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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1979-12-11-HSC-min.pdf 1 Human Services Committee December 11, 1979 Present Carol Perez, Ruth Nablo, Stephen Baran, Nicky Osborne , Ruth Butler Howard Levingston, Elizabeth Pressman Absent Barry Marshall The meeting was called to order at 7 35 p.m. by Carol Perez Mrs Perez asked the committee and visitors to introduce themselves The guests included Dr Jack Monderer of Pupil Services, Rex Jarrell, coordinator of the High School guidance program, Marie Harleston,counselor at Estabrook School, and Althea Korte, a member of the Guidance Advisory Committee Dr Monderer gave an outline of the school guidance system, from Kindergarten Screening through alternative learning situations at the High School level. He emphasized that Pupil Services tries to prevent problemssfrom developing or becoming serious When there is a problem, Pupil Services tries to work them through, their functions include testing, evaluating and remediating, mainly through Chapter 766 The relationship between the schools and other agencies was discussed next People from Mystic Valley are used for consultations about 6 hours per week There has been no charge for this service for the last 3 years since Mystic Valley has a federal grant that covers this work The schools do, however, have additional time from Mystic Valley at a rate of $15 /hour Lexington Counseling Service also does work for the schools at the same rate Last year $15,000 was budgeted for these services but only a small portion of that was actually spent REPLACE provides services to the schools without a charge With parental permission Mystic Valley sometimes works in collaboration with the schools on a particular case When the schools feel that long term therapy is in order, the case is referred out of the schools Counseling within the schools is more related to social relation- ships and to helping students manage within the academic process There are "staffing' meetings at each house in the High School to discuss problems of particular students A collective decision is made on how to proceed When necessary Mystic Valley or Replace may be called in to help The outreach worker from REPLACE frequently visits the High School He also presents programs at the Junior High and elementary school level Dr Monderer said that it took a while to discover how schools could use the outreach worker At this point a second worker could be used There is little direct contact between the schools and the Lexington Police There was cooperation between them on developing ideas for dealing with Jr High age students heading toward trouble When the need has arisen, the school people have felt comfortable in relating to the police Human Services Committee Page two 12/11/79 Mrs Nablo asked whether or not there is a need in the summer for more personnel to deal with problems Dr Monderer replied positively and 'said that perhaps a counselor should be in place during the summer There is some money in the budget, he added, that might be used for that purpose The summer coop was mentioned as having been a constructive way for kids to spend time in the summer It gave them the opportunity to meet positive adult role models and to develop relationships with them. This program is no longer offered The committee asked the guests what they perceived to be unmet needs for children in Lexington The B C study has found the need for an emergency shelter which now does exist. Mrs Harleston said that working parents have problems finding suitable care for children after school and during vacations She suggested the possibility of using Senior citizens as babysitters It would, she felt, benefit all parties One group of parents did get together and create a program after school at the Bridge School There is a small fee to pay for the people hired to be with the children. Mrs Harleston said that the idea grew out of a single parent group that the schools and Mystic Valley jointly sponsored, She also indicated that non- Bridge students could be part of the after school program Another perceived need was more consultative services to school counselors dealing with problems of divorce, death and similar areas Some of this is now available, but not enough A third need was thought to be in working with non-special needs students who have problem in some areas Dr Monderer suggested that the schools could use help in developing curriculum in areas such as drug and alcohol abuse, divorce, family relationships, interpersonal relations and human sexuality Training staff to use these curricula would also require some help A discussion of High School kids' need for more involvement with the counseling staff and what are prevalent problems in the High School followed. Mrs Nablo asked whether Lexington has hired any social workers as counselors He said not at the High School level, but maybe the elementary level In the High School counselors must be able to do career and college counseling Another need mentioned was for a person who could make easier connections among various constituents in Town, such as youth and elderly Some of the special programs in the Lexington school, have been made poseible by Chapter 766 This year there are 736 special needs students The expenditure for them is $1,751,000 A discussion of some 766 programs and costs followed Human Services Committee -3- 12/11/79 A discussion of the new Emergency Shelter took place There is a 30 day limit for each stay Residents must be between 14 and 18 years of age Referrals are through many agencies though a child can just walk in. Intensive therapy goes on during the stay There has been some training of people in each school to deal with problems of abuse and neglect More general training of staff will now take place Mrs Perez thanked Dr Monderer and the other guests for coming and asked for the option of inviting them back in the future Dr Monderer said yes and that he would like to collaborate on developing some new programs Elizabeth Pressman invited the committee to attend the meeting of the Selectmen on January 2, 1980 at which they would be discussing the Human Services budget She also passed around the correspondence to and from Rob French, a Reed Street resident, regarding institutional housing It was learned by the committee that Concord has cut off funds from CMARC because of dissatisfaction with services provided There was a discussion of committee goals and the Selectmen's charge to the committee It was decided to make the regular meeting day Tuesday instead of Monday The next meeting will focus on the Boston College Needs Assessment study The meeting was adjourned at 10 10 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Elizabeth H Pressman bc/ll/21/79