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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1986-02-27-HSC-min.pdf HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE Minutes of the Meeting of January 27, 1986 Room 111 Town Office Building - 7 30 p m Present Judy Zabin, Stan Finkelstein, Sylvia Perlman, Jan Eustis, Harvey Lowell , Marilyn Shepp, Leonora Feeney, Sheila Martin and Anne Marie Marano Announcements Anne Marie reported that she had talked with the Enablement Committee and she had invited them to attend the H S C meeting scheduled to be held on Feb 10, 1986, 730pm Discussions The committee spent approximately 25 minutes reviewing and discussing the HSC FY87 Budget Recommendation Report and reviewing the anticipated protocol for the Human Services' presentation at the Selectmen's meeting that evening at 8 30 p m. Stan proposed that the H.S C asked to be recognized during the Council on Aging' s presenta- tion to the Selectmen In order to address the major thrust of the Committee' s find- ings regarding the COA and specifying that the increased commitment on the part of the Town to the senior citizen population will be costly Either the Town must recognize and assume increased expenses in this area or assist COA staff in pursuing alternate funding H S C - FY87 - Budget Recommendations Report In reviewing this report the Committee requested 3 content changes be made as follows Page 5 - RePlace - Under FY86 Budget - the figure should read $54,864 00; Page 10 - Everyone' s Youth Group Budget Requests - Last paragraph, second line - sentence re-written to read, "This will cover the direct costs of pro- ducing 4 shows These films will be made available to Lexington town agencies and groups "; Page 17 - Budget Specific for the Senior Health Monitoring Program - paragraph 2, 8th line - changed to read - will probably not be necessary Minutes Minutes for the HSC meeting of Jan 13, 1986 were approved as mailed. Meeting Dates HSC meeting dates are scheduled for March 10 and 24, 1986 at 7 30 p m , Room 111 Town Office Building Sub Committees It was hoped that at this meeting the Sub Committees would present reports indica- ting goal seeting and direction for the future, however, the SC were unable to convene during the past 2 weeks as preparation of the Budget Recommendations Report took priority with committee members Therefore, it was decided that SC reports would be placed on the agenda for the Feb 10 meeting -2- Adolescent Study Group Sylvia Perlman reported on this group Anne Marie and Sylvia attended the Adolescent Study Group meeting on Jan 27, 1986 Sylvia reviewed the group's pro- posal draft The draft includes a rationale delineating the need for a comprehen- sive study, citing service providers awareness of increased psycho-social stresses confronting Lexington youth and increased suicide and vandalism rates in Lexington Proposed goals for the study include 1 To collect data which will yield a profile of the activities and concerns of Town youth; 2 To describe on the basis of data collected the service needs of the youth; 3 To encourage community providers to use this new information to review current programs and when necessary to develop services to address newly identified needs; 4 To heighten public awareness regarding the concerns of the youth in Lexington Sylvia explained that the group planned to mail this proposal draft to a broad spectrum of Town citizens and service providers with special interest in youth services Mailing list will include clergy PTA groups, Mental Health Service Providers, Pediatri- cians, local Town groups, etc The recipients of the proposal will be invited to attend a meeting to be scheduled in March 1986 It is hoped that from this meeting the group will gain community based commitment and support for the study process and that an Advisory Group to closely examine and develop the study will be formed The issue of the group' s lack of funding was raised and it was requested by HSC that Anne Marie tal with the Town Manager about the possibility of any discretionary funds or Youth Comm. funds be available to assist the study group Following the development of community support and commitment, the "Study group would then like to go to the Selectmen for backing The group would also attempt to work with the School Committee and the Youth Commission HSC discussed the sensitivity of conducting a youth study and gathering data Questionnaire development and distribution was discussed as well as alternatives for data collection i e Is it necessary to get information directly from youths or would it be possible to obtain data through service providers? The existing questionnaire was discussed as well as the need to re-evaluate this instrument Fdloving the above discussion, the H S C members agreed that as a Committee they do support the development of the youth study It was acknowledged that in the future it is quite conceivable that the HSC could support a request for funding for the study HSC gave approval for the study groups proposal to state that youth concerns have "Impelled a group of Human Service professionals convened by Re-Place and the Lexington Human Services Comm. to propose a study of the well being of the youth of Lexington " Sylvia explained that the group was initiated through the efforts of Bill Blout and Bea Phear Sylvia asked the HSC if they would, "Sign On" as supporters of this process The HSC was agreeable Membership Stan announced that the 9th member of the HSC has been nominated and appointed by the Board of Selectmen His name is Robert Cushman Anne Marie distributed an update HSC members phone list -3- At 8 25 p.m the meeting adjourned to go upstairs to meet with the Board of Selectmen Following the Selectmen's meeting at approx 9 30, the Comm briefly re- convened to. allow Sub Committee members to informally talk with each other regarding Sub Committee reports scheduled for Feb 10, 1986 meeting Comm members informally discussed impressions of presentation to Selectmen's meeting - overall favorable tone HSC hopes to be able to meet with the Appropriations Comm and or the Selectmen prior to final budget decisions Minutes submitted by Anne Marie Marano, Human Services Coordinator 1 n c C