Voi. 18, No. 5
“ Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley”
March 6, 2003
Children, Families
agency views 5-103
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Vernonia elementary schools Principal Kirk Sherrill had to use all of his “persuasive”
skills to get some cooperation from his steed in a donkey basketball game on Feb. 21.
National award goes to 9-1 -1 for budget
Government budgeting is
difficult, as anyone knows who
has been involved, and when
an agency receives a national
award for excellence in budget
ing, it should be noted.
Columbia 9-1-1 Communi
cations District, the emergency
dispatch agency for Columbia
County, has received the Gov
ernment Finance Officers As
sociation of the United States
and Canada (GFOA) Distin
guished Budget Presentation
Award for its budget.
The award represents signif
icant achievement in meeting
the highest principles of gov
ernmental budgeting. In order
to qualify, nationally recognized
guidelines for effective budget
presentation must be satisfied.
The guidelines are designed
to assess how well a budget
serves as a policy document, a
financial plan, an operations
guide, and a communications
device. To receive the award,
budget documents must be rat
ed “proficient” in all four cate
gories.
In addition to the agency
award, Office Support Special
ist Kathy Simek and Adminis
trative Services Manager Nan
cy Edwards were recognized
as being primarily responsible
for the agency’s achievement.
The Governm ent Finance
Officers Association is a non-
profit professional association
serving 14,000 government fi
nance professionals through
out North America. Its Dis-
tringuished Budget Presenta
tion Awards Program is the only
national awards program in
governmental budgeting.
City of Vernonia still
seeking police chief
The search for a police chief
for Vernonia is still underway.
The nine-member search com
mittee has reviewed over 30
applications - from New York,
Texas, Kansas, Florida, Mis
souri, and all western states -
and done interviews, but no de
cisions have been finalized.
Columbia County Ballot
Measure 5-103, which would
require parental permission be
fore a minor could receive any
county services except in nar
rowly specified emergency situ
ations, has been evaluated by
the Columbia County Commis
sion on Children and Families
(CCCCF).
Because of their findings,
Commission Director Jan Ken-
na Spika, M.S.W., shared their
concerns about the impact of
Measure 5-103 on Com m is
sion-funded services.
The role of local Commis
sions on Children and Families
is to provide a method for com
munities to fund locally identi
fied needs, and strengthen the
system of services for children
and families. When local com
missions identify a need and
fund a program, they must
show that the service has had a
positive impact on that need
and that something positive
has happened for the child,
family and/or the community.
Most of the services funded
by the Com m ission require
parental consent before chil
dren and older youth are al
lowed to participate (For in
stance, the swimming lessons
each summer in Vernonia,
which are partially funded by
CCCCF.).
The following do not require
parental consent and Measure
5-103 will limit access to these
services:
• Court Appointed Special
Advocates (CASA) are appoint
ed by a Circuit Court Judge to
act as advocates for children
who are in the court system as
a result of child abuse, and to
report their findings to the
Court. From July 1,2001 to De
cember 31, 2002, the program
served over 73 abused chil
dren. Measure 5-103 allows no
exemption for court ordered
services and, too often, parents
are alleged to have committed
the child abuse. Abusive par
ents are not likely to consent to
this service, with the result that
Colum bia County would no
longer be able to help these
vulnerable children.
• Intensive Probation provid
ed to youth, ages 12 to 15, who
have two or more criminal re
ferrals to the Juvenile Depart
ment, has been successful in
decreasing crim inal referrals
and substance abuse. From
July 1, 2001 to December 31,
2002, the program served 55
youth and their families, but not
all families are supportive.
• The Teen and Family Tran
sition Program was developed
by com m unity members in
1995 to divert youth from child
welfare or juvenile department
services through crisis re
sponse, school monitoring,
anger management and skill
building. It has a 90 to 97 per
cent success rate but self-re
ferred youth who were home
less or abused could not be
helped. Without parental con
sent, county departments could
not even provide minors with
information about safe shelter,
food or medical care.
Please see page 8
Monday, March 17, is
St. Patrick’s Parade
The annual St. P atrick’s
Day parade in Vernonia will
start at 5:15 p.m. on Monday,
March 17th. The parade will
form at the corner of State Av*
enue and Bridge Street. There
is no registration fee for this
home-grown celebration. Par
ticipants should arrive in time
to prepare for the 5:15 p.m.
starting time.
Anybody who wants to join
the parade is invited to do so.
Decorate yourself, your bike,
your car, your dog or your float
and join the fun.