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Human Services Committee
Minutes of the Meeting of December 17, 1981
Present Steve Baran, Roberta Black, Ilene White, Howard Reynolds Stan Finkelstein,
Judy Zabin, Ruth Nablo, Nancy Zarle, Tom Zarle also Bea Phear
The meeting was called to order at 7 30 pm
The members of the Committee introduced themselves and their backgrounds
Bea passed out materials as background for the Committee the Charge from the
Selectmen, The Reports of the former Committee from January and May 1981, the
Review Process for agencies seeking Town funds, and a list of ideas of the Youth
Commission regarding a possible needs assessment they will conduct
Steve distributed a memo with ideas on areas of focus for the Committee with possible
assignments
The Committee discussed how it would handle reporting to the Selectmen on funding
requests Requests have been received from Mystic Valley ( for Safehouse continued
funding and for two elderly programs) , from Replace for continued funding of their
outreach efforts and drop-in program, from the Council on Aging, and from CMARC for
funding for anticipated new Lexington clients
It was felt that, since criteria and a reporting format had been designed in the past,
then the Committee should try to be prepared to make recommendations to the Selectmen
in January Members felt it was very important to make site visits in addition to
reading the documents associated with the funding requests Ruth pointed out that the
Committee's goal should be to meet the schedule and have consensus to develop and
maintain credibility
Stan asked about looking at other aspects of the agency's budget that was not incorporated
in the request Members felt it was entirely appropriate to ask about total budgets,
as that was relevant to the specific program request, although it would be very
difficult in the case of Mystic Valley
Tom said that we are forced into a position of accepting the givens in terms of
information available and criteria for this year and then for next year we would have
a target of making more informed decisions
Ruth had suggested that last year the report from the Committee be sent to Town Meeting,
and she wondered if it would be appropriate to ask if it could go this year We should
as Jim Crain, even if it misses the rpinting deadline for the Warrant
It was decided to divide into sub committees to review the requests Stan suggested
dividing by functional areas (target population) so that Safehouse and RePlace could
be reviewed by the same sub committee After discussion it was decided that there
would be too much to learn, and that a sub committee should examine only one request
RePlace Council on Aging Mystic Valley CMARC
$68,428 $39,400 $24,958 03 $5,000 ?
Roberta Black Nancy Zarle Tom Zarle Ruth Nablo
Judy Zabin Howard Reynolds Stan Finkelstein
Ilene White
Bea reported that the Town Manager is considering recommending that the CoA allocation
be $34,909 that RePlace be given $40 488, and that Mystic Valley and CMARC (whose
request he was ignorant of) be not funded He feels that RePlace meets the needs of
youth better than MV, and that they are more preventative
A
Ruth told the Committee that last year there had been two questions regarding the
Council on Aging program that the Committee should be aware of The Town Manager
questioned the strength of their administration, and the former Human Services
Committee chair, Ruth Butler, questioned their intake procedures, especially in
regards to identifying other issues and the strengths and resources of the elderly !
The procedure outlined was that sub committees would read over the background information
and funding request proposals, develop some pertinant questions, and make site visits
Steve emphasized the need for getting information from a variety of perspectives,
such as staff, clients, board members, and mandatory contractual reports
Bea reported on the activities of the Youth Commission They are planning a drug
education evening for kids and parents on February 4, to which inmates are being
invited, and there will be a drug display case and a film, they are continuing to
develop a 'Kids to Kids" program that pairs high school students with those from
elementary school just as friends for an hour a week and they are planning a needs
assessment, which will probably be two questionnaires (distributed through the school
network) to parents and students In addition it is expected that they will want to �{
continue last summer's successful youth employment service- operated out of the Town
Manager's office
A meeting schedule was established Thursdays at 7 30 in room 111
December 29
January 7
January 14
January 21
January 28
Agenda Discuss Steve's memo
Review the Criteria established for examining agency requests
Respectfully� Submitted,
-112", -114-12-s^
Beatrice Phear