TORRINGTON – Every Tuesday morning since he started, Torrington Police Chief Matt Johnson found himself in a meeting with other community leaders. The topic of discussion? How to best help struggling youth in Goshen County.
For the past two years, community stakeholders and volunteers have been hard at work putting together a program that has the most potential to help youth in Goshen County. Now, that effort is coming to fruition in Goshen County Youth Alternatives.
After so much time spent applying Band-Aids only for them to fall off again, Mayor Randy Adams put out a call to action for community stakeholders such as the Goshen County Attorney, Goshen County Sheriff, leaders in the school district and others to come up with a solution the city and county could sustain.
Johnson and the others met every week to discuss what exactly this program should look like. With a new long-term solution that doesn’t require masses of money from the city, struggling youth can get the help they need to repair broken relationships or overcome obstacles holding them back without fear of vanishing resources.
The goal of the Goshen County Youth Alternatives program is to “[empower] youth in Goshen County to overcome short term challenges and find long term success through relationships, resources and accountability.”
“It’s not really new,” said Johnson. “But we’re trying to revive it.”
The program is not intended only for youth who find themselves in the justice system, but for any youth in Goshen County who might be struggling to find success in school or other important areas of their lives. By engaging on an individual and community basis, those involved with Youth Alternatives believe youth can receive the help and guidance they need, help they may not be getting anywhere else.
“We know that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” Goshen County Prevention Specialist Lynette Saucedo said. “The hope would be that really putting some of what we consider upstream prevention strategies and practices into development really means that we are keeping students out of the court system.”
The program focuses on five different areas for the youth involved. Restorative justice, community service, mentoring relationships, academic enrichment and mental health support all work together to help youth repair what they have broken and to form healthy relationships.
Restorative justice focuses on restoring relationships that have been broken through helping youth gain an understanding of the consequences their actions have and helping them make amends. This can be through writing an apology letter or other means of forming an apology.
Community service opportunities will aim to provide chances for youth to feel a sense of belonging. Research has shown that youth involved in bettering their communities feel more of a sense of responsibility for the safety and wellbeing of their neighbors and are less likely to engage in reckless behavior that could have serious consequences.
The program will also help struggling youth foster mentoring relationships with community members. In the same way a brother or sister can help a younger sibling, volunteers can be there as a support for the youth. These relationships can provide new perspectives and introduce a new world of possibilities through tutoring and other quality time spent together.
Academic enrichment such as tutoring services aims to provide extra help and motivation for students to succeed in school. Mental health services will also be available to youth, helping them face the trials and struggles of everyday life.
The Youth Alternatives Coordinator, a new position in WYO Help, will coordinate efforts between all the involved parties to meet these needs. Interviews will take place Friday, Nov. 5 for this position.
The person who fills it will meet with youth and their families to determine what obstacles are keeping youth from achieving the success they are capable of. After developing a plan with youth and their families, the coordinator will work with the Single Point of Entry Team, made up of community stakeholders such as the county attorney, city and county law enforcement and the school district, to implement the plan or make changes as needed. After the SPE Team accepts the plan, the coordinator will supervise the student and help them engage with relevant resources while maintaining coordination with the municipal, district and circuit courts along with the school district.
The Community Advisory Board meets the second Monday of every month in the Conestoga room at City Hall at 1:15 p.m. All those interested in learning more or in becoming part of the new program are invited to attend.
“We have a number of community members on our advisory board and believe we have a good process in place to build the program,” Kyle Borger said. Borger is the Executive Director of WYO Help.
While the Chief of Police will oversee the day-to-day operations of the program, the Youth Alternatives program all happens under the advisement of WYO Help. WYO Help also oversees the program’s funding, including grants from WYO Help, contributions from the City of Torrington and private donations among other sources.
Goshen County Youth Alternatives accepts private cash donations, applications for volunteers and program donations such as pizza or gift cards to local restaurants to help youth create healthy relationships and engage in healthy activities. The program currently has the funding to support its first year, a budget of approximately $65,000.
The Torrington Rotary Club has also donated signs available for sale to raise money for the program. These signs read, “We support first responders. Thank you for your service!” in red, white and blue. They are available through the Police Department for $20 each.
Acquiring the funds for just the first year hasn’t been easy. Saucedo has been hard at work with the others involved to get the program enough funds to get going.
“Funding is always a challenge,” she said. “In a time when budgets are getting even tighter and that kind of thing, it becomes even more of a challenge.”
As difficult as it has been so far, Saucedo recognizes and celebrates the successes she’s seen, including the joy of working with the others involved.
“I think one of the real key factors in developing this program…is just a lot of very committed stakeholders who are not acting territorial in any way and playing together very well in the sandbox, and just really keeping at the center of every decision we make what’s best for the families and students in our community.”
The families and students involved in Youth Alternatives don’t always look the same or come from the same background. Youth can find themselves needing help no matter where they’re at.
“A lot of times, people have this perception that stereotypically it’s low-income, low-functioning people that are a part of programs like this, and that’s so far from the truth,” Saucedo said. “Substance abuse and mental health challenges are nondiscriminatory. It doesn’t matter how much money your family makes or what your status is in the community or what education you have. Those challenges can always be present.”
Members of the SPE team have expressed their firm resolve to help the youth of Goshen County.
“I don’t know that this is the only answer,” Johnson said about the program. “But we’ve got to try.”
