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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1982-05-18-HSC-min.pdf HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE Minutes of the Meeting of May 18 , 1982 Present Steve Baran, Roberta Black, Tom Zarle, Judy Zabin, Ilene White, Bea Phear Youth Commission The meeting began with a brief joint session with the Youth Commission to consider future working together It was decided that the two groups would get together in the fall to talk about the possible Youth Awareness Week Meanwhile, the Youth Commission will consider its plans and decide if it wants to pursue this as a project and bring in other groups The Human Services Committee feels that they do not want to be a catalyst for this project, but are very willing to consider playing a supportive role, and that many groups should be included Providers Council There was discussion about how the Youth Awareness Week fits in with the thread of continuity and communication for ongoing planning and needs assessment We want to take a leadership role for the meetings and set the tone, but not become the providers council exclusively It would be best if the providers themselves spun off with individual seminars and the committee remained somewhat in the background, just keeping things going Perhaps the student intern that Bea hopes to have in the fall could have these meetings as one project, under the guidance of the committee Bea reported on the responses to date Thirteen people from 10 agencies are planning to attend so far, and three agencies want to be included but are busy that day There was concern about being too exclusive or too inclusive We questioned whether private therapists should be directly invited and decided that they could come through a blanket statement in the newspaper, but would not be invited specifically Judy and Steve will draft a letter to the editor or an article to announce the meeting Committee members will follow up on those who have not yet responded Judy Concord Court Lex Counseling Services Roberta School Guidance, Hayden Recreation Ilene Council on Aging, Visiting Nurses , Hospice Care Steve Department of Social Services, Jim Crain Tom Lexington Clergy Bea Fire, Police, Health (incl Board) , Housing Authority Lauren Goldfarb of Cable TV will be added, without her camera, which was seen as potentially too intrusive Steve Doran will also be invited The agenda was set Welcome and introduction to the Committee - Steve Agencies introduce themselves to get acquainted Tabulation of responses to questionnaire - Bea General discussion of goals - Tom Ilene suggested this last item be started with the question "What positive things would you like to see come out of future joint meetings?" Steve also suggested addressing what sense of communication there has been among agencies , to try to get at process issues as well as content Tom reported that Mystic Valley wanted to know what other agencies were doing and said they perceived a (false) fear that there was duplication of services They want to see a series of these seminars Bea reported that the tone and speed with which agencies returned their questionnaires (not required) indicated a tremendous enthusiasm Mechanics There will be a table for literature Nancy will get donuts and/or danish Roberta will get name tags; Ilene will get paper napkins & cups; Judy will bring her large pot and get coffee , cream and sugar Bea had asked the Manager about funding and he said no, as he feared a precedent in having committees entertain Steve will discuss this with Jim Crain, with the thought that it might come from the Selectmen' s budget Meanwhile, each committee member will contribute Senior Center Bea reported that the CoA sub-committee had completed a report outlining space needs as related to tDogram It was a wonderful committee that really did some outstanding work and came up with a design for the section of Muzzey that would be designated There was general feeling that the Muzzey conversion would not pass, but Bea felt the work was not wasted for the future Steve is not sure a senior center is needed Planning Steve reported that he had talked with Marge Battin after reading a letter in the Minuteman from Marty Rawls about the need for planning to meet social goals vis-a-vis Muzzey Marge is inviting several people informally to discuss this Steve, Marty Rawls, Bob Bowyer, and Bea for next week Bea said the Planning Board is very interested in housing issues and Bob Bowyer and she have been discussia5 alternative such as accessory apartments Bea attended a conference on elderly housing, and feels the need is not to create new elderly projects , but to expand the existing housing resources to better meet their needs and let them remain in their own homes through accessory apartments , sharing, or equity conversion mechanisms Chair Car Bea reported that the policies and application forms are ready to go, and applications will be received in June for a July 1 starting date Mystic Valley The application for an extension of the special permit has been submitted in a timely fashion The date for the hearing has not yet been set The committee decided to submit a statement to the Board of Appeals speaking to the role of a mental health center, but not this specific case Bea will draft for approval at the next meeting (enclosed) Alcohol Bea reported that Jack Monderer had called her after he spoke with Bill Blout about the issues of teenage drinking and driving around prom time The schools have been doing some education, but fear they are not reaching enough parents Bea wrote a letter to the editor Judy pointed out that it was a good step in working together that the schools wanted to talk with both RePlace and Human Services, and that such issues (or this specific one) might come out of the providers meetings with a little more advance warning Pending Evaluations for next budget cycle, and cementing the Review Process Community Residence map and siting questions Metropolitan Area Planning Council - meeting with Gerry Frick Someone to take CMARC as a primary focus Writing contract for FY83 with CMARC, Mystic Valley, and Replace Meeting Schedule Future meetings will be Tuesday June 8 at 7 30 am - Providers Council Wednesday June 9 at 7 30 pm - regular meeting Monday June 28, 7 30 pm Monday, July 12 , 7 30 pm Monday, August 2 , 7 30 pm Monday, August 23, 7 30 pm Monday September 13, 7 30 pm Respectfully Submitted Beatrice Phear D R A F T 5/19/82 TO BOARD OF APPEALS, TOWN OF LEXINGTON FROM HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE RE MYSTIC VALLEY MENTnL HEALTH SPECIAL PERMIT The Lexington Human Services Advisory Committee has received a request from the Mystic Valley Mental Health Center Association Inc to support its request for an ammendment to its Special Permit We support added availability of human service resources within the Town and believe that the role of a mental health center that provides comprehensive care does need to have varied hours to meet the needs of citizens The committee further believes that it cannot ascertain the impact of a change of hours on the immediate neighbors, and is therefore unable to speak to this specific request beyond the statement that varied hours of operation are of value to the community at large Steve Baran, Chairman Lexington Human Services Committee