HomeMy WebLinkAbout1983-06-27-HSC-min.pdf HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE
Minutes of the Meeting of June 27, 1983
Present Steve Baran Judy Zabin, Stan Finkelstein, Roberta Black, Bea Phear
Guest Richard Weiss Mystic Valley Mental Health Association
Mystic Valley
The Committee welcomed Dr Weiss, the new Executive Director of the mental health
center The discussion focused on ways the two groups could work together over
the next year and how best to target the $1,000 appropriation the Town has voted
to the center
Dr Weiss informed the committee that, as it stands now, the Dept of Mental Health
contract for emergency services has been awarded to Norfolk Human Services; this has
been approved by the Commissioner Mystic Valley is appealing this action to the
Secretary, Manuel Carballo, but is not planning to go to court if this appeal fails
Mystic Valley will place an advertizement in the Minuteman announcing that they will
no longer provide crisis services They are no longer bound to see clients without
appointments and active clients will receive top priority There was concern on the
part of the committee that potential clients would no know where to turn in emergency,
and even current Mystic Valley clients who experience an emergency without appointment
would not be supported Dr Weiss said that was possible but he was not planning to
include alternative resources available in his announcement
He said the loss of the contract was hurting the agency in both direct and indirect
ways This is particularly difficult because there is a concurrent $125,000 federal
block grant reduction along with the loss of the $260 000 crisis contract
In discussion of the town's relationship to the center, he said he was interested in
providing information that would help the committee in its mission, which was why he
had requested copies of the charge and needs assessments For example, they could
tell us what they were doing using indicators of prevention or intervention as determined
to be meaningful to the committee He is currently focusing on the basic principles
of the agency, in preparation for devolping goals objectives, and tasks For example
there is a paucity of day programs for the mentally ill, and the agency is obligated
to generate revenue to meet that need
He felt there was a need to develop indicators in order to compare agenies and programs,
which could be in terms of cost competetive issues or programmatic ones He said
we could then balance volume and severity (eg value of a teen center with value of
services to one retarded child) There would be the dimensions of efficiency and
cost effectiveness
Stan proposed spending the $1,000 on the development of "meaningful" indecators for
Lexington Judy was concerned about our ability to look at the coordination of
services, not being sure it made sense to look at apples and oranges We are also
concerned with gaps in services and needs assessment Bea asked if it would be
possible for them to do a specific task, such as hosting a cable TV show Dr Weiss
thought that any of these routes would be possible, but it was up to the committee
to decide what it wants One thing he is interested in is looking into mobile services
for the elderly
After Dr Weiss left, the committee discussed the best way to alert the public about
the change in crisis provider It was decided that Bea would call Norfolk and find
out how they were planning to phase-in, and suggest to them that they run an advertizement +,
as well She will also notify the Police and Fire departments about the switch
(see enclosed memo)
Charitable Trusts
Bea reported that the Trustees had met, had asked her some clarifying questions, and
were expecting to vote in mid-July Susan Adler will handle the mechanics in
Bea's absence
Replace/DSS Negotiations
Bea reported that Bill Blout had met with the DSS staff to begin negotiations, and
then went back to his Board to get a decision on the percentage of non-Lexington
clients they would accept The Board voted that 25% of the DSS funded time could
go to non-Lexington. They are also concerned about "closed" cases that can't come
in on evenings and weekends, the sharing of the DSS caseload among the Replace
staff and the possible danger of refocusing the RePlace mission Bill will
continue to negotiate along these lines
Providers Council
Bea reported that she had investigated giving continuing education credit for
attendance There must be and educational goal , six weeks advance notice,
a reading list, and named instructors Bea felt the standards were manageable, and
she would apply for CEU creditation in the fall
Agency Contracts
The contracts as drafted for CMARC and RePlace were approved Mystic Valley's
contract will be discussed at the next meeting
Cable TV
Steve reported that there had been a meeting of interested people at the Adams Russell
studio Plans are progressing
Selectmen's Breakfast
Steve reported that he had attended the breakfast last week, and found the
presentation by the Planning Department very interesting In the fall we will
discuss analysis of social indicators
Minutes
The minutes of the meeting of June 13 were approved as mailed
Next Meeting
Monday, July 11 at 6 30 pm with Jim Crain
Agenda Discussion of role of Selectmen's liaison
Request for comments on the work of the Committee
Should the committee prepare a report for Town Meeting in the future?
Appointing new members - time frame, involvement of committee?
Mystic Valley contract
Respectfully Submitted, Beatrice Phear