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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1980-09-15-HSC-min.pdf 9-15-80 HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE Present Ruth Butler, Nicky Osborne, Howard Levingston, Steve Baran, Ruth Nablo, Carol Perez, John Mackey Also Elizabeth Pressman The meeting was called to order at 7 35 P.M Agenda items for the evening included setting up of criteria for evaluating effectiveness of a system and coming to a working definition of prevention Ruth Nablo restated the information about the League of Women Voters' meeting on October 22 on the topic of human services Howard Levingston agreed to serve on the panel that evening II Some discussion took place about how to insure that newspaper reporters present an accurate view of the H S committee meetings It was suggested that they receive meeting minutes but the time frame of those minutes was felt to be too late for purposes of a newspaper Steve Baran felt that reporters should be encouraged to attend H S meetings on a regular basis In this way a reporter can develop a 4 better understanding of the committee Carol Perez recommended that someone clip (' and save articles about the Committee What is the object of the Committee? Ruth Nablo feels the committee's object is to self-destruct, after leaving the Town a means for evaluating agencies Carol Perez agreed, adding that the committee also will identify needs, then set up a means to evaluate agencies meeting needs Steve Baran referred to his outline of 9-15-80 The Committee, he offered, is heading toward a system of services The system may not be set up before the Committee disbands Implementation of a system is a pro- cess that unfolds over time Nicky Osborne suggested going back to the goals and objectives discussed at earlier meetings Ruth Butler felt a sense of confusion She suggested making each member's agenda clear and coming to consensus Nicky said the focus of the committee seems to be evaluating the effectiveness of programs funded by the Town She believes that the Town should provide information and referral, conduct an ongoing needs assessment, and facilitate the coordination of human service agencies that serve Lexington The H S Council could be revived, she continued, if proper staff were assigned to it At a minimum, participants could share information about what they are doing This could lead to cooperative planning Agencies must be shown what they have to gain by working together Asked whether this implied hiring of a H S coordinator by the Town, Nicky replied that someone already in the Town may be able to serve this function The individual would need to know how agencies relate to each other and to the Town, and to under- stand Town government There need to be incentives for agencies to want to work together with local government Discussion followed. Nicky believes that in order to plan a H S system, providers must be consulted Human Services Committee 9-15-80 - 2 - Ruth Butler said that she thinks the Town will listen seriously to whatever suggestions the committee makes She feels that all the details do not have to be worked out, but that different approaches could be suggested Discussion followed Ruth Nablo stated that the committee's order of action should be setting up of evaluation criteria, holding the coordination workshop, then looking at restructur- ing of the system. She sees the last item as a long range goal Discussion of the workshop followed Steve sees as the objective of the workshop review of and evaluation criteria with agencies requesting Town funds He feels the agencies will become more involved by participating in development of criteria Carol added that the committee should complete the criteria, then ]et agencies react to them Nicky's draft criteria of last spring were then reviewed and dis- cussed It was agreed that there should be a prologue to any criteria set Definitions of needs in the sense of promotional care rather than response to pro- blems was suggested Discussion of kinds of needs followed Ruth Butler drew a diagram of the H S system (See attached) je tril' Ruth Nablo suggested sending long range goals and evaluation criteria to all H S agencies and solicit comments from them. Meanwhile, the three agencies reviewed by the committee could come in to discuss these goals and criteria Nicky suggested beginning such a joint meeting with a definition of terminology and a general discussion before focusing on criteria Perhaps the agencies could be asked what they are doing in the area of prevention, Ruth Butler added Nicky thought that it may be wiser to discuss the criteria with the three agencies be- fore sending them to all the other agencies John Mackey raised the issue of productivity and asked how you measure outcomes? It was agreed to substitute his wording on measurement in Nicky',s draft, 1F Effective utilization of resources should be measured against what the agency is trying to achieve Also, Steve' s wording on job descriptions should be added to the criteria in Section lD For the next meeting, the revised criteria will be typed The meeting was adjourned at 10 05 P.M. Respectfully submitted, atom Ae44444.a.... Elizabeth H Pressman