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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1985-11-18-HSC-min.pdf HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE Minutes of the Meeting of November 18 , 1985 Present Stan Finkelstein, Judy Zabin, Harvey Lowell, Leonora Feeney, Sheila Martin, Sylvia Perlman, Jan Eustis, Bea Phear Minutes The minutes of the meeting of November 4, 1985 were approved as mailed Coordinator's Report Bea met with the Board of Health, who are interested in the study of adolescents that is being done in conjunction with RePlace and others They felt that alcoholism among youth was a greater public health issue than some of the other things they do. Don Goldmann asked to be kept on the mailing list, and the Board offered their support to the research The funding request from The Lexington Play Care Center had inadvertently not gotten distributed at the last meeting It will go to Judy Bea talkedcl with Sandy Eaton, President of the Preschool PTA, who told her that the PTA already does a series on parent education Sandy also referred Bea to the Mass Depattment !i of Education which may have funding for such a program. The Preschool PTA has approximately $2,000 to distribute Bea suggested RePlace's adolescent parents program and the possibility of working with Joyce Holman of the Children's Center to develop an information and referral system and peer ( support and training for family day care providers The fall commodities distribution was held on November 13 184 households representing 281 individuals received cheese, butter and rice Bea had set up a box whereby people could register interest in a holiday food basket Six people signed up It is likely that there will be enough donors to satisfy the six, but the Committee felt it important that their needs be met, and that perhapd the Trustees could be asked to fill in any gap that may occur The adolescent survey group is going strong, and they have decided to start a draft questionnaire that will go to Junior High students sometime in February Judy asked about Lexington Youth Commission participation Bea said they had been invited, but were more interested in their own projects There was some discussion about keeping in touch with the LYC in the future Agency Assignments The first thinking should be ready for verbal presentation at the next meeting on December 9 This will include a summary of the agency's request, what your recommendations are and why Assignments are Mystic Valley - Leonora & Jan CMARC - Harvey & Marion RePlace - Sylvia & Sheila Cooperative Elder Services - Judy Visiting Nurse - Jan & Leonora Everyone's Youth Group - Sylvia & Sheila Play Care Center - Judy Council on Aging - Stan & Harvey Next Meeting The meeting has been changed from December 2 to December 9 0 New Coordinator Paul Marshall had asked the Town Manager to talk with Judy and Stan about the screening process and their involvement They met last week The initial screening will be done by Susan Adler and Linda Vine; the Manager will interview this week; and the five finalists will be re-interviewed with the Manager plus Judy and Stan He hopes to have someone in place before Christmas He has definite thoughts about the role, and is concerned not to create a bureaucracy Syposium Recapitulation The feedback from participants and attendees was favorable Stan has the whole program on video tape, for those who are interested. It was felt that the goals of having people talk to each other, education the community to the range of human service issues and increased visibility of the committee were met well It appeared that module 2, with a human focus, was better at generating discussion than module 1, which really addressed the needs of agencies For future planning it will be important to remember that the problems that effect people are more relevant The learning was not so much in the content area, but more how people deal with issues and the spectrum of human serive issues The table that had members of Town financial committees was particularly interested in this range Judy reported that they assumed greater use of the "Old Boy' network, and were surprised at constraints It was felt the forum did not give us a chance to focus on needs in some areas, partcularly of elderly Strategic Planning Subcommittee They are looking at ways to proceed, and starting to flesh out issue areas and possible responses Research Subcommittee They are researching human services in other communities, both as to structure and program offerings The aim will be to narrow the list and explore in depth. Harvey suggested Peabody as a town to look into Committee Appointments We have received C.C. Chao's resignation Ideas for alternate members are requested, particularly a man, and someone not directly in human services Next Meeting December 9 at 7 30 p.m. in room 111 Respectfully submitted Beatrice Phear