HomeMy WebLinkAbout1983-04-12-HSC-min.pdf HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE
Minutes of the meeting of April 12, 1983
Present. Steve Baran, Stan Finkelstein, Howard Reynolds, Roberta Black, Bea Phear
Wild Acre Inn
Stan asked Howard if there had been any explanation of the delay in their responses
to our questions Howard thought just a head-in-the-sand attitude, and fear that
this was an effort to close them down Stan would like to go along on a site visit
with the Health Director Bea will try to arrange it
Providers Council
The committee reviewed the first draft that Renee had prepared for an evaluation
form It was felt to be too long, and it was suggested that only page 3 be used,
also include showing order of preference in what liked Steve asked to what extent
the providers saw Renee as convener of these meetings, and thought Bea's signature
should go on the cover letter, to strengthen the response rate
Steve asked if the time and place of the May meeting was set, and suggested considering
another breakfast meeting with food It was also suggested that if it were early
mornign, Dick Kirk of Hayden might like to be host Bea will talk to Renee about
this
DMH
Steve and Stan attended the DMH Area Board meeting at which the vote was taken to
award the Crisis Intervention contract Although the majority voted for Mystic
Valley, the Area Director, Ernie Cook, decided to award to Norfolk Human Services,
the agency that sponsors the Concord Area Crisis team of Beth Jones It is rumored
that Mystic valley will appeal
There was a general discussion about the committee's participation in State level
decision making, whether we should try to have liaison with DSS and DMH area boards,
and give more feedback to the MAPC representative, Angela Frick It was decided to
discuss this further when more committee members were present An expectation of
regular attendance would follow appointing a liaison, but merely asking them to
alert us if there was an issue of concern to Lexington would probably get lost in
the shuffle
DSS
Bea reported on the DSS Area Board meeting that she and Linda Conrad, from Replace,
had attended The Board listened courteously to the plea that adolescent services
in Lexington be included in their needs assessment and that RePlace be considered
a target for funding Some Board members expressed that they were surprised that
DSS did not fund services in Lexington, and felt that Replace is a good program,
however Bea was unsure of their level of influence in the actual decision making
Steve asked what more we could do given the meeting at the regional office, a
supportive letter farm Rep Stephen Doran, the letter and presentation to the Area
Board, and the formal letter of intent Stan suggested getting the Replace Board
to write the Governor Steve wondered of a telephone call to Peter Koehan from
either him or Bob Hutchinson would help It was decided that the first step would
be for Bea to call the Area Office planner, Carol Rushee, and see what the progress
was, followed by a call from Steve to the Area Board chair, Rita Williams
School Committee
Roberta attended the School Committee meeting to discuss central office reorganization
The subcommittee of Jim Beck and Paul Newman had met with staff and will hold a
meeting with parents at Clarke next week, and come back with a report in a month
Jack Monderer had submitted an alternate reorganization, which gives away some of
the functions and has the Director of Pupil, a"part time position combined with the
head of guidance K-12 Geoff Pierson also said the state was distributing $406,000
more to Lexington, which reduces the pressure
Mystic Valley
Stan has written a letter of welcome to Richard Weiss, and.mill request a meeting
with him The letter from Steve commenting on their February report went to Weiss
from Stan as an enclosure, and specific written report comments will be made after
the meeting Bea wrote a memo to Robert Hutchinson, saying that the third quarter
report was more comprehensive than previous ones Stan feels it is still not
adequate, but Bea felt it was a considerable improvement and does indeed comply with
the contract, despite the fact that units of service are not explained, nor is there
any specificity of what is done which we (unfortunately) do not specifically require
Charitable Trusts
The Selectmen made their appointment to fill the vacancy on the Trustees, and Bea
will now write Mr Rutherford, the Chairman, with further information on the target
recipients recommended by the committee and the Selectmen
Cable TV
Steve called Dan Frank regarding producing other programs It is an area we might
consider, time consuming but fun.
Future Membership
Terms on the committee expire this spring The Zarles will continue until the end
of May and then resign. Ilene is also planning to resign Steve is undecided
Stan, Roberta, and Howard want to continue Judy was not present to report
The standard procedure would be for an announcement to go in the newspaper from the
Selectmen requesting interested people to register their names Steve suggested
that should be slightly embellished, with some statement of the committee's actions
It was suggested that the current committee could pre-screen for the Selectmen if
they wanted us to, perhaps submitting twice the number of names as there were vacancies
It was also suggested that informally, people should be alerted to apply, to help
get a balance of interests, ages, and perspectives
Steve will write to Jim Crain, suggesting the wording of an ad
Next Meeting
April 25, 7 30 pm room 111 UJI
Respectfully Submitted, Beatrice Phear 4�