HomeMy WebLinkAbout1983-11-15-HSC-min.pdf HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE
Minutes of the Meeting of November 15 1983
Present Steve Baran, Howard Reynolds, Ed Foley, Stan Finkelstein Roberta Black,
Judy Zabin Bea Phear
Minutes
The minutes of the meeting of November 1 were approved as mailed
Providers Council
Roberta had invited the Replace Board to the series She also suggested inviting a
reported from the Minuteman and cable TV There was discussion about putting an
advance notice in the newspaper but it was felt that keeping the group smaller and
cohesive was important Steve will find out if it would be possible to video tape
without additional lighting Bea distributed the final invitation.
Meeting Schedule
It was decided that the timetable for drafting and submitting a report to the
Selectmen dictated changing the meeting The new schedule is
November 29 - subcommittee submit draft reports for discussion
December 13 - finalize report
The meeting of December 6 will be cancelled
Coordinator's Report
Jack Monderer notified the committee of several parent groups that the counseling
staff is running on a ongoing basis this year The list was circulated
There is a surplus cheese distribution on November 16 & 17
Share-A-Ride invites the committee to a reception at Munroe School on November 16
A handicap ramp and new accessible bathroom are in the Manager's Capital Expenditure
budget at the moment for rennovations at Cary Hall
A man came into Town Offices last week complaining about the Wild Acre Inn identifying
himself as the husband of a former manager He expressed concern that drugs were
administered by non-qualified people that there was over crowding, and that a violent
client was admitted Stan asked to be included on the next Health Department inspection
Bea had asked the man for a letter but none has yet come This may be an issue for
the committee in the future Roberta knows someone who has worked there in the past
and will sound her out informally
Report to Selectmen
It was decided that the subcommittees will draft their reports according to a format
that starts with a brief description of the program and then addresses the Review
Criteria, using the Review Criteria outline as headings Actual numbers of participant
can be included either in the description or in the needs section
Replace
Roberta attended the last Replace Board meeting Bill Blout mentioned two phenomena
in RePlace evolution the number of adolescents in the community is dropping and
the kinds of problems are changing from acting out behavior to depression and loniiness
Roberta does not know if they have formulated a response in terms of changing their
program emphasis Is the drop-in center the vehicle to meet changing need's? She and
Ed want to explore this further with Replace Trends indicate a reduction in counseling
and an increase in emergency housing requests The RePlace staff is older, married,
and more "settled" than a few years ago, and may be projecting an image of a more
traditional counseling center Steve asked why the fundraising expenses were so
high ($950 to raise $14,000) , and also if they could not project more from the
school department
Mystic Valley
Judy Howard, Steve and Bea met last week at MVMH with Richard Weiss Kay Tiffany
and Charlotte Alterson They thought
that a start towards better communication was made Richard Weiss will send an
analytic treatment of his statistics, which had been omited from the October report
CMARC
Bea and Marion Shepp visited CMARC last week Bea continues to be impressed with the
quality of service the atmosphere at the workshop is cheerful and hardworking the
evaluation materials are comprehensive and geared towards task functioning according
to the labor department's job descriptions, and client records are thorough
Steve asked about the issue of continuing to come to the Town for funding when there
was an implication that FY 82 would be the last year The subcommittee should ask
CMARC about this and address it in their report Bea expressed that she thought it
inappropriate that she write the report. Steve will talk with Marion and they will
write it.
Elderly
Stan and Thea are adopting a long-range strategy of interviewing various players in
the elderly network to gain a comprehensive over-view They will make a report that
comments on the CoA request, but will not necessarily study it in depth
Sing Along Chorus
Steve invited Marily Able to submit a funding request to the committee for an adult 1
program similar to the one currently funded through the Recreation Department for
adolescents Bea talked to Marilyn about what information should be included Bea
has recommended that this funding be through the Recreation Department, since they
are equipped to handle the fee payments
Charitable Trusts
Judy recommended that the Committee's report include comment on the relationship with
the Trustees This was a new relationship last year and should not be dropped. The
committee can turn to the Trustees after the regular budget process
Other
Bea distributed copies of her budget recommendations to the Town Manager
Next Meeting November 29, room G-15 Respectfully Submitted Bea Phear