VOTE/BOARD OF YOUTH SERVICES UPDATES

To see if the Town will vote to amend or disband the Board of Youth Services’ organization, name, mission, and terms, including, but not limited to, changing its name, removing residency restrictions for members and updating board operations; or take any action related thereto.

(Inserted at the request of Board of Youth Services)

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The Select Board urges Town Meeting’s support for updates to the 1962 Vote establishing the Board of Youth Services (“BYS”).  In brief, the BYS’s orientation, resources, and challenges have changed since 1962.  The BYS asserts that it would like to update its charter in the following manner:

• Rename the Board of Youth Services “the Arlington Youth Counseling Center Advisory Board,” which better captures their primary function relative to Arlington’s services for young people;
• Provide for flexible membership totals, allowing the Board to have no fewer than seven (7) and up to eleven (11) members;
• Amend member requirements to allow for appointment of persons who are not registered voters in Arlington, including volunteer and professional staff dedicated to serving Arlington youth, and affirming their commitment to an inclusive Board that reflects the diversity of the Town; and
• Adding term limits of up to two consecutive three-year terms to better cycle members on and off the Board; and

That Article 63 of the 1962 Town Meeting (as amended by Article 116 of the 1979 Town Meeting) be and hereby is amended as follows:

That a committee be appointed known as the Board of Directors of Youth Services  Arlington Youth Counseling Center Advisory Board, the purposes of which shall be to assist in the prevention, treatment and control of problems relating to the children and youth of the Town and to advise and assist other agencies, both public and private concerned with such matters; said committee to consist of up to eleven (11) and no fewer than seven (7) members reflecting racial, ethnic, and other forms of diversity in Arlington, consisting of the following with conditions set forth herein:

• At least four (4) registered voters of the town; and
• Between zero (0) and five (5) non-residents depending on the size of the Board who by occupation, course of study, or experience demonstrate noteworthy commitment to the concerns of Arlington children, youth, and the work of the Arlington Youth Counseling Center, such that at any given time the majority of the Advisory Board shall be registered voters of the Town, except in instances of unanticipated vacancies, until successors are appointed; and
• All of whom shall serve without compensation and who shall be appointed by an appointing committee of three members composed of the Chairman of the Board of Selectmen Select Board, the Town Manager, and the Superintendent of Schools;
• The appointing committee shall vote, upon receiving a request from the Advisory Board, to expand or contract the membership of the Board consistent with the foregoing requirements upon a request from the Board.

the initial appointments to said committee to be made in the following manner: two (2) members to be appointed to serve for a term of one year, two (2) members for a term of two years, and three (3) members for a term of three years, all to serve until their respective successors are duly appointed and qualified, and thereafter the said appointing committee to appoint annually such number of members as there are terms expiring in such year to