Youth & Family Services Move To Town Center Delayed

By John Voket

Citing a family emergency involving a primary contractor and “standard operating delays inherent in most construction projects,” the chairman of the recently merged Newtown Youth & Family Services said the organization is moving forward with plans to occupy its new headquarters on Church Hill Road by December 1.

“We’ve got moving on the calendar for November 29,” agency chairman Chris Gardner told The Bee Monday. “We hoped it would be open by now.”

The pending move is among several high profile changes in the organization, which also included the recent resignation of Executive Director Beth Barton. Mr Gardner said Ms Barton resigned effective October 31 with the intention to seek new opportunities.

“Beth had the vision to merge Newtown Youth Services and Family Counseling Services of Newtown. And our boards were able to carry that vision through to better serve the community, and to ensure the continued expansion of services our residents demand,” Mr Gardner said. “Frankly, it was a matter of survival; it isn’t as easy as we thought it would be, but we are just halfway through the first year of what we all expected would be a five-year transition.”

Mr Gardner said the changes that have been taking effect in the year since the two agencies announced a planned merger are exciting for everyone involved.

“Virtually every program we offer, every support group, has more people participating today than we had last spring,” he said. “We’re seeing more kids, more moms, and we’re able to keep the waiting period for counseling down.”

The organization’s vice chairman, Joe Humeston, is heading up the executive search committee, according to Mr Gardner.

“We’re looking for a strong executive director who relates to the community, and who will be able to help us explore new funding sources so we can grow the agency without depending on increasing support from the taxpayers,” Mr Gardner said.

Other personnel changes involved former clinical director Elise Trock moving into a position where she will continue to handle counseling and support groups, while opening up time to increase the client load in her private practice. Clinician Rebecca Cohen, a three-year staffer at Family Counseling Center, has taken over responsibilities as clinical director, Mr Gardner said.

“The retention of these two professionals was extremely important,” he said, adding that the organization is also looking for new board members.

The conversion of a former real estate office, which was itself formerly a residential home, is presenting challenges given the agency is trying to maintain a tight budget. Mr Gardner said one major renovation will be to connect the main floor of the former home to an office addition that was previously only accessible through the second floor.

The agency is bound to bring handicapped access up to code, and incorporate additional safety systems, communications and IT infrastructure, as well as a few new coats of paint and installing new carpeting throughout.

“We have to coordinate and do a lot of this ourselves to reserve funding for our programs,” he said.

While all the agency’s clinical operations will remain at the former Family Counseling Center offices on Mt Pleasant Road, he said. Relocating its administrative staff to Church Hill Road will permit the expansion of counseling services in Hawleyville.

All scheduled support groups and services that were being conducted at the Youth Services former offices on Glen Road will continue at the new Church Hill Road headquarters effective December 1, he said. Despite much of the merged agencies operations being in flux, Mr Gardner is enthusiastic about what the move will bring.

“Look at what we’ve got: a new building two blocks from the middle school and several hundred feet from Hawley School; we’re serving more families; we’ve got our executive search in progress, and we’re not in Sandy Hook where the location was not encouraging for drop-ins,” he said. “I’m really excited and the kids who are already coming around are really excited.”