Ten members of the community have been named to the newly formed Warren County Resource Board, a group designed to seek funding to provide resources for troubled youth. The Warren County Commission voted 3-0 last Thursday to approve the appointments. The commissioners voted unanimously in October to establish the resource board. According to the county ordinance, the resource board was created to administer, allocate and distribute any taxes or fees authorized by the voters to provide funds to improve or maintain mental health services and alcohol and drug abuse treatments. The services are for individuals 19 years or younger. Steve Martinez, vice president of Crider Health, said the board began taking shape after conferring with Dr. Jill Schowe, Rebecca Boone Elementary principal, and Jan Sutherland, Warren County R-III school board member. Both Schowe and Sutherland are two of the 10 board members. The eight other members of the board approved by the commissioners last week include: Beth Banze, Kristy Cornell, Meg Lefferdink, Roger Mauzy, Tim Nash and Michelle Kemp, all of Warrenton, Carrie Gates of Wright City and Angie Hibbert of Marthasville. "We want to make sure we have people on there who understand the needs of the kids," said Karl Wilson, Crider Center president and CEO. "That means having people associated with the schools, people associated with the medical field, social services or just people who have been volunteers." Some of the services funded through the resource board include crisis intervention, counseling, psychiatric services, substance abuse treatment, parenting skills and temporary shelters. Much of the focus will be aimed at prevention and intervention techniques to help lower the number of youth removed from homes or enter the juvenile justice system. "We want to make sure kids in Warren County are able to grow up with a good start," Wilson said. "It begins with families and schools. There are some kids that fall through the cracks. We all pay for that as a community eventually. You can make a much bigger difference if you catch it early." The commissioners also suggested additional board members living in the southern and western parts of the county be added in the future. Nonetheless, they were pleased with the list forwarded to them. "Not only are these good quality people, but they are people that the community looks up to," Northern District Commissioner Dan Hampson said. Martinez said it was likely the resource board eventually would have 15 members. The board is set up similar to others in neighboring Lincoln, St. Charles and Franklin counties. It's also probable the resource board will ask voters to pass a sales tax in the future, though it's unknown when that might occur. Other funding avenues also will be researched, including obtaining grants. Until funding can be secured, Wilson acknowledged term limits ranging from one to three years must be decided and officers elected. A high priority also is the completion of a needs study to help identify what services are currently available and the overall needs of the youth in the county. The study should be completed in the spring. "In my experience in other counties, a lot of times there are services being provided, but we're just hitting the top of the iceberg," said Jim Wallis, vice president at Preferred Family Healthcare. The initial list of board members had to be approved by the commissioners by Jan. 1, 2010. According to the ordinance, at least nine members had to be selected by the deadline. Half of the group couldn't be associated with health care providers and if possible, one person shall be a licensed physician. In this case, Kemp is employed as an advanced practical nurse, Martinez said. In addition, one-third of the board shall represent current or former consumers of psychiatric or substance abuse services or families and members must be a registered voter who has lived in Warren County for at least three years. The resource board will meet at least four times a year.