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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1982-12-06-HSC-min.pdf HUMAN SERVICES CQMMITTEE Minutes of the Meeting of December 6, 1982 Present Steve Baran, Howard Reynolds, Ilene White, Judy Zabin Roberta Black Availability of additional funding for human services The possibility of funding which might be made available in the near future from either the Department of Social Services Donated Funds program or public trusts was discussed It was decided, at Judy's suggestion, that the human services budget should be constructed without considering these funding possibilities, due to the uncertainties of time line and outcome RePlace Steve and Roberta indicated that RePlace was in touch with the Department of Social Services and that a participatory proposal writing process was underway, involving Roberta, a representative of the DSS Area Board, Bill Blout, and DSS staff Steve has been suggesting to RePlace representative that they should consider their accumulated wisdom in the areas of hotline, information and referral, and emergency shelter as a valuable commodity This can benefit other agencies without RePlace necessarily needing to give up any of its autonomy Budget Considerations It was agreed to schedule a full meeting to discuss subcommittee recommendations on .ndividual budgets and how these would relate to the totality of a human service budget Jim Crain will be invited to attend this meeting to take place Thursday, December 16 at 7 30 pm. Steve will ask him to clarify the general context in which the human service budget would be discussed Trusts Bea will be asked to prepare a tally sheet showing the new proposals for human services funding to be presented at the next meeting Human Services Providers Meetings Steve will ask Bea to place on the agenda of the meeting subsequent to the next one the subject of planning for another providers' meeting The committee desires to fully participate in further planning for providers meeting and believes that it would be fruitful to pursue the subject of emergency services including response on the part of human service agency staff, identifying the "at risk' population, and clarifying the outcome of referrals made in the past of human service agencies when emergency situations are being resolved. Respectfully Submitted, Steve Baran, Chairman ext Meeting December 16, 7 30 pm HUMAN SERVICE PROVIDERS COUNCIL Minutes of the Meeting .of_December 6, 1982 Presenting agencies on the Crisis Intervention Focus Mystic Valley Mental Health Team, Replace and Lexington Police Department Bea Phear gave welcome and introduction, stating background and purpose of the meeting She asked if there was any additional input for the format of future meetings There was no response Mystic Valley Mental Health Paul Cote began with an overview of Mystic Valley Mental Health They are a non-profit agericyin existence since 1968 They operate under a 4 1 million dollar budget, focusing on mental health and mental retardation He attributes their initial growth to deinstitutionalization Service Statistics Presently, Mystic Valley Mental Health has 1300 open cases, serving 900 monthly Crisis Intervention Team Three years .ago, the Crisis Intervention Team was just a concept Their funding is largely from the state, DMH Due to current state reduction, the Crisis Intervention Team has gone from 7 full time staff members to the present 3 staff members Paul Cote related that the reduction from the past 24 hour on- ( site capability to the present working hours on-site capability meant a necessary definition of the program The CIT responds to night and weekend crisis through on call clinician and physician availiability In summary, Paul Cote described the Crisis Intervention Program as a bare bones service that maintains response capability Lexington Police Department Lieutenant Mike Forten addressed the police department's means of responding to a crisis call as well as their relationship with Mystic Valley Mental Health and Replace He described their calls as dire emergencies where the police can' t wait for assistance He stated that it would be nice for the CIT to be there but it does not happen, largely due to financial constaints The police force does use MVMH in a referral sense, specifically, when the police feel that there is potential for on-going sexual abuse or psychotic episodes They than require a call that verifies that the individaul is actually being treated Lieut Forten stated that they use MVMH for referrels 2-3 times a week As far as. the,police and Replace relationship Lieut Forten described the importance of maintaining a seperate image He spoke about the potential danger to Replacesi s hekpijblic, especially the adolescent population, believed that there was su stati-il information sharing between the two Replace Bill Blout presented Replace with an emphasis on their crisis intervention work Replace serves only Lexington residents, ages 1'2-22 They offer three major forms of services; counseling (individual and group), drop-in center, and community education or outreach Their thrust is on preventative programs, being involved before the crisis Servicing Statistics Presently, Replace nas a counseling caseload of 200 per year Their on-going caseload averages 40 a month They see 300 different kids a year A lot of their work involves parents and family, as well as the adolescent In fact, 30% of their work is with adults Bill Blout spoke of their outreach component, where they are involved with a wide variety of community agencies, ie courts, schools Crisis Intervention Replace's emergency services are divided into seven categories The following is the breakdown of the number of cases for each per year 1 Suicidal ideations I5 2 Other psychotic emergencies I9 3 Emergency housing request 29 4 Pregnancy issues 23 5 Drug crisis 6 6 Abuse cases (child and spouse) 8 7 Other emergencies (ie medical , police related) 15 Total 115 Unduplicated Families 93 Question/Answer Period Q Does the police dept make referrals to MVMH or Replace? A It depends on the nature of the emergency It is an unique situation when the police would refer an adolescent to Replace due to the necessity of preserving confidentiality and image of Replace Q What has been the police department's experience with nonvoluntary commitment? A Police can directly address the need for nonvoluntary commitment Any police officer has the authority to sign the "pink paper" , but in practice such a procedure goes through the proper police channels 0 What about night time crises? A Paul Cote stated that 75% of their callers can be defered to the following morning Most crises occur during the regular working hours Peggy Scoble, the MVMH Crisis Team Coordinator, pointed out that people can be served at Symmes after 5 00 P M Q What is the impact of safehouse closing? A, The impact is not large because Replace has sufficient programs Most situations are resolved without the placement For example, out of 29 requests, 6 are placed This situation is typical for Lexington, not true of other community needs L Q What is the scope of the Crisis Intervention Team's dealings with crisis ( situations? A Mystic Valley Mental Health's quarterly report July 1- October 1 , 1982, states 19 face-to-face contacts and 70 phone calls during this period Q Is MVMH available at night and on weekends for emergency transportation requests? A No, CIT calls Lexington Police Department Q What is the percentage of elderly served? A MVMH stated that 20% of their case load is elderly Q How is the contact made? A Mostly through Andrea Carson, a psychiatric nurse who does a lot of work with the elderly Q; Are elderly calling? A Most indirectly Q What proportion of work is follow-up as opposed to new individuals? A Peg Scoble One half of our work is with new people It is difficult to identify "at risk" population Bea Phear thanked people for coming and told them that the next meeting will be in 6-8 weeks, addressing either the respite care issue or focusing in on a particular population The Providers will receive notices from Renee Hatten Repectfull_y, sybmitted, Renee flatten Intern, Human Services {