HomeMy WebLinkAbout1982-06-09-HSC-min.pdf HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE
Minutes of the Meeting of June 9, 1982
F
Present. Roberta Black, Stan Finkelstein, Howard Reynolds, Ilene White, Judy Zabin,
Steve Baran
Absent. Nancy and Tom Zarle
Board of Appeals
Stan will attend the hearing on June 10 Mystic Valley wants to allow the neighbors
to use the facility on Sundays Don Lund had asked Stan and Tom to take a stand Stan
feels our letter has already made our stand clear
Mystic Valley
The Sub-committee will meet with Mystic Valley regarding cleaning up the contract and
finding a program to evaluate, probably emergency services Lt Fortin implied problems
in making referrals to Mystic Valley, possibly related to the emergency services Might th
this be investigated by the sub-committee? Don Lund is interested in obtaining
management consultation
Community Residences
Stan is interested in having a map Is Bea talking about placing former mental patients
in Lexington only?
Mental Retardation Sub-Committee Member ti
Find student? From Heller School (Gunnar Dylsad) or through Nancy Professional living
in Lexington Roberta knows Heller School student first year - will ask her might be
ti
able to get academic credit Such a person should attend Human Service Committee
meetings Ruth Nablo may also be able to suggest a League member
RePlace
Roberta talked with Bill Blout Linda Conrad was planning to attend the breakfast, but was
ill Bill and Stephanie wanted to attend, but the hour was not convenient Bill is
concerned that the volunteer program might disolve because of staff shortage
Steve Baran was invited by Linda Conrad to join RePlace's ad hoc committee on policy to
help Replace do long range planning, especially to investigate the possibility of becomming
regionalized Apparently RePlace volunteers have felt some disenchantment because of
not being kept busy enough this needs to be looked into Is the problem lack of supervision
or failure to use already trained volunteers?
Contracts
The Replace contract will be renewed as origionally drawn up
The CMARC contract will be reviewed by the committee (no copy available at this meeting)
Stan and Tom will work to identify an appropriate contract for Mystic Valley
The Minuteman Home Care contract drafted by Bea was approved by the committee which
questionned only the requirement that names be identified This will he discussed again
In general, there should be uniformity of format for all human service agencies
Handicap Issues Sub-Committee
David Enman has requested time on the agenda He will be invited to attend June 28th
from 8 00 to 8 30 Judy wonders whether other sub-committees will be formed Stan
questions whether the jurisdiction of the origioanl sub committees 'should be redefined
Considering that the origional sub-committees were identified each with town-funded
agencies, would we be losing something by enlarging their focus? This was tabled, and
may have to be discussed in terms of a discussion of committee priorities
Meeting of Providers
Bea is to thank Dunkin Donuts and Pewter Pot 55 people were in attendance Stan
wonders whether a study might be done of who talks to whom, patterns of communication
The Boston College study also showed referral patterns
A directory seemed to be a central interest The previous directory done by interns was
very little used Do citizens know where to call? Are Bea and Joan Melcher documenting
inquiries?
Ilene felt that townspeople do need a handbook and the rpoviders are looking for
information
It was agreed that Bea should immediately send a thank you letter summarizing what
went on, looking forward to meeting with them in the fall There should be a separate
summary letter to those who did not attend The thank you letter will ask for volunteers
to plan the first meeting We might share at that time the results of a sociogram
and/or baseline information We will enclose in the letter a one page questionnaire
requesting the baseline data, eg name, address, how to make referrals, sources of funding,
amount of funding, staffing patterns
The directory can be a vehicle for human service agencies to respond to town opinion
makers, eg Town Meeting members, summarize needs assessments
Judy asked if the letter should als> ask for an evaluation of the meeting and what they
want to come out of future meetings This suggestion was dropped Stan had the feeling
of wondering about the purpose of the meeting Judy feels that there needs tb be
considerable input into planning Ilene differs with Stan, heard that people enjoyed
getting to knwo each other Stan took sharp exception to Mike Forten's idea that
preventive social services cannot be evaluated This is something the committee should
investigate further
Judy and Howard think that agencies which share interests might jointly discuss a typical
case abd how they interact, eg Bill Blout and Scott Bock would present together also
Mystic Valley, CoA and Police emergency functions
Next Meetings
Monday, June 28
Monday, July 12
Respectfully Submitted,
Steve Baran