A somewhat more streamlined

Peachtree City Commission on Children and Youth will be

seen at its next meeting, thanks partly to a recent City

Council decision to approve the commission's proposed

reorganization.

The council voted at its

Feb. 3 meeting to amend an ordinance that would allow the

commission to change from nine to five voting members,

along with two alternates and a nonvoting student member.

Some other minor administrative changes also were

addressed in the commission's recommendation to the

council.

Under the amended

ordinance, anyone appointed to serve on the commission

who moves out of Peachtree City will have his or her

position immediately declared vacant and filled with a

designated alternate.

There is also no longer a

requirement for representation from specific professions.

The CCY is expanding its focus from alcohol and drug

abuse to include all aspects of quality of life for

children and youth.

"The duties of the

Commission on Children and Youth shall be to improve the

quality of life for the youth of the community,"

according to the amended ordinance. "The commission

will pursue the quality-of-life issues by following the

guiding principles of selected task forces."

The CCY plan is to form

three such task forces, each to be chaired by a different

commissioner:

The Task Force on

Community Inclusion, Exception Children with

Disabilities, focusing on community awareness and

providing more inclusive programs community-wide for

children with disabilities.

The Task Force on

Education, Development and Prevention, providing

proactive educational programs regarding issues that

affect children, youth and families.

The Task Force on Community

Programs, putting together youth programs and activities

that are reflective of the needs of the community.

Neither the chairman nor

vice chairman of the CCY will chair any of these groups.

The Youth Advisory Board

has recently been structured to mirror the CCY, according

to CCY Chairman Nick Harris. The new format will allow

each task force chairman to have a youth counterpart to

assist with development, implementation and monitoring of

task force projects and activities.

"Organizing into three

task forces with specific goals will enable the

commission to better focus on key functions and

capitalize on available resources," said leisure

services director Randy Gaddo in a memo to the council.

City staff recommended

approval of the amendments in the ordinance, and they

passed unanimously.