Selectmen Approve Committee to Study Future of WaylandCares

WaylandCares volunteer Jim Forti and Director Heidi Heilman along with Wayland Youth and Family Services Director Lynn Dowd asked selectmen Monday night to create a new advisory committee dedicated to studying the future of WaylandCares.

WaylandCares is "a community coalition dedicated to reducing youth substance use and abuse in Wayland," according to its website. It has existed, under a few different names and incarnations, since 1981.

Forti explained that WaylandCares has been operating since 2008 on a $625,000 federal grant. That grant, however, is only funded through 2013 and, after that, the future of WaylandCares is in question.

“The grant money is dwindling and the number of grantees is rising," Forti said, adding that pursuing grant funding remains a project for WaylandCares.

Forti proposed that the Board of Selectmen appoint a WaylandCares sustainability committee charged with examining the work and structure of WaylandCares and exploring how the organization could continue should grant dollars dry up.

Heilman told selectmen that 10 years worth of data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey show a 10 percent decrease in substance abuse among Wayland teens since 2005.

"We’re probably one of the leading communities when it comes to substance abuse prevention,” Forti added. "I believe that there’s a place for WaylandCares in the town budget."

Selectmen spoke positively about the work of WaylandCares and Joe Nolan added that he hoped the town could provide a "belt and suspenders" to the organization in case grant money did not come through.

A unanimous vote in favor of forming the committee ended the discussion.

The advisory committee will consist of five members that the Board of Selectmen will appoint and will exist until Oct. 31, 2012. The charge will be to review the accomplishments of WaylandCares as well as its value to the town; make recommendations about future funding structure and organization in order to ensure sustainability; and determine the cost to fund WaylandCares while exploring the possibility of acquiring 501c3 status.