HomeMy WebLinkAbout1980-08-04-HSC-min.pdf A
HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE
8-4-80
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Present Howard Levingston, Steve Baron, Ruth Butler, Nicky Osborne, Carol Perez,
Also Elizabeth Pressman
Absent Ruth Nablo, John Mackey
The meeting was called to order at 7 30 p m. The new reporter from the
"Lexington Independent", Marcia Williamson introduced herself to the committee
Minutes of 7-7-80 and 7-21-80 were accepted as written.
There was some discussion of whether new HS Committee appointee, John Mackey,
would be the best to serve on the committee in view of his inability to give time
to the committee between January and April It was felt that perhaps he could
serve temporarily while the Selectmen continue to look for a permanent member
Committee members felt that Town owned human services materials should be
on file, and that the library should be aware of where that file is located
The suggestion was made that perhaps the file itself should reside at Cary Library
Bea Phear, Management Intern, talked about where she is with the elderly needs
assessment Press releases are going out about the survey She has held five j
"living room" discussions with groups of elderly Two more are scheduled Bea
has found these meetings very useful There seemed to be general agreement about
the issues Transportation, housing and companionship were the three priority
issues Lexpress was highly praised by the senior citizens They are very
concerned that funds will be cut and it will be discontinued Cost of living
increases and doing routine chores were concerns expressed around housing.
Finally, many seniors have a fear about isolation now or in the future Some dis-
cussion followed
The next topic addressed by the committee was plans for a workshop Ruth Butler
asked what is feasible for the committee to do? She also wished to know where the
committee hopes to be next June, at the end of its tenure? Nicky Osborne suggested
that a workshop definition may generate ultimate committee goals
The chairperson went on to ask whether a committee such as this one would ever
feel comfortable performing budget reviews of agencies, or would the best approach
be to know the right questions to ask?
Carol Perez offered that the workshop could be a cooperative effort, by the
committee and the agencies, to evaluate the evaluation criteria used to review the
agencies She added that this would be on a less philosophical level than the
draft proposal suggested Discussion ensued Nicky Osborne said that involving
providers in planning is a workshop in and of itself, Ruth Butler agreed She
wants providers to feel free to talk to their own agenda, as opposed to having to
react to the committee agenda as they did during the earlier evaluation process
Nicky indicated that it is difficult to be both supportive and evaluative
Howard Levingston stated that it is difficult for the HS Committee to evaluate
actual amounts of funding He believes the committee should do more program
evaluation and let the Appropriation Committee do fund evaluation Ms Butler said
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that an integration of quality of program and efficiency of program would be ideal
Steve Baran added that the Town expects the HS Committee to carry out the dual role
memtioned by Nicky
The Appropriation Committee needs to know why this committee asks the questions
it does, Ruth Butler contributed Howard added that there are key ways of questioning
to know how an agency is managing, you don't have to know about the programs of the
agency The effectiveness of the organization can be evaluated Priorities must be
set by the HS Committee, stated Nicky If a decision can be reached on what kinds of
programs the Town wants to fund, then the agencies can be evaluated based on whether
or not they provide those kinds of programs
Ruth Butler asked how one would know which available resources are underutilized?
If there are such resources, how could one increase their use? Ms Perez placed
Hayden Recreation Center $n this category
When people come to an agency, if the agency does not respond to them they
don't return, said Ruth Butler A first encounter in the human service system
should be community centered, rather than agency centered Agency personnel should
ask "what in the community will serve this individual best," not "what in this agency
will serve this individual best " Then, went on Ms Butler, we can make more use
of what resources we have Nicky feels that this is related to the town government
acting as a coordinator of services If the Town could act as a resource to people,
it would then learn a great deal about the various agencies It would become an
ongoing needs assessment
Steve Baran believes that there should be interim planning for a workshop
He would like to sensitize agencies to be community oriented Ms Butler would like
to get the system to work for people when they need it and in ways that they need
it. Discussion followed.
Dr Baton reiterated his idea of using a workshop to do something to break
down the "inward dwelling" of agencies Howard continued that agencies should
focus on providing services rather than on maintaining an agency
Ms. Butler would like to set a date for the workshop At the next meeting a plan
for the workshop should be made She suggested sending notes to agency people asking
whether they would like to help in the planning She would explain that the
committee is struggling toward guidelines for evaluations and perhaps the agencies
would like to participate in the process Ms Butler also thought that one or more
of the Selectmen might like to join in the planning or make suggestions
The meeting was adjourned at 10 10 p m.
Respectfully submitted,
Elizabeth H Pressman
EHP/kh