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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1980-08-18-HSC-min.pdf 8-18-80 HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE Present Nicky Osborne, Steve Baran, Ruth Butler, John Mackey, Ruth Nablo, Carol Perez Also Elizabeth Pressman Absent Howard Levingston The meeting was called to order at 7 30 p.m Ruth Butler informed the committee that she will be meeting with Selectmen Robert Kent and Marge Battin, and Health Committee chairman Bill Page on Tuesday, August 19, 1980 at 7 30 a.m She feels that the relationship of the HS Committee and the Health Committee will be discussed The HS chairperson asked for any comments committee members had about that relationship She added that she thinks the Health Committee has approached their work from a policy stance, while the HS group has taken a more philosophical and program approach The 2 committees do have a central theme of prevention Secondary prevention is the emphasis of the Health Committee, while the HS Committee focuses on prevention in the sense of 'wellness Nicky Osborne stated that, at this point, the two groups should work where there are natural linkages The HS Committee is still finding its own focus and it would be premature to add the Health group as a sub-committee If the Health Committee has a particular project in mind for theilS group, then Nicky suggested that Ruth bring the idea back to the committee for discussion Ruth Nablo asked whether the Health Committee had a recommendation for the Selectmen that they would like to discuss with the HS Committee? John Mackey offered that the large size of the Health Committee itself would seem to lend itself to formation of 3 or 4 sub-committees Therefore, he continued, a job for the HS group would need to be very relevant to their own work for them to accept an outside assignment It was decided that Ruth Butler would ask the Health Committee to appoint someone (up to 3 people) to participate in the HS workshop planning and continue (1) as a permanent liaison to the HS Committee The next item discussed was the questionnaire for Lexington's elderly Carol Perez felt the need for a question related to respite care, such as , Are you responsible for the care of a homebound individual? a) fully b) partially c) not at all Some discussion of the income question followed Members wondered why those particular ranges were used, and whether they are relevant to such things as eligibility for certain government programs? Does annual income refer to a house- hold or an individual? A check-off for souces of income was suggested, such as Social Security, private pension earned, other Human Services Committee (cont'd) 8-1.8-80 - 2 - It ;as felt that a bias was present in the questionnaire concluding that there is a need. Question, seem to be weighted, slanted toward those in need of services Some ambiguity was found on questions about whether friends acid relatives are "nearby " Perhaps metropolitan Boston or a mileage category could be used Emphasis on this particular aspect was questioned Nicky asked what the answers to all the questions will mean? Perhaps fewer qucstlons could be asked and the evaluator could then deduce the needs The possibility of an open-ended question was raised Meal sites are not included in the list of services (last page) It was suggested that the number of options be limited and that each respondent choose their top 5 priorities, indicating them, perhaps, with a double check The question of why the total population versus a random sample was raised Question ){15 was thought to be unclear Nicky questioned the widdom of presuming there is a need She also felt that the questionnaire could be streamlined About half of the questions relate to eating and social contacts A suggestion was made that a question be asked relating to various options if the study does find a need to expand service. 'Would you be more likely to use services if a) a new central facility were created? b) there were better utilizations of existing space on a part-time basis? c) home services were expanded? d) there were different utilization of staff' e) none of the above' In the cover letter, the 3rd line in the second paragraph add and/or' Drop "this is not a test answer Discussion of the workshop followed Steve asked what outcome the Committee wants around the theme of prevention? Ruth Butler suggested one item of evaluation be "Describe your program in terms of preventive care " This would get at services providers feel are necessary, both innovative and traditional, Ruth B and Carol agreed There is a question of how policy restricts services by creating obstacles to early interventions and prevention The system imposes constraints on service providers It was felt that the 3 agencies evaluated this past year should be invited to work on planning the workshop They can help determine who else should be invited to the workshop SII Human Services Coumittee (cont'd) 8-1s-d0 - 3 - Carol Perez stated that the focus should be on coordination of services It would be misleading, she said, to set up a situation where agencies were led to believe that if certain guidelines were fulfilled, the Town would then fund their projects Ruth Butler and John Mackey felt that the question is how should a HS advisory group such as thi committee objectively review, on a common basis, different agencies? The Committee would like the agencies as colleagues in deter- mining how that can be done Steve Baran suggested leaving the que'•tion of the scope of the workshop to the joint planning meeting Nicky reiterated the workshop focus of coordination of services She sees two different workshops, 1) with Town funded agencier around evaluation criteria 2) a broader meeting to talk about coordination of services She added that maybe the workshop should focus on a specific age group, such as adolescent, that cuts across agencies Ruth Nablo wants to make sure that schools are involved The chairperson added that the stereotype that the schools are not part of the human services system should be broken down Steve Baran contributed that another stereotype that needs to be broken down is that the Town is the only source of funds John Mackey suggested that the committee meet with the Town funded agencies before November so they can be prepared for the budget process The coordinating workshop would be held after the November 1 budget submission deadline This would insure that other agencies don't get the idea that the committee is suggesting that they can get Town funds The next meeting will be Tuesday, September 9, at 7 30 p m The committee will finalize its format for appraising an agency, perhaps set up a reporting format The agencies would be invited to the subsequent HS meeting Nancy Banks joined the meeting to review the committee 's comments on the elderly questionnaire The meeting was adjourned at 10 10 p.m Respectfully submitted, Elizabeth H Pressman EHP/jt