2018-05-02 JM BOS-SC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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Joint Meeting of Selectmen and School Committee Page 1 of 5 Joint Selectmen and School Committee Meeting Wednesday, May 2, 2018 A Joint Meeting of the Board of Selectmen and School Committee was called to order at 7:03 p.m. on Wednesday, May 2, 2018 in Estabrook Hall of the Cary Memorial Building for the purpose of holding the fourth in a series of presentations and discussions related to Mental Health Services provided by the Town of Lexington and the Lexington School Department. Present for the Selectmen (BOS) were Ms. Barry, Chair; Mr. Pato; Ms. Ciccolo; Mr. Lucente; Ms. Hai; Mr. Valente, Town Manager; and Ms. Siebert, Recording Secretary. Present for the Schools (SC) were Ms. Jay, Chair; Ms. Colburn, Vice-chair; Mr. Alessandrini; Ms. Linehan; Ms. Sawhney; and Dr. Czajkowski, Superintendent of Schools. Also present were Wendy Rundle, Facilitator; Charlotte Rodgers, Director of Human Services; Melissa Interess, Assistant Director of Senior Services; Gail Fields, Co-chair of the Human Services Committee/clinical social worker; Martha Kurland, Human Services Committee/clinical social worker; and Tony Serio, Assistant Director of Lexington Youth and Family Services. Ms. Rundle opened the meeting by restating the framing question that has formed the foundation of these discussions: “What should be the role of the Municipal and School departments and the community in providing mental health services to the Lexington community?” Mr. Valente summarized the discussions to date, saying that the topic of mental health was first raised by Alessandro Alessandrini in April 2017. Since then, two planning meetings have taken place as well as the first three public meetings convened on September 27, 2017; February 7, 2018; and March 22. 2018. The fourth Joint Meeting, taking place this evening, will focus on a report by the Human Services Committee regarding research it has done on mental health services/programs provided in comparable municipalities. Other topics to be covered are an assessment of challenges and opportunities as identified by staff and a review of Community Health Network Area 15 (CHNA 15) best practices grant for Municipal/School/Community collaboration. A fifth joint meeting, tentatively scheduled on May 23, will focus on Municipal and School staff recommendations to answer the framing question about the Town/School/Community’s role in providing mental health services. It remains to be determined when and how public input will be gathered and processed. Mr. Valente noted that Annual Town Meeting 2018 approved approximately $82,000 to be used for as-yet-unidentified efforts moving forward. Gail Fields, co-Chair of the Human Services Committee, said she and other Committee members conducted individual telephone or in-person surveys of nine comparable towns with similar demographics and school populations. Ms. Fields noted that the Human Services department provided valuable staff support in this effort.