate Court
- Anne Marie Cullinan- Assistant Superintendent, Waterbury Public Schools, Special Education
- Attorney Elaine Skoronski- Waterbury Public Schools, Special Education
- Louise Allen Brown- Grantwriter, Waterbury Public Schools, Chairperson of the Waterbury Prevention Policy Board
- William Rybczyk- Senior Planner, New Opportunities Inc.
- LT Robert Maxwell- Waterbury Police Department
- Debbie McCusker- Chairperson, Family Focus Partnership
- Rick Mosley- Judicial Branch, Superior Court- Juvenile Matter
- Luisa Cumbo- Waterbury Public Schools
- Dan Rezende- CT Junior Republic
- Richard Johnson, MD- Pediatrician
- Peter Johnson, PhD- Department of Children and Families
For more information on the Children’s Mental Health project of the Prevention Policy Board, please contact Lori Hart at (860) 471-9857, lori.hart@charter.net.
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8) Youth Leadership Network
The Waterbury Youth Leadership Network is a project of the Waterbury Prevention Policy Board. It began in October 2008 and is funded, in large part, by a Department of Labor WIA grant. The Youth Leadership Network focuses on educating and training Waterbury young people in the 40 Developmental Assets as well as other character development skills such as resistance skills and peaceful conflict resolution skills.
The Youth Leadership Network is comprised of 32 youth who represent all segments of the Waterbury population. The youth meet at a minimum of twice per week, for a total of 4 hours per week. The youth receive a small stipend through the Department of Labor grant for their participation. Through the project, the youth are responsible for designing, creating, marketing, and implementing the Youth Leadership Network. They are learning the planning and decision making skills necessary to be peer leaders, to make healthy choices and to become leaders within our community.
The youth learn about the 40 Developmental Assets during each class. To date, they have participated in activities such as:
- What makes a role model - Identifying people who have impacted your life positively
- Family support round table discussion
- Community service and volunteer activities
- What makes a good communicator - Improving Communication Skills, Peaceful Conflict Resolution Skills
- 40 Developmental Assets tee-shirt design contest
As part of their participation in the Youth Leadership Network, the youth are planning an Asset Conference for over 200 youth and adults. The purpose of the Conference is to build assets among 200 youth participants as well as to train and empower the youth participants to become asset builders among their peers, and leaders in our community. The students in the Youth Leadership Network are fully responsible for all aspects of the conference, such as arranging for transportation, organizing workshops and securing speakers and facilitators.
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