HomeMy WebLinkAbout1983-10-04-HSC-min.pdf HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE
Minutes of the Meeting of October 4, 1983
Present Roberta Black, Ed Foley, Steve Baran, Judy Zabin, Thea Sheveloff,
Bea Phear
Minutes
The minutes of the meeting of September 13 were approved as amended on page
two paragraph 9, Judy's comments were that she suggested clustering issues in
order to organize around need as a central focus Agency evaluation is just
one part and we also must not lose sight of the planning focus
Charitable Trusts
Bea reported that she attended the meeting of the Trustees last month They
approved the request of the Woburn Council for Social Concern and denied the
request of Sing-Along Chorus They feel that funding must go to benefit low
income people, by the rules of the various trusts, and Sing-Along is not in
that category
The Trustees urged the Human Services Committee to continue to make recommendations,
for programs for the poor and said the committee could go directly to them
not needing to go through the Selectmen They would like to distribute
approximately $2,000 per year The Trustees asked Bea and the Committee to
also consider recommending funding to target individuals who are in an emergency
Bea told them she was uncomfortable with this, as she has no verifying process
It was suggested that the committee could do this through agencies, as is being
done this year with Cooperative Elder Services
Roberta suggested mentioning the funds to the Providers Council and soliciting
creative ideas We would have to design a process Steve suggested using the
calendar year rather than fiscal year
Judy also does not want to lose sight of the George Gilmore fund ($2,000/yr)
for non-poor projects This fund is requested through the Selectmen.
Collaborative Efforts
Bea distributed a sheet describing some of the collaborative efforts that she
is aware of The list is probably incomplete Judy noticed that Mystic Valley
was not included in the adolescent group This may be an oversight, and Bea
will check Steve asked about the Police Programatically the collaboration
is focused on case discussion but not on joint programming, such as pooled
funding or subcontracting The subcommittees will develop this networking
list for their areas
Subcommittees
Steve distributed a plan for subcommittees Both the planning/ongoing needs
assessment functim and the affective function of maintaining good relationships
should be pursued by the Human Services Committee
Steve sees the fourth subcommittee being a source of innovation, with the
members freed from the usual evaluative efforts He is also trying to avoid the
tilt towards specialization and away from our responsibility of planning that
he has noticed in the past year
There was concern that the work load was too great, although the committee
agreed it made sense and it was important to have the broad View
Some alternatives include having a steering committee to set the agenda for
the whole committee and keep them on a planning track; having the tasks of
#4 be the charge of the whole committee having certain individuals step
forward to pursue one function from time to time (eg voluteerism, providers
council)
It was decided to split Steve' s #1 subcommittee into two elderly & disabled
It was decided to continue to think about #4, but meanwhile assign the others
so the monitoring and liaison work can begin Subcommittees are
Youth Elderly Disabled Mental Health/Retardation
Black Sheveloff Baran Zabin
Foley
Steve will ask Stan Finkelstein and Howard Reynolds how they would like to
be assigned Since there is the Enablement Subcommittee already, it was felt
that that group should have only one member of the Human Services Committee
Steve will also pursue the appointment to fill the one vacancy There is also
the possibility of augmenting the subcommittees with volunteers, possibly some
of the people who applied to serve on the committee but were not selected
Rguests for Town Funding
Bea distributed her cover letter to be mailed October 5, and a slightly
abbreviated review criteria. Steve pointed out that the prevention focus
needed to be added to the review criteria The committee recommended sending
the invitation to Replace, Mystic Valley, CMARC, and Share-A-Ride It was
decided not to send the letter to the Council on Aging, since they are a
town program, but to discuss the issues included in the review criteria as
part of the process of learning about their programs The committee does
have a responsibility to the Selectmen to comment on the CoA budget however
the CoA does not apply' in the same form.
Coordinator's Report
There will be no intern this year, as the student who was lined up has withdrawn
from school because she has hepatitis
Bea will present a plan for the Provider's Council at the next meeting
The Youth Commission will be focusing on substance abuse, recreation, and
student government day this year
The Special Needs Art Fund is having a benefit and invited the committee It
will be October 16 A summary of the purpose of the fund was distributed
Bea distributed a summary of some of the census data
Hire-A-Youth filled 80 jobs this summer, down from last year
Guidelines have been distributed to Town departments regarding the new conflict
of interest laws and interpretations All committee members are classified
as "Special Employees This means that they may not engage in financial
interests in Town Contracts, such as owning a printing company that prints
stationary for the Human Services Committee Roberta asked if this would
include serving on the Board of an agency that receives Town funding Bea
thought that this would be a conflict Any questions about conflict of interest
that members may have should be sent to Bea In some cases , a ruling by
Town Counsel can be requested.
The Town Report photographer will be at the next meeting
Next Meeting
October 18, room G-1, 7 30 pm
Respectfully submitted,
Beatrice Phear