Youth Services, Family Counseling Center Merger Decision Near

By John Voket

After several months of fact finding and meetings among executive subcommittees representing Newtown’s two principal counseling and support agencies, it appears a final merger decision is just weeks away. Last Monday, more than a dozen staff and volunteer directors of Newtown Youth Services (NYS) and the Family Counseling Center, Inc (FCC) met at Newtown Savings Bank to begin full-scale deliberations on the proposal.

In mid-March, The Bee first reported on the possibility of a merger between these two nonprofit organizations, both of which receive Newtown taxpayer underwriting and provide services to hundreds of town residents. By the end of March, the executive boards of each agency formally endorsed exploring the options and opportunities that might result from a possible merger.

During the public portion of last Monday’s meeting, the outcomes of several executive subcommittee sessions were revealed, and discussion about any individual’s concerns was invited. Once that portion of the meeting was adjourned, each organization broke into separate executive sessions to begin exploring the issues of contracts and staffing.

According to NYS Chairman Christopher Gardener, once those private sessions wrapped up, the two groups reconvened briefly agreeing to take the information and conclusions of the meeting to their full respective boards. Both of those independent board meetings are scheduled to be held by month’s end, when a final decision on whether to move forward with the merger will be announced.

“I think it’s ultimately about building capacity to serve more of Newtown’s kids and families better, and about how we as agencies can collaborate in reducing administrative overhead, and redirecting taxpayers’ and donors’ underwriting to programs that generate real and positive outcomes,” Mr Gardner said after the meeting.

During the early part of the meeting, FCC board member Laura Kurtz told the group her subcommittee reached the conclusion that while each agency provides services on closely related but parallel paths, one of the only points of overlap comes in the funding sources each group taps. She pointed out that while her agency had a very successful clinical program already in place, NYS was actively looking to expand its certified counseling and addiction services.

“I see each agency growing into areas where the other has strengths,” Ms Kurtz said, “along with saving money and eliminating any duplication of services.”

She envisioned an eventual system where virtually any member of the community could call or drop in, and immediately receive the optimal, comprehensive support required under one roof.

“If you are a family in need, you’ll make one phone call and we’ll immediately [point] you in the right direction,” she said.

Officials’ Blessing

Joe Humeston of the FCC board said he and fellow subcommittee members met with Newtown First Selectman Herb Rosenthal, who reiterated sentiments he had expressed early on about the proposal going back to last March.

“Herb said it was a good idea,” Mr Humeston told the group. He said he broached a concern about the town potentially reducing its collective funding if the two groups were to join as one.

“Herb said as long as we provide equal or greater service, there is no reason to expect a cut to our municipal grants from the town. He thought it made a lot of sense,” Mr Humeston said of his conversation with the first selectman.

Robert Mitchell of the FCC board said he had similar conversations with State Rep Julia Wasserman and State Senator John McKinney, and was pleased to announce that a potential merger might bode well for even greater state support in the future, than the independent agencies receive currently.

Mr Gardner said he wanted to speak with representatives of an agency that underwent a similar merger recently, and was referred to an executive of United Services, which coordinates youth and family services for 21 towns in the state’s northeastern corner. He was told of a situation where numerous independent organizations were individually “limping along, and are now strengthening each other,” under the collective banner.

“Here’s an agency whose budget went from $3.1 million to $8.5 million in its third year [following its merger],” he said. “They shaved almost ten percent off their budget right off the bat, and the people in the town’s they serve got excited. They collectively created an organization that pursued and received increased government funding.”

Staffing Concerns

The discussion raised the question of how the two organizations would fold into one and still maintain the personnel sustained between the two individual agencies. Mr Gardner responded by pointing out that the NYS was without a permanent executive director, and that by incorporating the talents of the new FCC executive Beth Barton, the organization might actually be positioned to hire additional staff, or transition certain part-time executive positions to more hours or possibly full-time status.

Ms Barton told the attendees that the FCC already had a capable part-time clinical, medical, and financial director in place as well as two full-time and several part-time licensed therapists.

Hypothetically, if both agencies were to agree to move forward administering a merger, it was the consensus that the fully merged administrative and staff structure would be completed on or before January 1, 2007, with a goal to complete all the financial machinations by June 30, 2007, the end of the agencies’ respective fiscal cycles.

“This gives us plenty of time to back out if things are not working,” Mr Gardner suggested.

Mr Mitchell seemed enthusiastic about the prospect of collaboration, outlining four benefits the entire community would enjoy immediately. He illustrated an agency providing a single point of contact for services; an expansion of services made possible by combining both agency staffs; greatly enhancing the probability of grants and other funding sources to enhance programming; and realizing efficiencies of scale as staff mergers and the reallocation of responsibilities ensued.

Virtually all of the collective representatives expressed an appreciation for what a new agency could bring to the community by combining the skilled, licensed, and certified professionals at the FCC, along with their state and federal licensing and affiliations together with the NYS, which is providing a wide range of less intensive support and intervention, and an ability to generate significant volunteer contributions.

The executive boards of both organizations will be holding their annual meetings on June 26, at which time the decision about whether to proceed with merger plans is expected to be tendered.