Spectrum closing was fiscally responsible act

The Schaumburg Township Board voted to discontinue counseling services to youth at risk via in-house staff and contract instead with the Kenneth Young Centers. We felt this was the responsible action to take in light of the fact that KYC is certified to perform these professional services, has a good reputation for having done so within the community it serves and will be able to expand on services provided previously by Spectrum staff and at a lower cost to the township.

KYC is utilizing the township facilities to make this changeover in service as transparent and as smoothly as possible without interrupting services to existing clients. This action provides more services for less money. The drop in center for teens has been closed but based on interest in partnering with other governmental bodies and agencies the board will consider reopening it.

The town board has historically acted in a fiscally responsible manner and always proposed and implemented a balanced budget. We continue to be critical of how taxpayer money is being managed at a time when our state and federal governments are unable to develop balanced budgets and review programs for effectiveness.

We hope the example the township sets would be adopted by them, and they too make the difficult decisions toward fiscal responsibility, without limiting or discontinuing services to those in need.

Mary Wroblewski, Schaumburg Township supervisor

Trustees Diane Dunham, Scott Kegarise, W. Robert Vinnedge and Jeff Mytych