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LEXINGTON HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE JANUARY 14, 2014 The meeting was opened by Chair, Lea Elkins. Those in attendance were Lea, Gail liieds,;` Stephanie Lawrence, Mimi Ballard, Norm Cohen, Charlotte Rogers, Emily Lavine, Bill Bl`olit and BJ. The minutes from the last meeting were reviewed and will stand as recorded. YOUTH AT RISK REPORT • Lea introduced Bill and BJ, who are chairing the Youth at Risk Committee for Lexington. The committee is reviewing all the youth services in Lexington and identifying the gaps in services and the needs of the youth at risk in our town. • They have prepared a survey to help determine what is needed to prevent or at least to reduce risk for youth. The survey is based on the NASW Model of Prevention which measures the level of risk. The survey will be given to school personnel, public services such as our Human Services Department, clergy and other community organizations. They will also conduct structured interviews and hope to have an interim report by the end of September. • Bill and BJ asked our committee to suggest other groups to include in the survey. Suggested were the police department, private schools, parents, mental health providers, the League of Women Voters and the newly created Asian Initiative. Our Human Service Department (HSD) will respond to the survey and the Youth at Risk Committee look at other communities to see what they are doing to help youth at risk. HUMAN SERVICE DEPARTMENT REPORT • Charlotte reported that the department wellness nurse is retiring and they will be reviewing the job description and then advertising the position. • Emily and Matt will be involved with the new Asian Initiative with a meeting on March 29th at Benton Hall. It is open to the public. Asian residents of Lexington have been involved in the planning of the this group. • The family service component of the HSD is seeing families with issues such as crisis stabilization, finances, family mental health problems, dual diagnosis and co- parenting issue. Other activities included attending the Global Mental Health meeting, hosting the cyber bullying movie, and a tubing trip for middle schoolers. The trip had the largest turn -out from the middle school students ever. • Gail and Emily reported on the homelessness coalition in Lexington. This includes what the schools are able to do and how the community can help homeless families. An effort is being made to help the families and at the same time preserving their confidentiality. HSD is providing referral resources and trying to reach parents with preschoolers. The