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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1985-12-09-HSC-min.pdf l tonne R9A,e.Q__ AAQA_ ( HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE Minutes of the Meeting of December 9 , 1985 Present Stan Finkelstein , Harvey Lowell , Leonora Feeney , Sheila Martin , Sylvia Perlman , Jan Eustis , Marion Shepp Minutes The minutes of the November 18 meeting were approved as mailed Announcements 1 Judy and Stan participated with Bob Hutchinson in interviewing the six finalists for the Coordinator ' s position on Friday All three of them agreed on a first choice , and the position was offered to her over the weekend She is to meet with Bob tomorrow , and it is hoped that she will accept If she does not , there is no clear second choice Stan felt very pleased about the process 2 Party for Bea Phear 21 people are planning to attend the dinner on December 15 at Cory ' s All members of the committee , and their spouses , will be there , as will several former members Judy plans to purchase a gift this week , and welcomes suggestions 3 Search for new committee member The Selectmen have not referred any names to us as a result of their general announcement Judy went over a list of Town Meeting members in an effort to think of potential members , but could not find any Stan has asked to see the resumes of people who expressed interest in other committees If none of these methods work out , we may go back to those who had volunteered last year 4 The Cary Hall ramp was unanimously passed by the special Town Meeting last week Agency Evaluations Evaluations will be begun tonight and completed next week General Issues 1 Stan suacested the possibility that the committee set priorities rather than merely recommending specific funding amounts This would permit / require the committee to advocate for certain programs Jan felt that priorities could only be established within a particular context The possibility was suggested that we develop three priority levels within our recommendations L ( 2 Elderly services Last year Selectmen asked whether all funding for elderly services should be either Human Services Committee or Council on Aging line item ( and not split between the two ) This issue was discussed with the focus on ( 1 ) whether the committee should continue to monitor the COA budget , and ( 2 ) whether the VNA Senior Health Monitor program should be included in the Housing Authority or COA budget rather than ours Agencies 1 Visiting Nurse and Community Health VNA is again seeking "bridge " funding from the town , to cover the costs of their Senior Health Monitor program between July and October They expect that they will receive permanent funding after that time from the Depts of Elder Affairs and Communities and Development Bea recommended no funding for them The program has an excellent reputation , but shows indirect costs of 24% in a $33 thousand budget Half the program ' s clients are in Lexington Housing Authority projects Lee and Jan therefore wonder whether the LHA might help support and /or evaluate the program 2 Council on Aging Bea did not include the COA in our budget this year , although they always have been included in the past When Stan and Harvey tried to schedule an appointment with Linda Vine she was reluctant She finally agreed to see them "as a courtesy " The COA , whose board is appointed by the Town Manager , is requesting a budget increase of 38% for 1987 Discussion centered on whether the committee should continue to serve a monitoring function vis a vis the CUA The general sense was that the Selectmen would probably want us to do so 3 Everyone 's Youth Group Sheila has been unable to reach Ashley Rooney , who is requesting funds for the purpose of developing new television programming for adolescents and their parents 4 RePlace RePlace is seeking a 9% increase in its allocation , to $59 904 This represents an increase of $5040 , all of which would be used to raise salaries -- for an over-all salary increase of 7% Although Bill has shown in his proposed budget an increase of $840 per person , rather than proportional raises , he acknowledged that he does not necessarily intend to distribute the money that way Rather , he would like leeway to allocate the funds as he deems necessary , with the goal being to keep the staff he has worked hard to recruit over the past year or so It was felt that we should probably recommend the requested increase if it is truly needed to achieve wage equity but it was also noted that we would take actual expenditures into account in reviewing the 1987 budget 5 CMARC CMARC serves 116 people , increasingly in competitive Lsituations rather than in sheltered workshops Although corporate settings are more expensive to supervise , they are also more beneficial to the people being served They are requesting a 38% increase in their allocation , from $5500 to $7500 They have increased the number of Lexington people served from six to eight this year Harvey was much impressed with the agency , which runs efficiently and well It also does its own fundraising 6 Mystic Valley Mystic Valley is requesting a $20 thousand increase ( from $15 to $35 thousand ) , apparently because they lost 1 1/2 positions this year The budget they presented to the committee requires considerable discussion , and Jan and Lee will be meeting with Richard on Thursday 7 Cooperative Elder Services and Lexington Play Care Center These two programs are being monitored by Judy , who will report on them next week The Research and Strategic Planning Subcommittees did not meet this week Their meetings will be resumed early in January Submitted by Sylvia Perlman