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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1980-06-09-HSC-min.pdf HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE June 9, 1980 Present Ruth Butler, Stephen Baran, Carol Perez, Ruth Nablo, also Elizabeth Pressman Absent Howard Levingston, Nicky Osborne The meeting was called to order at 7 35 p.m. by Ruth Butler The minutes of June 2, 1980 were accepted as corrected For clarifications, CARF, referred to in those minutes stands for Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities If CMARC does not receive CARF accreditation the agency will lose Mass Rehab accreditation, and therefore, not be used by Mass Rehab as a facility for their clients CMARC is the only such facility in this area currently used by Mass Rehab Under new business Ms Butler related to the committee a phone conversation she had with Mr William Page, Chairman of the Community Health Committee He wished to discuss the possibility of working with the Human Services Committee on a preventive program around the elderly Ms Butler suggested that he wait until the model is more clearly laid out and the Selectmen have approved it Mr Page indicated that he may attend the Selectmen's meeting at which the model will be discussed. Some discussion followed about whether Mr Page should meet with the Human Services Committee as a whole or with the chairperson individually Ms Butler favored the former, while Ms Perex indicated that much committee time could be saved by the latter Finally, Ms Butler expressed the thought that it seemed as though Mr Page wanted the Human Services Committee to accept as an assignment from his committee a preventive program for the elderly She had told him that the Human Services Committee was not in a position to respond until after they meet with the Selectmen The chairperson related that she had attended the REPLACE open house and was enthusiastically welcomed by Mrs Touart of the REPLACE board. Ms Butler was surprised to find out that the program was smaller than she had expected Ms Butler announced a day workshop at Emerson Hospital on the topic of housing alternativefor the elderly No member of the committee is able to attend There was some discussion of whether or not Mystic Valley Mental Health Center intends to relocate SAFEHOUSE The question of what resources are available for advice on approaching problems of siting of community residences was raised Discussion included the problems related to the integration process of children with various handicaps into the schools and people with problems into the community The problems of real estate and economics go beyond the realm of human services Neighborhood integration is different from educational integration The mandate to the Human Services Committee called for an integrated approach to problems, that is, that this committee work with other Town boards, committees, and relevant community organizations Ruth Butler added that a problem cannot be approached from a totally philosophical view Some discussion ensued about the attempt of Interfaith Housing to have the Lexington Housing Authority take over the management and ownership of the present Interfaith units Interfaith could then concentrate its resources and efforts on building more units The Human Services Committee sees itself having a contribution to make in terms of the human component of a town problem that transcends different groups in terms of normalization The committee feels that part, but not all of the responsibility for such problems rests with them. For what can the Selectmen look to the Human Human Services Committee 6/9/80 Services Committee? American society has made progress in recent times in the integration of devalued groups into the mainstream. The committee sees the beginning of integration of another devalued group, those with mental and/or emotional handicaps into society The committee is predisposed favorably toward the integration of all groups in order to have a healthy society Deinstitutional- ization is seen as a problem of this nature One component of the Human Services Committee is to be contributory to the whole process of integration. Ruth Nablo read her draft of a contract between Lexington and CMARC It was accepted by the committee to be passed on to Selectman Battin for review, and finally to Town counsel to be put in appropriate legal form The Council on Aging, reported Mrs Nablo, is concerned that they are being excluded from the elderly needs assessment The committee agreed that they need to be reassured that they will, in fact, have input A tenative date, for a meeting to be jointly sponsored by the Human Services Committee and the League of Women Voters has been set by the Lexington Women Voters as October 21, 1980 The Human Resources workshop of the Lexington Women Voters would work on the meeting with the committee In addition to approval of this plan by the Selectmen, it was asked that the Board approve other speaking engagements by the committee, as well Ms Butler has been asked by the Women's Fellowship of the Hancock Church to speak next January about human services She feels it is important to involve various people in the process of carving a model for the Town. Steve Baran's draft proposal was discussed What needs to be prevented? Ruth Nablo suggested feelings of alienation by various interest groups High School age youth, as well as some faculty members were mentioned as groups feeling alienated Ms Butler asked what alternatives the committee would offer? There is a preconceived notion of what success in school is The school system in Lexington sees its role as preparing kids for college It rates itself on the basis of numbers of students going to top rated colleges Mrs Nablo felt that REPLACE ought to address some of the problems of alienation. Mrs Perez asked how does the Town create support systems? Value systems? Steve Baran offered that though REPLACE deals with the problems of alienated kids, it does not try to help them feel comfortable back in the mainstream They are made to feel comfortable at REPLACE, but the next step of helping them feel comfortable in other settings may not be taken by REPLACE staff The agency may not have confidence in some of the areas kids would be pushed back into, Mrs Nablo suggested The chairperson stated the necessity of moving to a concrete project She said that needs which relate to progress in development create points of vulnerability Promotional programs, social experiences that are promotional to one's assets, could help at these points Most human service agencies deal with unmet needs of problems, rather than with fostering non-problem, positive areas Social experiences that give the opportunity to acquire self-direction are promotional, Ms Butler concluded People want to know more about promoting positive aspects of individuals The agenda for June 16 includes 1 Finalizing evaluation criteria 2 Making a summer schedule that will be realistic so that all can attend crucial meetings The meeting was adjourned at 10 10 p.m Respe dlxlly vubmitted, C`(�1 ^-I lla IdASVr, mpa-L./ Elizabeth H Pressman ®it,c_