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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1980-04-29-HSC-min.pdf 4-29-80 HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE Present Carol Perez, Ruth Butler, Nicky Osborne, Stephen Baran, Ruth Nablo also Elizabeth Pressman Absent. Howard Levingston, Barry Marshall The meeting was called to order at 7 35 P.M by Carol Perez Bill Blout, director of REPLACE and members of his staff, board and `volunteers were-introduced to the committee Mrs Perez stated that at this meeting REPLACE representatives will have a chance to ask questions about the HS report on their agency She added that the committee is advisory to the Selectmen and looked at the agencies receiving Town funds at the request of the Selectmen ,The meeting ,was then openod to discussion Mrs Mary Lou Touart, chairperson of the REPLACE-board, told the committee that Howard Levingston and Steve ,Baran .had gone over the report with REPLACE She hoped that inaccuracies 4n the report, .pointed put at that meeting, would; be, corrected pill Blout stated that the {Hain concern REPLACE has is with the tone of the report Dr Baran replied that the tone had not been previously discussed He indicated that Mr Levingston .is rriting .an addendum-to the report ehich ;will correct the inaccuracies Mrs Topart expressed the concern of .the ,REPLACE board that the report was 'not quite fair. Ruth Butler asked whether it was correct that the recommendations of the report had not been questioned? Mr Blout asked in what terms the agency needed to 'prove itself"? He feels that there arc good vomprehensive financial records that in fact, had never been requested by the committee Ms Butler then referred to differences in line items on different budget sheets given to the :ommittee Mr Blout indicated that one sheet was the operating budget while another was a projected budget He admitted that this was confusing ME Butler responded to the question of 'proving" themselves She said that there needs to be proof of the preventive thrust of REPLACE More definitive descriptions of preventive outcomes should be given What is it that REPLACE is striving to prevent2 How does REPLACE appraise its own programs? She suggested that at the beginning of a case outcome expectations be well articulated The outcome can be measured against that Mr Blout said that Ms Butler' s comments referred to secondary prevention, •bile much of REPLACE's work , especially outreach is primary prevention This, he continued, is more difficult to articulate He would be glad to get help on how to do this The thrust of the agency, said Mr Blout, is primary prevention Drug education at the elementary and junior high levels are geared to get kids to make responsible decisions about drugs Ms Butler replied that it is difficult to show that primary prevention in fact has worked Mrs Touart added that REPLACE can tell the committee what the various programs are The number and nature of the contacts can be given, Mr Blout stated The vice chairperson of the board asked where the committee sees duplication of services Mrs Perez answered that it is not clear to the committee where the boundaries are, not just in REPLACE, but in all agencies Some discussion of linkages with the Lexington schools followed. Mrs Touart stated that in the oast REPLACE has had 'no money" contracts with the school system. The contract for this year has not yet been signed The contracts nave required that REPLACE provide free counseling and quarterly reports on Chapter 766 In fact, such reports have never been requested In order to obtain funds from Chapter 766 formal involvement is necessary REPLACE has made some efforts to this end 4-29-80 - 2 - d Mrs Perez told REPLACE that the HS committee would feel itself being helpful if it aided REPLACE in looking at itself and in making the Town aware of what the agency is doing The question of third party payments was raised Mrs Nablo suggested tha ,a Dr Monderer be included in REPLACE's discussion of obi-71_ning third party payments She felt from her talk with him that he does want to be involved in long range planning Mrs Perez indicated that an ongoing concern of the committee is what linkages exist between agencies, whether or not they are useful, and, if not, why? Mr Blout stated that funds had not previously been asked for from the schools because there was no justification for them The agency has now presented its history to the School Committee and were well received This will help pave the way for the next step, asking for funds, Mr Blout continued There are positive and negative aspects to receipt of third party payments, he went on, and the board will be grappling with '! this issue Ms Butler suggested that the issue not be dealt with philosophically She proposed that REPLACE document what it is doing and show that the methods they use to deal with problems are innovative She asked whether the agency feels that third party payments would be disruptive to the trusting relationships with adolescents? Steve Baran asked whether a mixed model is possible, that is some people pay and some receive free services? Ms Butler felt that when REPLACE provides a service for another agency that agency should be charged a fee Similarly, a family receiving services is different from an individual adolescent seeking help Before leaving, Mrs Touart stated that she assumed the agency will get a copy of the revised report She added that representatives of REPLACE would be happy to meet again with the HS committee The REPLACE people then left The minutes of April 15, 1980 were accepted as written Ruth Nablo asked the legality of CMARC not using the Lexington appropriation for a salaried contract procurement person Mrs Pressman said that she would check on whether or not that was specifically in the motion passed by Town meeting Ruth Butler stated that the CMARC people would like to meet with the HS committee at the end of May to update their position She also indicated that the fiscal base from the State is in great flux for all programs The new director of CMARC is trying to get a better program in hand and better staffing, Ms Butler reported CMARC may still want a contract procurement officer but would like to discuss it with the committee Once the crisis is over, Ms Butler wondered, will the steady drive to develop a program remain? She felt that in eleven days the new director had done a great deal Ruth Butler is favorably impressed with the efforts Ruth Nablo suggested • writing a sample contract to present to CMARC for their reaction Mrs Perez suggested that CMARC put in writing when they received their current work contract, how long they will last, whether or not they are renewable, and how they 'p1an to-procure new contracts Ms Butler added that they describe how these fit into the total program Carol Perez told the committee that since she has been accepted in a doctoral program she will not have the time to continue as chairperson of the committee Her resignation will take effect after the meeting on May 13, 1980 4-29-80 3 - Some discussion of the future meeting schedule and what needs to be accomplished took place According to Ruth Nablo, Dr Monderer took exception to the committee saying that agencies plan in a vacuum He felt that the Human Services Council had done some joint planning He is interested in a workshop The particular summer work- shop that the committee had thought relevant to REPLACE is)in factinot It will deal with career counseling Dr Monderer is very supportive of REPLACE Steve Baran asked whether there had ever been closure with REPLACE? Discussion followed Dr Baran believes that a facilitator is needed to help create linkages between agencies The committee needs to work on evaluation criteria and goals he went on, and perhaps tolerate the frustration of lack of closure with the agencies Ruth Butler felt that the committee should attempt to give some guidance for growth and development Ruth Nablo stated that this would make the committee advocates Ms Butler replied in the affirmative and said "but responsible advocates " The root cause of duplication of services needs to be found said Ruth Nablo She advocated a Human Services Council with representatives from various agencies Nicky Osborne suggested that the new planning director, Bob Bowyer, would be receptive to human services being part of the planning department, as they were when he worked in Cambridge She thought that perhaps the committee should invite him to come to a HS meeting around the issue of integration of services Agencies should be accountable in terms of three areas, Ruth Butler stated, 1) program service performance, 2) program efficiency and 3) to the total community What does each program use to measure its own performance? Ruth Nablo felt that the providers are somewhat wary of the HS committee The committee needs to evaluate the structure of the entire Town human services, rather than just passing judgement on agencies, she offered Nicky Osborne emphasized the need for the committee to have an overall statement of goals and objectives She suggested that ,each committee member draft such a statement for the May 6 meeting Mrs Perez related that Mrs Battin had called asking for members of the committee to provide any possible help in developing the elderly needs assessment How do people go about doing such a study that will project future needs as well as present? What resources would be used? What are the needs and how do you assess those needs? How should data be collected? Nicky Osborne said that you could get paid consultants to do the job, but she thinks it would be a good project for a graduate school Members of the committee agreed to contact those schools with which they have contacts Ruth Nablo asked whether there are needs assessment formats that the Town could plug into She added that the Lexington League of Women Voters had done such a study a number of years ago That format should be reviewed also Finally, it was suggested that possibly an intern could interview various experts" and pull a study together Mrs Battin also wanted to know whether the committee is ready to become involved in the problem of neighborhood residences yet Mr Robert French had also been in touch with Carol Perez again about whether the HS committee can do anything about planning to prevent saturation of any neighborhood with community residences The committee felt the request to be appropriate Perhaps a meeting should be set up with the Planning Director, the Selectmen, the Housing Authority and Mr French Mrs Perez said that she would speak to Mr French and ask him to put what he would like the committee to do in writing The committee can then act on that 4-29-80 - 4 - letter Mrs Perez also will discuss with the Selectmen how they want the committee to proceed The committee feels the topic may belong more appropriately in the hands of the Planning Director Katherine Stearns of the Minuteman newspaper called Mrs Perez to interview her about the committee On Friday, May 2,Mrs Perez will speak to Ms Stearns The chairperson will outline what the committee has done and what they are currently working on Mrs Pressman suggested that Mrs Perez ask to see the final copy of the article before it goes to press Mrs Nablo reminded the committee that no one had ever been appointed as liason to the Community Health Committee Mrs Perez wondered whether those who offered to work with the HS committee should be utilized at this point in study groups Some discussion followed It was suggested the minutes of the HS meetings be sent to the Community Health Committee Once the HS group has defined its goals and objectives, the liason person will be considered Ruth Butler will write and send a letter to CMARC The meeting was adjourned at 10 25 P.M Respectfully submitted, Elizabeth H Pressman