HomeMy WebLinkAbout1982-01-25-HSC-min.pdf Human Services Committee
Minutes of the Meeting of January 25, 1982
Present. Steve Baran, Ilene White, Ruth Nablo, Nancy Zarle, Tom Zarle, Howard
Reynolds, Stan Finkelstein, Roberta Black, Judy Zabin, also Bea Phear
The meeting was called to order at 7 30 pm
The minutes of January 18, 1982 were approved as mailed
Selectmen' Budget
Marge Battin reported to Steve that revenue from the state was being reduced, and
the Human Services budgets would have to be cut $10,000 She wondered what the
Committee's choice would be, to cut $10,000 from RePlace or from Mystic Valley?
The Committee does not know which budget she referred to the requests, the
Committee's recommendations, or the Town Manager's recommendations Members of �{
the committee felt they needed further information to make a decision on how
to respond since they already had given their advice It was unknown if other
areas were also to be cut or only human services Why only two agencies targetted?
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Decided Steve will telephone Jim Crain and give him a summary of committee
concerns and then will decide if action is necessary
Decided In future years, the Committee recommendations will be given to the
Selectmen ordered by priority, so that reductions in total can be made
by the Selectmen, if necessary, in accordance with recommendations
CMARC
Ruth spoke with Ralph Richardson, the Area Office mental retardation coordinator,
regarding his letter to CMARC which said there were five potential Lexington CMARC
clients Ruth is awaiting a written report She called Paul Lombard at the School
Department to see if he could get this information as well (Schools will be required
to fund transportation, now at $40,000)
Decided. No change in recommendation at this time
Newspaper
There was concern that the Selectmen's meeting of January 18 had been inacurately
reported in the Minuteman No action was taken
Cable TV
Bea reported that there would be a Cable TV workshop in Cary Hall on February 19 from
8 30 to 6 30 Bea will attend Roberta Stan and Steve are also interested Bea
will notify the coordinator, Lauren Goldfarb It is assumed the $10 fee will be waived
Correspondence Course
The Town has purchased a course on Local Government Financing, and committee members
are welcome to participate at no cost Ruth and Steve want to sign up, depending on
class schedules Bea will notify Susan Adler who is arranging the course
January 25 page 2
Mystic Valley
Mystic Valley has asked for a future meeting with the Human Services Committee
Steve commented that bon Lund had said last year that MV was interested in a case
management approach, and Steve wondered if the Friendly Visitor proposal had stemmed
from that The Committee doesn't know how much of that proposal, if any, was actually
worked out with the Council on Aging It was also interesting that Don Lund had not
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even mentioned elderly services in his presentation to the Selectmen
Ruth wants to have us talk with Ralph Richarson, to explore the whole issue of
chronically ill people, Does Mystic Valley have the same problem as CMARC with
getting information and funding?
Role of SubCommittees
The telephone call from Marge Battin to Steve suggests that we might go back to the
agencies and let them come in to lobby for their money Tom suggested that the
subcommittees go back to agencies and explain the process that was used, how we
arrived at our figures, and how the year appears to be unfolding Steve said he also
thought that we should pursue the discussion that Bea had started last year with
RePlace about alternate funding sources Judy felt that that was not our role but
rather a job for their own boards Steve clarified that he had meant new human service
money that would cross boundries of agencies or working as a committee to stimulate
new funding sources Bea pointed out they may need other than money, eg volunteers
Decided Subcommittees will keep in touch with their agencies throughout the
year, and we will largely avoid having agencies come to talk to the
committee as a whole
Future Meetings
There was discussion on the next steps for the committee Possible actions include •
a series of meetings on different target populations; needs assessment; reviving
the ad hoc human services council on providers It was felt that there needed to
be more than just "show and tell" for a providers council What about prevention?
Forums could allow agencies such as Mystic Valley to improve their image
Stan asked if a needs assessment was warranted if there was no money for services
Judy was concerned about agenciy linkages Ruth suggested inviting Ernie Cook, area
director of DMH Ilene is concerned that agencies know what each other is doing
Decided The committee will spend the next several meetings identifying issues
Bea will give a summary of various needs assessments at the next meeting
A taxonomy of issues/needs will be developed so we can agree on dimensions
Muzzey Junior High School
One possible inclusion in proposals for Muzzey is a senior center Should the committee
be involved? The town also has a commitment to low and moderate income housing Steve
will ask Jim Crain if he's going to want our involvement on Muzzey
Next Meetings
February 8 and February 22 at 7 30 pm room 111
Respectfully Submitted --1244:176
Beatrice Phear