Old Saybrook - First Selectman Michael Pace is proposing restructuring the town's Youth and Family Services and shifting numerous youth programs over to the Old Saybrook Police Department.

The goal is to provide a more efficient delivery of services, Pace said Monday, by moving Youth and Family Services programs, which range from prevention programs for youth to social services for the elderly, to departments that already have expertise in those areas.

The reorganization plan does not call for any program cuts or layoffs, Pace said.

The proposal to restructure the department comes at what Pace called an "opportune time," as both its executive director, Larry Freundlich, and its social services coordinator, Joanne Messner, are both taking advantage of an early retirement incentive the town offered this fall.

Freundlich's last day was last week, though he remains employed through the end of December, and Messner will retire mid-month, Pace said.

The town is considering either consolidating the two positions into one or making the positions part time, Pace said.

While the department is restructured, Sam Barnes, the town's youth officer and chairman of the Youth and Family Services Commission, will handle the department's day-to-day operations, Pace said. An interim social services coordinator will handle Messner's duties upon her departure.

Pace is proposing that the police department administer the Healthy Communities Healthy Youth program, which runs such activities as after-school programs and a talent show, because it fits in naturally with the type of youth programs Barnes and the Police Department already run.

Youth and Family Services staff who run the Healthy Communities program would, under the proposed structure, report to the police department.

The police department would also become responsible for the Juvenile Diversion Board, which handles juvenile cases referred to it by the police department. The board recommends penalties, such as community service, that serve as alternatives to being sent to juvenile court, said Freundlich, the board's chairman.

Job placement and mentoring services and alcohol and drug counseling would, under the proposal, fall under the school district's jurisdiction, Pace said.

"It's aligning how we deliver services to and through an organization that can better handle it, and to handle it with staff that are already doing the job," Pace said.

Youth and Family Services would be kept as a town department and focus its efforts on providing counseling services, Pace said.

Pace said he has met with police Chief Michael Spera and schools Superintendent Joseph Onofrio regarding the proposed changes. On Monday evening, the Police Commission unanimously voted to support the Police Department's decision to take on the additional youth responsibilities.

"Basically, it's just like every business, and everyone else has been doing them in tough economic times," Pace said. "How do we maintain all of our programs in declining economic times here? And I think we have a way of doing that."

Youth and Family Services has had its share of issues over the years. Four female employees, both current and former, last year accused Freundlich, who has worked in the department for 29 years, of workplace discrimination. The state Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities dismissed the women's grievances last year.

Three of the four women later sued Freundlich in federal court for discrimination; that lawsuit was dismissed in February.