HomeMy WebLinkAbout1983-09-13-HSC-min.pdf HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE
Minutes of the Meeting of September 13, 1983
Present Steve Baran, Ed Foley Judy Zabin Stan Finkelstein, Howard Reynolds,
Roberta Black Thea Sheveloff, Bea Phear
The members decided to hold their regular meetings on the first and third Tuesdays
of each month The next meeting will be October 4 in room G-1 (Recreation)
Steve read out a laundry list of ideas for the committee to consider in making its
fall plans He mentioned that during the summer Susan Adler, Assistant to the
Town Manager, had contacted him about FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency)
funding for emergency shelter funnelled thorugh Bristol Lodge Dr Weiss, of
Mystic Valley is following this and we should find out what Dr Weiss is aware
of regarding emergency shelter needs and needs of the homeless This also raises
the larger question of how many emergencies are handled. It isapossible area Of
exploration for charitable trust money
The Mystic Valley contract that was negotiated over the summer has met with Dr
Weiss's approval The Town has signed it and is now awaiting Mystic Valley's
signature
Linkages Steve felt the issue of linkages among agencies and with the committee
should be considered These include 1) School Committee - what planning is going
)n for the time when Jack Monderer retires and what happens to the developmentally
disabled when they graduate and are no longer eligible for 766 funding
2) Recreation - The Enablement Committee
in involved with the Recreation Committee regarding access to recreation programs
3) Providers Council - what would be
appropriate theme for providers meetings? Should we emphsize joint planning
on a specific issue or problem, such as developing a resource guide working on
cable tv programs? Who will organize the providers and what will be the role of
the committee?
Finances 1) Talk with the Trustees of Public Trusts possibly using trust money
as seed money for various projects or programs Being aware of these programs
raises new questions regarding renewal funding and possible competition with the
traditionally funded agencies
2) Locate additional sources of funding through foundations and grants
These could be tied to one theme, such as prevention There is the question of
whether the committee is limited to deliberating only town funding
3) Should the committee evaluate programs currently funded or should they
tie in funding to a theme
4) Consider the use of non-financial resources such as volunteers This
relates to the Selectmen s appointment of Steve Politi and Bob Sacco to seek an
expansion of volunteers under the rubric of community service
Agency Orientation There is the question of evaluating currently funded agencies
or expanding the subcommittees to look at areas of need and groups of people rather
than just specific agencies
Cable Television Steve has organized a program on curb crossings done a partial
taping of divorce mediation, and had brainstorming sessions on adolescent issues
There is the beginning of a team to work on a family problem solving series Bea
has offered to help with the logistics, or it could be a student intern planning
project Several of the people interviewed for the Human Services Committee had
expressed interest in Cable TV (Sheila Martin and Eva Gill)
Evaluation We have a promisefrom the United Way to come and talk with us about
their evaluation methods using the UWASIS framework
Planning The Selectmen have a goal of planning for Lexington 2000 We might
become involved.
Computer Application Alan November a teacher at the High School has expressed
interest in organizing the data from the accessibility study Steve also talked to
him about a resource directory, using the agencies that had filled out forms at the
Providers Council last year Bea pointed out that the CAIRN project of United Way
is now in the data gathering phase, and they will probably do a more sophisticated
and comprehensive job Steve felt that we could also incorporate needs information
Committee Administration Jim Crain has resigned from the Board of Selectmen, which
means we will need a new liaison person Steve Politi discussed having new members
appointed for three year terms, and repeating members stagger their continuation,
so as to end up with a revolving committee
Bea distributed a possible work agenda for the committee to consider She said
that she felt the first responsibility was to advise the Selectmen on funding
for next fiscal year, and she distributed the letter that had been used last year
to the agencies requesting money
There was discussion about whether evaluation could be a staff function, with
reports going to the committee which would then set priorities It was felt that
all the committees processes in the past two years had been a form of ongoing needs
assessment, but there was concern that we hadn' t sat down and written our evaluative
criteria
Stan pointed out that one function of the subcommittees, in addition to evaluation
was to maintain agency relations One of our criteria could be directed at
encouraging agencies to collaborate Bea said there is already a fair amount of
collaboration and she will outline it for the committee
Judy suggested clustering issues eg mental health, elderly, handicapped and see
if we want to plan around them Also she suggested requesting $5,000 in the budget
for distribution by the committee
Howard was concerned that we would always be faced with the problem of anticipated
repeated funding from agencies that had been funded in the past, and we had an
obligation to continue to look at their provision of services
Stan said it is a political reality that the same agencies come back for the same
money but we could write into the RFP that collaborative efforts are encouraged,
or we could target a specific need in addition to open-ended RFPs One specific
need had been information and referral, which could be an initial target for specialized
RFPs Additionally, the committee could set up a third category of one-time small
grants for creative projects
1
At the next meeting, the committee will determine its subcommittee structure and
how it communicates with agencies Steve will check with the Selectmen to find
out how much leeway there is, and Bea will report back from her meeting with the
Trustees of public trusts
Respectfully Submitted,
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Beatrice Phear
Future Meeting Schedule
Tuesday, October 4, room G-1 (Conservation/Recreation)
Tuesday October 18, room G-1
Tuesday, November 1, room G-15
Tuesday, November 15, room 111 (Lexpress)
Tuesday December 6 room G-15