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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1980-11-10-HSC-min.pdf 11-10-80 HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE Present Ruth Butler, Stephen Baran, Ruth Nablo, Carol Perez, John Mackey also Nancy Banks, Elizabeth Pressman Absent Nicky Osborne, Howard Levingston The meeting was called to order at 7 30 P.M A photographer for the Annual Report took pictures of the committee Minutes of 11-5-80 were accepted as corrected The chairwoman, Ruth Butler, announced that Selectman Jim Crain would not be at the meeting, but Nancy Banks, Assistant to the Town Manager, would take his place Ruth then read a copy of a memo from the manager to Mystic Valley Mental Health Center regarding future payments to that agency Nancy Banks then explained that the Selectmen had voted last spring that the H.S committee questions should be asked of MVMHC, but had never communicated to the committee that they should do so The first quarterly payment was sent, in error to MVMHC before Questions were asked of the agency and adequate response received The agency does understand Ms Banks went on, that in the future they will have to respond to some questions before receiving payment Ruth Butler explained that the committee had thought that its role, vis a vis the agencies, had ended after the budget evaluations and recommendations last winter Ms Banks responded that the Selectmen see the role differently They need committee expertise throughout the year Particularly after the passage of Proposition 2-1/2, the Selectmen will be looking to the committee for guidance in the human service area She suggested that the committee write a letter to MVMHC with the questions, and the chairperson of the Selectmen will sign it and send it on In the future, Ms Banks continued, bills from the agency, along with data sent by the agency, will be sent to the committee automatically The group would then review the data and make a recommendation to the Selectmen either to send the payment or to seek further information Ruth Nablo asked whether or not the Town can legally withhold money if not satisfied by an agency' s performance or response? Ms Banks answered, 'very definitely Discussion of what the Selectmen would like from the committee followed Ms Banks said that they would like guidance from the committee on where to use human service resources The three agencies currently funded do not necessarily need to continue to receive Town monies Ms Banks reemphasized that after Proposition 2-1/2, the Selectmen especially seek such guidance Carol Perez indicated that the $70 000 received by the agencies is a small amount compared to the human service budget within the school system The schools are the majot providers of human services in Lexington but the H S committee's hands are tied in evaluating that budget Linkages between the schools and other H S agencies are unclear It seems, Ms Perez stated, not a good use of committee time to spend so much time and effort on evaluating the three agencies rather than looking at the human services provided through the school system Ms Banks agreed She felt that the time is ripe for making some changes The Town would be willing to set up a meeting with the school system if the committee Human Services Committee 11-10-80 - 2 - would indicate the kind of information it is seeking Regarding MVMHC's knowledge of the H S committee's questions, Ms Banks stated that the agency is aware that there is a problem The committee voted to have their questions from Ms Pressman's April 10 memo sent to MVMHC, along with an explanation that the Selectmen need the response be- fore the next quarterly payment can be made Ms Banks said that her office would get the letter written Some discussion of where responses should be sent followed Also discussed was the fact that there is no contract between the Town and MVMHC, and that, at this point, it would be difficult to write one It was agreed that response to the MVMHC questions would be sent to the Selectmen who would then refer it to the H S committee for review '. The Selectmen are anxious to have the committee address what it sees as the needs of the community, the Assistant to the Town Manager stated Her office will talk to the schools first and see what the best approach to them would be Ms Nablo asked whether parts of the school programs are protected from cuts? Ms Banks answered in the affirmative, but added that the schools will be looking for ways to do required things more economically in order to have funds for other optional programs The chairwoman suggested that the connittee's review criteria are the first part of their guidance to the Selectmen Ms Perez wondered whether or not it is clear to the agencies that the Selectmen, not the committee, make the final decision on budgets? Ms Banks asked the committee to draft a cover letter to go out, under signa- ture of Mrs Miley, with the review criteria At this point, Ms Banks went on, the committee should spend some time looking at broad needs and where resources should go Ruth Nablo asked whether the schools and the Town are going to share the deficit caused by 2-1/2? Ms Banks told the committee that the School Committee and the Appropriation Committee had been invited to the Selectmen's meeting to be held November 24 Division of the deficit will be discussed Ruth Butler told Ms Banks that the committee had planned a "brainstorming" • session to refocus their efforts and help come up with the direction of human services in Lexington Ms Banks explained that, at some point, the committee's comments on agency budget requests will be solicited by the Selectmen It is not necessary to look at reports now The questions will be sent out, and when necessary the committee will review the responses Ms Pressman suggested that this year the committee does not have to go back and forth with the agencies, as happened last year It is incumbent upon the agencies to support their requests Nancy Banks suggested that the committee's planning function may be more speci- fic than they have in mind The emphasis in Lexington is now on counseling services • and youth Is that where Town money should be going? Human Services Committee 11-10-80 - 3 - Ms Butler indicated that the committee was about to ask where each member stands on this How could the school system be more responsive and how can you make different use of resources, were other questions raised During the discussion that followed, it was agreed that it is important to know what resources are available and to have access to relevant information Steve Baran questioned whether the agencies realized that the review criteria were to be utilized this year John Mackey offered that even if they did not, it would not be unfair to use them. Agencies should have such information available, and if they do not, they sould be thinking along such lines There was some discussion of the implications of 2-1/2 Ms Banks said that using FY'82 as a base year, the tax base cannot be increased more than 2-1/2o per year Though the committee felt it no longer needed to clarify specific issues with the Selectmen, Ruth Nablo suggested attending the November 24th meeting The role of Jim Crain as liaison to the Selectmen was discussed Nancy Banks told committee members that he is the person to call with questions He also gets copies of committee minutes and keeps in touch with Nancy There is less interaction with a standing committee, like Human Services than with a short-term project oriented committee Ms Banks will be attending H S meetings more regularly The schedule for budgets is that by December, the Town Manager submits his budget to the Selectmen Through mid-January, the Selectmen and Appropriation Committee review his budget The Warrant goes to press at the end of January Things may be somewhat disjointed thia year because of 2-1/2 Jack Gardner of the Community Health Committee said that his committee is enthusiastic about a workshop in the area of prevention He raised a question about the charge to the H S committee relating to an inventory of services and publication of their availability Various inventories have been done, Nancy Banks stated Ruth Butler asked whether the committee is ready to address its charge next week Ms Banks told the group that the Selectmen will really need input from the committee in December and January Other groups will be lobbying for their particular areas The input from the committee should be timed for the Selectmen Ruth Nablo allowed that it is difficult to make decisions when you don't know where major funds go Discussion followed The committee has looked at its role either as creators of an efficient and modern human service system, an ideal systemlor as meeting issues as they come up Thus far the committee has tried to straddle both demands They have not yet come to grips with where priorities are They have not yet come to a working definition of prevention John Mackey suggested looking at how things currently exist and working from there Once prevention is defined, the committee must think about where it will go A channel of communication with the schools is needed, he added Two or three things must be done at once in order to get anywhere Human Services Committee 11-10-80 4 - Ruth Butler sees the possibility of redirecting the existing delivery system Where could money be put to create a mechanism for assessing the system before a problem develops? Jack Gardner indicated that his committee had used sub-committees to take their health inventory Ms Banks thought that perhaps the H 8% committee would use a sub-committee to do something with the various inventories of human services now available The chairwoman stated that the committee now feels it should complete the process of focusing and redirecting its energies Ms Perez added that, as a group, the committee works well together Discussion followed about the exact nature of future committee work Prevention as promotion, as opposed to crisis intervention and agency goal displacement were areas discussed Jack Gardner feels that prevention is cost effective Ms Perez thought that the committee could give the Selectmen guidance on short-range needs, but that there should be long-range plans and priorities Nancy Banks said that the Selectmen are looking for guidance as to where money should be going given a limited budget She also agreed to work this coming week on getting the committee access to the school system Some discussion of the goals of the school system followed The meeting was adjourned at 10 05 P.M Respectfully submitted, adarada6 ,/ 424.441.1 Elizabeth H Pressman