Jenny Koppang is a reporter with Community News Service, a collaboration with the University of Vermont’s Reporting & Documentary Storytelling program.
The Winooski City Council has approved a new position focused on supporting the city’s youth population.
Ray Coffey, Winooski’s community services director, said the new job will better address and identify the needs of the community’s young people.
“There will be a shifting of funds to more primary prevention work with youths potentially going into the justice system,” Coffey said. “We are working to put the resources in the right place to get to our young people before they hit the system.”
The idea for this position is not simply a reaction to the nation’s current focus on social justice issues and the defunding of police, Coffey said, but has been in the works for almost a year.
“This shift is representative of many months of work,” he said. “This is not a knee-jerk approach but something we’ve been working towards for a while.”
The job approved at the June 15 council meeting will allow the Community Services Department to provide Winooski’s at-risk youths a more intimate level of support, Coffey said.
The youth interventionist will be able to engage with children entering the system a step upstream, before they are sent to the Reparative Board and certainly before interactions with the police.
“For a long time we viewed the Reparative Board as the first step in the process, but we’re hoping this is the new first step,” Coffey said. “This will allow us to get to kids and connect them and their families with resources before they are even entering the Reparative Board process with the Justice Center.”
The employee chosen to fill the youth interventionist position is Margaret Bass, who is currently Winooski’s restorative justice panel manager and a member of the city’s school board.
Winooski’s city manager, Jessie Baker, said that the youth interventionist position is considered Grade 3 in the city’s pay scale with an hourly range between $19.29 and $23.75.
“The employee started in this role last week with the council approval, however the position is currently furloughed due to Covid-19,” Baker said.
Baker said that Bass is “uniquely qualified to keep connections with our young people by her educational and professional background and her role in the community.”
Winooski City Councilor Hal Colston said the creation of the position is not a move to defund Winooski’s police department, but instead works in concert with it.
“I see them as complementary,” Colston said. “Defunding really means reallocating funds so that we are more effective in delivering resources to the community, and [the creation of this position] is an excellent way of doing this.”
Colston said the relocation of Bass’ position will promote collaborative effort between departments and enable each to complete their jobs more effectively.
“The police department can focus on policing while we can do more of the soft-touch, engagement work that is needed when working with youth who are struggling.” Colston said.
The creation of a youth interventionist position, Colston said, is an investment in the future of Winooski.
In other council business, members discussed the revitalization of Main Street, approved a Covid-19 tax sale policy and approved a motion to recognize June 20 as World Refugee Day in Winooski. The next council meeting will take place remotely on July 6.
