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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1982-08-23-HSC-min.pdf HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE Minutesof the Meeting of August 23, 1982 Present Steve Baran, Howard Reynolds , Judy Zabin, Tom Zarle, Nancy Zarle, Roberta Black, Ilene White, Stan Finkelstein, Bea Phear Minutes; There were no minutes taken of the August 9 meeting The meeting was summarized in Steve ' s letter to Al Busa of Aug 9 Muzzey Howard reported on the submissions received by the Selectmen ARTS/ Lexington proposed that some of the building be used for studio, classroom, and exhibition space Howard felt that their ideas were thoughtful and optimistic, and could probably be integrated with other submissions Council on Aging limited themselves soley to their use of Muzzey as a senior center and didn' t speak to the question of integrating the senior center with other uses Lexington Housing Authority wrote no proposal and offered no insight The Planning Board offered two documents on site considerations and on the recommend- ation for housing use They brought out the need for unmet but market rate housing, eg congregate, as a common thread They set uncome guidelines using MHFA standards The Human Services Committee was the broadest in scope and concept, with a leaning towards the elderly and preretirement populations Providers Council Bea distributed summaries of the responses to the questionnaire to date She will telephone non-respondents this week There was discussion on a possible thrust for the next and future meetings and the use of the returned questionnaires It was decided that the goal for the xeroxed material was as information sharing among the providers and, more importantly, as a jumping off point for discussion Since the League of Women Voters is doing a Lexington booklet, information to citizens is less needed Roberta brought up her concept of an angency spotlight in the Minuteman She will talk with the nespaper about this Regarding the goals for the providers meetings, Ilene pointed out that people were anxious to describe their own agency and there was a social purpose Judy felt that the written material should provide most of this, and moving on joint problems was important and also a vehicle for them to get to know oneanother Also the direction should come from them It was suggested to use the subcommittee structure , whither breaking down by age or topical issue, possible assigning them to groups or offering a menu One theme that emerged from the responses was the need for respite care and housing for a variety of populations Common issues would be locating the community setting, training, and funding Judy suggested giving the providers a profile of Lexington, which Bea could do with demographics , which would be of particular interest to regional agencies It could be compared with former years and put into perspective with needs assessments and the providers ' perceptions of gaps Tom mentioned structuring discussion with prepared questions It was decided that a tentative agend for the next providers meeting would be 1 coffee and socializing 2 presentation of Lexington profile , highlighting data that related to the articulated gaps 3 break-up into assigned groups to discuss the profile and how it relates to their problems and then choosing a topic for a future meeting Prepared questions for the discussion could be the purpose of their meeting together with future agenda ideas , and the queRtion of how they are responding to their fiscal constraints The meeting is scheduled for October 7 from 3 00-4 30 Steve , Roberta, and Bea will plan further with Rachel Rosenblum, Karen Bettacchi, and Jack Monderer, if they are interested Committee meeting will follow Handicap Subcommittee Bea reported that David. Enman' s group has met twice, and calls themselves the Enablement Committee They are aware of their as yet unofficial status and are discussing their priorities in preparation for submitting a draft charge to the Human Services Committee Bea reported that she was very heartened by the group, and they seem to be having a joint function of self help plus task orientation RePlace Steve met with the RePlace planning group of several former presidents They are making recommendations to the Board on two issues taking advantage of regional funding by going after money in concert with other agencies (eq alcohol prevention under DMH or adolescent pregnancy through DSS) , and more vigorously seek funding from the school system, using Tony dough ' s informal channels, with the possibility of enlarging contracts up to $10 , 000 Homes Needed Judy announced that Woburn Council for Social Concern is starting a network of families for a 7 day shelter program and is seeking hosts Mystic Valley Stan and Tom have a meeting on Aug 25 with the new crisis intervention person Don Lund has resigned, and Stan has volunteered to serve on the search committee Jim Crain tels that this would be a good idea (Note Paul Cote became acting director on Aug 13 - Bea) Next Meeting September 13 AGENDA SUB COMMITTEES October 7 ; after providers council meeting Respectfully Submitted, Bea Phear Dinner at Steve ' s on Friday, Sept 10 , pot luck (Judy coordinating menu)