Committee Report - Youth - 4-6-16 — File 201165

Youth Services Committee Page 1 of 1 Printed 4/10/2016 April 6, 2016 REPORT OF THE YOUTH SERVICES COMMITTEE Attendee Name Title Status Arrived Matthew McLaughlin Chair Present Mary Jo Rossetti Vice Chair Present Katjana Ballantyne Ward Seven Alderman Present Others present: Jill Lathan - Recreation, Doug Kress - HHS, Tim Snyder - Mayor’s Office, Rositha Durham - Clerk of Committees The meeting took place in the Committee Room and was called to order at 6:00 PM by Alderman McLaughlin and adjourned at 7:45 PM. Document List: • Recreation Program Data (with 200871 & 200872) • Recreation Participation Stats (with 200871 & 200872) Approval of the January 27, 2016 Minutes RESULT: ACCEPTED 200535: That the Administration communicate with immigrants and community groups regarding recent ICE raids, and inform them of their rights and resources. Mr. Kress spoke about community meetings which were held with schools and families to reassure residents that they can still call 911 if they have any concerns and to reiterate that Somerville is, and will continue to be, a safe place and that the police are here to serve and protect. One meeting was attended by approximately 60 people. RESULT: WORK COMPLETED 200595: That the Administration update this Board on the Black Lives Matter dialogue sessions held last year. Mr. Kress reported that the conversations were about race and racism. Both Nancy Bacci and Sonja Darai, from the city’s staff, participated in the dialogue, as did consultant Tracy Brown.

Youth Services Committee Page 2 of 2 Printed 4/10/2016 Students from Teen Empowerment also took part in the sessions. Mr. Kress also spoke about the city looking at its job descriptions to be more open relating to race, posing questions such as, how does the city frame some of these things as it relates to hiring practices, how balanced are the city's policies with regard to race, how do we educate our students and include this information in the curriculum, what does the city’s current staffing look like compared to the community? There were also discussions about what language(s) to hold the meetings in and to print on flyers for distribution. Mr. Kress said the city wants to continue the conversation and work with personnel on recruiting. Chairman McLaughlin asked Mr. Kress to provide a spreadsheet of peoples’ comments and the action steps around hiring. Alderman Rossetti’s motion that the Director of Health and Human Services share the report on community conversations regarding race and racism with the committee when it becomes available, was approved. RESULT: WORK COMPLETED 200871: That the Director of Recreation continue to share annually all program data, by program and gender, for ages 18 and under, with yearly comparisons starting with FY 2013. Ms. Lathan provided a report of recreation programs detailing the fees, ages of the participants, number of participants and how many are Somerville residents for the Fall of 2014 (FY-15). Mr. Snyder stated that the accuracy of the information from previous years, prior to Ms. Lathan’s employment, could not be verified. Alderman Ballantyne questioned how decisions are made if not by using data from previous years and asked to see previous years’ activity side by side showing the programs. Alderman Rossetti distributed a report from the summer of 2013 to show the differences between the report from Ms. Lathan and the report from previous recreation superintendent. RESULT: WORK COMPLETED 200872: That the Director of Recreation continue to share annually all program data, by program and gender, for ages 19 and older, with yearly comparisons starting with FY 2013. See discussion of 200871. RESULT: WORK COMPLETED