Dianne Bladon, lead petitioner, announced a community forum on the youth substance abuse funding article that will be voted at Annual Town meeting this year. The forum will be held Thursday, March 6th at 7pm in the Senior Center at the Town Building. The article’s petitioners will present details of the warrant article and the funding request. In addition, staff from Wayland Youth and Family Services, members of the Youth Advisory Committee, and members of WaylandCares (Wayland’s community coalition) will be on hand to answer questions about youth substance abuse prevention in Wayland. All members of the community are welcome and are encouraged to attend.

Since 2009, Wayland’s youth substance abuse prevention efforts have been coordinated by WaylandCares. A series of grants funded the WaylandCares director and program coordinator, who provided leadership, coordination, training and technical assistance, and environmental programs and strategies. The last grant expired in the fall of 2013.

Last year, Wayland’s budget included funding for WaylandCares staff and programs, but Town Meeting voted to delete the funding, and directed the Board of Selectmen to develop another proposal. When they were unable to do so, a group of volunteers from the two WaylandCares review committees developed this warrant article. It proposes to expand Wayland Youth and Family Services to include this programming, and to increase their staffing and funding.

The forum will include information about the history of WaylandCares, their programs, the effect of youth substance abuse in our community, and data about the programs’ results.

For more information about the forum, or about the warrant article, contact Dianne Bladon at dehbladon@gmail.com or 508-358-0068.