HomeMy WebLinkAboutHSC - Human Services Committee - Charge - August 3, 19818
Selectmen's Meeting
August 3, 1981
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HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE
CHARGE
MEMBERSHIP Eight members serving staggered two-year terms. Appointment by the
Board of Selectmen by May 31 of each year.
Backgrounds to be represented: human service management; planning
and evaluation of human services; fiscal planning; health care and
prevention; Town government; providers of human services (excluding
those significantly associated with providers of human services in
Lexington); interested citizens.
PURPOSE OF
COMMITTEE The Human Services Committee is advisory to the Board of Selectmen.
In that capacity it will recommend to the Selectmen human service
policies, goals and priorities. It will advise the Selectmen upon
issues that arise in the light of the human service policies adopted
by the Town; it will, as requested by the Selectmen, oversee the
implementation of those policies assuming, as appropriate, the
following roles -- planning, coordination, evaluation, communica-
tion. The Committee will be responsible for suggesting the re-
sources necessary for citizen education about human service needs
and services and will be responsible for designing mechanisms for
public participation in community human service issues.
CHARGE TO THE
COMMITTEE 1. Continue to recommend human services policy and the allocation
of Town resources to. the Selectmen as well as provide criteria
for setting goals and priorities and for making decisions.
The Selectmen adopt the policy emphasizing prevention recom-
mended by the Human Services Committee in its May, 1981 report.
2. Develop a human services planning process -- integrated inter-
nally with the other Town agencies involved in human services
(see attached) as well as those Town agencies involved in the
Town's physical and economic planning and integrated externally
with the planning done by private agencies as well as regional,
State and Federal planning entities. Within this very impor-
tant :segment of the charge lies the .following -tasks.: .,Theex-
pression, assessment and prioritization of needs; an inventory
of resources and services available to Lexington citizens;
identification of duplications and gaps in services; develop-
ment of communication among the Town Boards and administrators
involved in human services as well as providers and advocates
for those in need; assessment and improvement of the planning
process at the individual case level.
3. Continue to analyze critically the funding requests presented
to the Selectmen and the Town Meeting as well as. review and
comment on requests for Town endorsement of proposed human ser-
vices (A95 review).
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4. Evaluate -how effectively -.public and private human service
agencies are responding to community needs and carrying
out the Town's human services policies. Recommend con-
tracts to be entered into between the Town and human ser-
vice agencies and organizations, designing such contracts
to serve the prevention component of the human service
policy while. enhancing the agencies programs. To this end
the Committee will work with the Town administration in
providing contract specifications and.monitoring criteria.
5. Anticipate and be responsibe to emerging community human
service issues informing the Selectmen as they arise;
design an information -and referral process.
The Town Manager`s office will supply staff support to this Committee.
The Human Services Committee shall report at least annually in writing to the
Board of Selectmen and the Town Meeting no later than the end of January. It
shall review periodically its composition, purpose and charge, recommending
changes as necessary to. the Board of Selectmen.
** The Role of the Town
A. The Present Position
Today, some human services are rendered by private organizations, some
by the Town, some by state and federal agencies, many by a mixture of
these. The following departments, commissions and committees of the Town
are already or potentially involved in the rendition of human services:
Health Department, Police Department, Veterans Services, Housing Authority,
School Committee, Youth Commission, Council on Aging, Recreation Committee,
Trustees of Public Trusts, Trustees of Cary Library. Selectmen's Advisory
Committees: Transportation, Community Health Education, Senior Center
Sites, School Sites Conversion. Some of these are devoted entirely to what
we define as human services; for others, human services in the sense we use
the term is only a small portion of their contribution to the life of the
community. But all are part of the human services. picture.
The Town directly funds a portion of the budget of some private human ser-
vices organizations, such as Mystic Valley Mental Health Center and
RePlace.
The Planning Board is inevitably involved with the areas of social, physical
and economic planning.
In addition, the state and private sector plan and operate programs for our
citizens based on their own perceptions of local needs.
What is lacking is coordination and the capacity for planning and evalua-
tion of these human service efforts and allocation of resources.
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