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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-03-14 Joint SB and SC/Mental Health Summit-min Joint Meeting Select Board and School Committee March 14, 2022 A remote participation joint meeting of the Lexington Select Board and School Committee was called to order at 7:05 p.m. on Monday, March 14, 2022. The meeting was being conducted via Zoom as posted, with the agenda on the Town’s website and some members and staff were participating in person using the Meeting Owl Pro device. Ms. Hai, Chair; Mr. Lucente; Vice Chair, Mr. Pato, Mr. Sandeen, and Ms. Barry were present, as well as Mr. Malloy, Town Manager; Ms. Axtell, Deputy Town Manager; and Ms. Katzenback, Executive Clerk. Present for School Committee: Ms. Lenihan, Chair, Ms. Jay – Vice Chair; Ms. Cuthbertson; Ms. Sawhney; and Mr. Freeman; e Dr. Julie Hackett, Superintendent of Schools; Sara Mei, Student Representative to the School Committee; and Val Viscosi, Director of Guidance K-12. Also Present: Ms. Interess, Director of Human Services; Ms. Gunda, Clinical & Community Outreach Manager: Ms. Cohen. Framingham State, and Ms. Remington, Framingham State. ITEMS FOR INDIVIDUAL CONSIDERATION  Mental Health Task Force Update  Mental Health Assessment Report  Highlights of Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) and Connections to Adult Data  William James INTERFACE Referral Services Update and Short-Term Remedies  Task Force Advisory Group Updates  Discussion/Questions Kathleen Lenihan, School Committee Chair, took attendance for the School Committee: Eileen Jay – Vice Chair; Sara Cuthbertson; Deepika Sawhney; and Larry Freeman. Also in attendance were Dr. Julie Hackett, Superintendent of Schools; Sara Mei, Student Representative to the School Committee; and Val Viscosi, Director of Guidance K-12. In attendance from Framingham State were Marian Cohen, and Ruth Remington. Also, in attendance from Town Staff were Melissa Interess, Director of Human Services; and Sharon Gunda, Clinical & Community Outreach Manager. Ms. Interess explained that the goal of creating the Taskforce was to create a sustainable structure for addressing mental health in a coordinated way across School and Town departments. The Taskforce has worked on identification of unmet needs, and underserved populations through the mental health assessment that was completed in the spring of 2021. An inventory and repository of mental health programs and services that take place both through the schools, municipal and other community groups has been created. The Taskforce has also started to work on a protocol for responding to critical incidents that align the school and municipal departments when indicated, and clearly delineates roles and responsibilities. Work has begun on evaluation and measurement tools for impact and outcome data. The Taskforce is also working on a Communication and Outreach Plan for promoting available programs and services. Dr. Cohen explained that the Mental Health Needs Assessment was a collaboration of the Taskforce with the Center for Social Research at Framingham State University. The survey received responses from 1,016 adults. Demographic data can be found in appendices of the report. She presented the survey data. Dr. Cohen explained that the survey results lend themselves to a number of recommendations, including recognizing the correlation of physical and mental and for programs and services to take both into account, education regarding transportation options available to those seeking help and reduction of mental health stigma, and promoting the Taskforce website. She suggested that an additional survey be completed at a future date, to determine how successful programming and services are. Ms. Viscosi explained that the Youth Risk Behavior Survey is administered every two years to students in grades 7 – 12. She reviewed the results of the study completed in 2021. Ms. Interess explained that, since its inception in 2018, INTERFACE Referral Service has received 430 referrals from Lexington. The cost per referral is approximately $142. Some barriers to mental health services include long waits for providers and longer waits for follow-ups. Short-term remedies include increased promotion of short-term counseling services and a mental health clinician, contracted through an agency. It was noted that the Taskforce is working on critical incident response, essentially a team-based process for decision making when a crisis occurs that has a significant impact either in the community, or on a group of students. This is a crisis response that impacts both the municipal and school sides, to create a global response. There needs to be a protocol for a larger response on both sides, or a targeted response. Ms. Jay suggested that it might be helpful to reach out to mental health professionals in the Greater Boston community who are studying and working with Asian and South Asian populations regarding these cultural differences. Ms. Cuthbertson noted that she would like to see a breakdown of the data between adult and youth INTERFACE referrals. Mr. Lucente suggested further outreach to encourage more males to take the survey in the future. In response to a question from Mr. Sandeen, it was noted that there needs to be further outreach to those underrepresented by the survey, such as the LGBTQ community. DOCUMENTS: Mental Health Assessment - Full Report, Mental Health Assessment - Framingham State University, YouthRiskBehaviorSurveySummary-2021Highlights, Mental Health Task Force Update ADOURN Upon a motion duly made and seconded, by roll call, the Select Board voted 5-0 to adjourn the Joint meeting at 8:57 p.m. The School Committee followed suit. A true record; Attest: Kristan Patenaude Recording Secretary