HomeMy WebLinkAbout1984-08-21-HSC-min.pdf HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE
/ Minutes of the Meeting of August 21, 1984
Present. Roberta Black, Stan Finkelstein, Ed Foley, Judy Zabin, Marion Shepp, Bea Phear
Minutes
The minutes of the meeting of July 17, 1984 were approved as mailed.
Committee Appointments
The Board of Selectmen expect to make appointments in the fall. Roberta has left a
message for Paul Marshall (who is on vacation) to see if some interviews can begin to
be scheduled, so that they are ready as soon as possible
Trustees / FY86 Budget
Roberta and Bea met with the Trustees of Public Trusts Funding of $2,500 was approved
for Cooperative Elder Services, to repeat the contract of FY84 for sliding fee
scholarships for Lexington residents.
The Trustees also said.
1. There is annual income in the human service focused trusts of
( approximately $3,000
2 There is a current accumulated income balance of approximately
$10,000
3. They encourage requests that address one-time demonstration or
emergency programs rather that getting into continuing funding
situations
4. They want recommendations from the committee or Bea at any time,
and can address emergencies (e g a burst boiler for a low income
family) as well as program recommendations
Discussion followed on the advisability of putting out requests for proposals for
spending Trust money in FY86, and for balancing the Trust funding with other
human service funding in the Town budget
It was decided to draft an RFP that invited proposals, and also suggested areas of
need that have been identified, such as MR recreation, homecare workers, transportation
The committee will look at the FY86 budget in its entirety, perhaps moving CMARC from
a Warrent Article into Community Services and readjusting other agency funding rather
than automatically renewing The RFP will go to Providers Council list and Churches
The committee may also recommend that some programs be put into other Town budgets,
such as Recreation or Lexpress
Stan pointed out that the committee was not set up to examine four agencies year
c_ after year
Coordinator's Report
1. Minuteman Home Care Corp and the CoA are both experience a severe shortage of
people willing to be home care workers The salary is low ($4 00) with no
benefits MHCC is planning to request permission from the State to hire its own
workers rather than go through agencies Bea recommended that this be supported,
as it may generate new workers Judy pointed out that there are two sides, and
the agencies can supervise and administer She thought the overhead that goes to
the case worker is valuable, since MHCC would then have to absorb the supervision
2 Roberta and Bea met with RePlace last week The new outreach worker has been
hired. Bill Blout has some plans for groups Bea and Roberta encouraged him to
consider a brochure listing fall groups to expand outreach. Strategies may need to
change, with changing adolescent needs
3. The Enablement Committee will meet September 19 to plan a possible public
meeting for October 3 to discuss the General Revenue Sharing "Evaluation and Plan"
that is being developed. The timing may be unrealistic Committee members are
urged to come September 19 to help with the discussion.
4. A meeting was held August 1 for families that had responded to the MR questionnaire
There was considerable interest in forming into task forces for housing, recreation,
and transportation. George Zitnay, Assistant Commissioner of Mental Health for
Retardation, has agreed to speak on October 10 at a kick-off meeting for the
task forces
5 The Council on Aging's new Social Day Care program is going very well, with
12 registrants
6 Alice Hinkle has started a newpaper series on human service issues, in conjunction
with Bea. Three articles have appeared in retardation, and one each on Social
Day Care, Eating Disorders, and next week will have Self-help A future article
will be on abuse
7 Bea will have an intern from B U School of Social Work starting September 13
She is a first year student, Christine Boisvert, who had been set for last year
but was ill and delayed her enrollment She will be two days per week Projects
are not yet decided, but she will begin on access questions with the Enablement
Committee Roberta suggested a human services newsletter
Cable TV
Roberta reported that Steve Baran will not be able to continue his work on cable for
human services Is any one else interested? This may be an area for Christine
Handicapped Housing
The Lexington Housing Authority is planning to submit a Chapter 689 application for
two sites for staffed apartments for retarded persons Bea has been working with
them on this They will apply in conjunction with the DMH Area Office and then RFP
the vendor Stan offered to help with the RFP process and will contact Jim McLaughlin
Volunteers
Roberta reminded the committee that Alan November had expressed interest in helping
the committee through computer use Do we want to invite him to a meeting? There
was a sense that the committee was not sure how to use his expertise Perhaps for
information and referral? Roberta will call him and get a clearer idea of the
posibilities Stan wondered if he should not also be included as an applicant to
the committee He lives in Middleton and teaches in Lexington, there might be an
eligibility question.
School Department
Roberta reported that the new Lexington Coordinator of Guidance was Bob Delulio,
formerly Roberta' s supervisor in Newton. He wants to speak with the committee,
which leads to the possibility of more coordination with the schools
Mystic Valley
Stan and Judy decided to schedule the next quarterly meeting with Richard Weiss
Bea will try to set it up for September 13 at 2 00 p m. (Not yet confirmed)
Next Meetings
It was decided to hold regular meetings on the first and third Monday of each
month. Meetings have been scheduled at 7 30 pm in room 111 (Lexpress) on the
following dates
September 17
October 1
October 15
November 5
November 19
Respectfully submitted,
Beatrice Phear