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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1984-12-17-HSC-min.pdf HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE ( Minutes of the Meeting of December 17, 1984 ( Present Roberta Balck, Ed Foley, Sheila Martin, Stan Finkelstein, Leonora Zola, C.C. Chao, Judy Zabin, Bea Phear Minutes The minutes of the meeting of December 3, 1984 were approved as mailed. Lexington2,000 A letter was sent to the Selectmen as drafted at the meeting of December 3 Roberta read in the newspaper that a meeting had been called, but the committee was not included. Enablement Bea summarized the Enablement Committee's public meeting Dave Enman made introductory remarks describing the 504 rights and the Town's need to comply with General Revenue Sharing guidelines Bob Harris showed slides of some Town buildings, and Christine discussed other Town prgrams Nancy Schock acted as facilitator Bea found it interesting that the audience was more interested in non-municipal issues, and kept turning to stores and banks as problems rather than Town programs The attendance was fairly small, about 20 people There will be a follow-up article in the newspaper, with a returnable questionnaire MR Housing Bea met last weekend with Jim McLaughlin and Bill Crane to discuss neighborhood acceptance issues She felt that Jim was less persuaded of the need to act proactively, thinking that neighbors could approach the Housing Authority with questions Bea drafted a letter for him, with a timetable of action, which he may or may not choose to send to neighbors The schedule is enclosed with these minutes Town Meeting Bea informed the committee that Town Meeting has been called for March 25 Congregate Housing Roberta informed the committee that she had named herself to serve on the Selectmen's advisory committee on elderly congregate housing No meeting has yet been called. Franklin School The committee felt they had too little information to recommend a developer from among the three finalists, but they voted unanimousely to support a housing use over a school use Leonora was asked to go to the Selectmen's meeting and testify Budget FY 1986 Goals Roberta reminded the committee to think about goals CMARC David and Marion were not able to attend the meeting Their recommendations ( will be received at the next meeting, when the total package is voted. \ C Mystic Valley Stan and Leonora distributed a draft They recommend funding of the $15,000 request The number of clients with no insurance demonstrates the agency's need for support Leonora is interested in the mix of Lexington and other { communities, and will ask this for FY86 reports ( The most recent quarterly report, received 12/17/84, does not have a discussion section with analytic treatment of data. Judy feels the need for this, with comments on the significance of discontinuing the crisis service and trends in need areas Stan thinks it is harder to write than it sounds, as they are not clear as to what the committee wants Stan says this is easier to get in the quarterly meetings with Richard Weiss Hospice Stan and Leonora are recommending the total request for both demonstration programs - $4,800 The agency has demonstrated community linkages and serves a need. There was discussion about their ability to implement the programs, especially locating volunteer nurses It was felt that the demonstration funding was to make the effort, but with a clear understanding that the funds could not be used for other services The payments would be on a quarterly basis with progress reports required. It is understood that many clients may not be Lexington residents, but Stan will urge a Lexington co-sponsor for the groups (to provide space) and active seeking of clients through physicians, clergy, and schools Judy pointed out the need to recognize that Hospice charges only a $35 registration and no fees, and that people who benefit are not necessarily in financial need. Reporting will ask about Lexington client use. RePlace Sheila and Ed spoke with Bill Blout about the use of a new part-time staff person. He had been thinking about big brother/big sister training and the possibility of coordinating professional volunteers as well as working with elderly, battered women, and expanding to child abuse prevention They had discussed the possibility of adding to a current staff member's hours rather than a new-hire Roberta asked about the possibility of changing drop-in hours to include weekends Sheila said that the church was not interested in allowing that without staff, and none of the staff wanted to work weekends Bobby cited some of their last three years statistics from minutes of their Board 1982 1984 daily drop-in 38 12 counseling new cases 54 27 suicide 15 7 psych emergency 19 11 housing emergency 29 22 Screenedand referred out and outreach contacts both remained constant The committee felt that if RePlace numbers were dropping, it was hard to argue for expansion It was decided to recommend a staff salary increase of 7% ($2,800) but no other increased funding It was also decided to have a meeting with Bill and some of his Board to ( discuss general trends and issues in services to youth, with emphasis on identifying some alternate linkages such as through counselors, principals, project BASE, alateen, tough love, Minuteman School and other less "establishment" groups that might be identified. Roberta also suggested that Bob '1t'--411-1-, might be very interested in sponsoring a needs assessment per R1 p Veterans Bea said it is very hard to project. Veterans services are based on state law, and the number of claims varies greatly from one year to another Bea can see no rationale for these variations The most expensive benefit is health care The Town pays for benefits and is reimbursed by the state at 75%, about 18 months later The committee took no position on Veterans Services Next Meeting January 7 January 21 Respectfully Submitted Beatrice Phear 1