Town of Arlington, MA - Youth Services Annual Report 2003

The Arlington Youth Consultation Center (AYCC) continued its therapy services to Arlington children, adolescents, parents, and grandparents in 2003. Approximately 400 people seek help from AYCC in a given year. People ask for help with a variety of family problems. These family problems are often conveyed through symptoms in their children, such as poor grades in school, peer difficulties, substance abuse, depression and suicidal ideation, or aggressive behavior. Having this community resource for these Arlington families is a wonderful service that AYCC provides.

In 2003 AYCC continued its collaboration with the Arlington Public School system, providing in-house counseling for several school programs, including STEP, CLASS, and Reach-Up – at the high school; The Learning Center at the Ottoson Middle School, the Preschool Program, and the special kindergarten class at the Stratton. The counseling component provided by AYCC helps the students access the educational program offered by these specialized programs. The collaboration has been a very successful and rewarding one.

In 2003 the AYCC budget was significantly reduced. This reduction meant that 63 hours per week of service time was cut. This reduction in service hours to youth in Arlington occurs at the same time that services to youth in the entire Greater Boston area have become extremely hard to access. The impact of this loss of service time can endanger the lives of young people, cause families to live with unaddressed psychological problems, and increase the stress in families’ lives.

The Year 2003 marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Town’s Alcohol and Drug Education Program which provides a comprehensive substance prevention program for the schools. Under the lead of the Board of Youth Services, the program is considered a model in the state. The following programs were implemented during 2003 for students, parents and the community.

AHS celebrated the twentieth anniversary with a special assembly that featured a presentation of the multi-media program “In Real Life.” Developed by MADD (Mother’s Against Drunk Driving), the program is a sequel to “Fake I.D.” which was shown at last years SADD assembly. Both programs received rave reviews from students, teachers, administration, and invited guests from the community. The Arlington Police Department defrayed the cost of the program through a grant they received in 2003.

The Alateen meeting in Arlington celebrated its sixth year of having provided a support group for teenagers (including age 12) whose personal lives are, or have been, affected by close contact with a parent, relative or friend who has a drinking problem. On any given Sunday evening, between fourteen and sixteen teenagers meet from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Fox Library and Community Center to learn the importance of shifting their attention from preoccupation with the alcoholic’s behavior to a heightened awareness of their own identity and self-improvement. Four Al-Anon sponsors oversee the program.

For the twenty-sixth year, school educators recognized that peer education is an exciting, productive and cost-effective way to teach young people. The Alcohol Awareness Peer Leadership Program trained seventy juniors and seniors for fourteen weeks to lead four discussion classes with approximately 370 sixth graders. Peer leader training session topics included alcohol and other drugs, family alcoholism, building self-esteem, decision-making skills, peer and media pressure, and personal attitudes towards alcohol use and abuse.

The Arlington Safe Homes Program is comprised of Arlington High School and Ottoson Middle School parents who share a concern about the use of alcohol and other drugs by teenagers in the town. Since the program’s inception in 1991, approximately twenty percent of parents have signed an agreement to provide responsible supervision at parties in their homes, and not to allow alcohol and other drugs to be used.

The Board of Youth Services continued its service to Arlington in 2003, supervising the functions of the Arlington Youth Consultation Center and extending services to Arlington’s youth and families. Members continued to support such noteworthy programs as CAPP (Child Assault Prevention Program), the Arlington & Drug Education Program, the Safe Homes Program, the Martin Luther King Holiday Celebration, the First Step Group and Stepping Stones Group, and the Arlington High School graduation celebration.

Two members of the Board of Youth Services – Elaine Shea and Mary Deyst – co-lead the First Step Group and the Stepping Stones Group. They are ably assisted by two other volunteer co-leaders – Sue Lahaie and Lucille Gallagher. Twenty-five women receive support services from these two groups. This is the most remarkable volunteer effort, saving the town thousands of dollars in otherwise paid staff time. And it is a most remarkable effort in providing these women in the groups with a safe, nurturing therapeutic environment that helps them to grow and change their life circumstances from trauma to familial health.