2019-01-14 Joint BOS and SC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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January 14, 2019 Page 1 of 5 Joint Selectmen and School Committee Meeting Monday, January 14, 2019 A Joint Meeting of the Board of Selectmen and School Committee was called to order at 7:23 p.m. on Monday, January 14, 2019 in Estabrook Hall of the Cary Memorial Building for the purpose of holding the seventh 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; Mr. Lucente; Ms. Hai; Mr. Malloy, Town Manager; Ms. Axtell, Assistant Town Manager; and Ms. Siebert, Recording Secretary. Present for the School Committee (SC) were Ms. Jay, Chair; Ms. Colburn; Mr. Alessandrini; Ms. Linehan; Ms. Sawhney; and Dr. Hackett, Superintendent of Schools. Also present were Wendy Rundle, Facilitator;Melissa Interess, Acting Director of Human Services; Julie Fenn, K-12 Physical Education and Wellness Coordinator; Tony Serio, Assistant Director of Youth and Family Services. Recap of Previous Joint Meetings Regarding Mental Health Initiatives Ms. Rundle, Facilitator, provided a summary of the mental health initiative to date. These meetings have examined a central question: "What should be the role of the Municipal and School departments, and the community, in providing mental health services for the Lexington community?" The last Mental Health Joint meeting of the Board of Selectmen and School Committee took place on June 18, 2018. Tonight's meeting will focus on progress made since the last meeting and recommendations for moving forward. Municipal and School Staff Update Regarding Mental Health Services Ms. Interess reported that the Mental Health Task Force was formed in the spring of 2018 to combine the work of the Mental Health Joint meetings and the collateral work being done with funding from a planning year CHNA 15 grant which Lexington was awarded in 2018. Ms. Interess said the current effort is to establish a sustainable framework that will develop protocol alignment; strengthen collaboration and communication; enhance programs and services; and partner with community stakeholders. There are three more years of CHNA grant funding available. The Town of Lexington also allocated $99,000 in the Human Services Department budget for FY 2019 to fund mental health initiatives, of which $12,500 was disbursed in November 2018 for the first year of William James Interface Mental Health Referral Service. The recommendation of staff is that the remaining $86,500 be used to fund a new clinician in the Human Services Department; Ms. Interess said that the basis for the recommendation is that current staff are stretched too far to provide the level of services and outreach deemed necessary to meet the needs of residents.