[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 7]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 9291]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   IN HONOR OF ALAN SLOBODIEN, UPON HIS RETIREMENT FROM VERNON YOUTH 
                                SERVICES

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JOE COURTNEY

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 10, 2015

  Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to recognize an exceptional 
public servant from my hometown of Vernon, Connecticut, Mr. Alan 
Slobodien, and mark his retirement from Vernon Youth Services.
  Over the past 20 years, Alan has ably served as the director of 
Vernon Youth Services, an organization devoted to ensuring that ``all 
Vernon children birth to age 18 are safe, healthy, and productive.'' It 
is with this goal in mind that Alan has developed forward-thinking 
programming and policies to engage young people in our town, ensure 
that they have safe places to learn and play, and have opportunities 
for success in the future. His commitment to Vernon's youth is 
unparalleled, and his optimism about Vernon's future has resulted in 
real, recognizable benefits for our community. With Al at the helm, 
Vernon Youth Services through summer nutrition programs, to mentoring, 
to homework support, has continued to make Vernon an ideal place to 
raise children.
  On a personal note, I first met Al over 30 years ago when I was the 
Assistant Public Defender at the Rockville Superior Court and Al was an 
invaluable contact to get help for young clients. He was incredibly 
resourceful, sizing up the needs of young people in trouble with the 
law and designing treatment programs that helped both the community and 
the person. He had a wonderful combination of compassion and smarts 
that I really admired. Despite the sometimes hopeless circumstances he 
tried to fix, he never lost his optimism about people and their 
potential to change for the better. What an inspiration to all of us.
  Please join me in congratulating Alan on his decades of remarkable 
service to his community, and wishing him and his family a rewarding, 
and well-deserved retirement.

                          ____________________