HomeMy WebLinkAbout1987-08-17-HSC-min.pdf Minutes of Human Services Committee, August 17, 1987
Present Harvey Lowell, Chairman; Bob Cushman; Seymour Mandel, Leonora Feeney
Renee Cochin Sylvia Perlman Linda Crew Vine, Director, Council on
Aging Steve Baran, Human Services Coordinator
1. The Minutes of the meeting of August 17 were approved.
2 Services to elderly in need of visiting nursing
Steve Baran explained that he had conferred with Linda Crew Vine, Director,
Council on Aging about a request for proposal to provide coordinated services
to elderly people in need of visiting nursing A need for service integration
and outreach was emphasized. This was to mark a departure from a rather
static caseload of visiting nursing to frail elderly which has been the case
for some time under existing Town of Lexington contracts with the Visiting Nurse
and Community health, Inc
Linda Crew Vine said that the Council on Aging was prepared to do outreach
in FY '89 through a Senior Aide who is already on the staff in an intern
capacity and presently paid for through the Minuteman Home Care Corporation
and an extension of the services provided by Evie Saulich, outreach worker
The Senior Aide, Lena DiGuglieno, is presently working 20 hours per week and
the outreach worker is working 15 hours per week
It was recognized that a distinction had to be made between outreach and
( casefinding' for the purpose of screening and identifying people in need of
visiting nursing and case management services,and case management per se
The Committee asked for a definition of what case management would entail
and how case management /outreach would relate to existingservices to the
elderly Would the case management evisaged in the plan being contemplated
differ essentially from case management already being provided for the income-
eligible by the Minuteman Home Care Corporation? 20 of the 26 elderly persons
being served by the Human Services Committee Senior Health Monitor visiting
nursing program receive case management from Minuteman Home Care Corporation
A program of visiting nursing and case management with outreach was envisaged
that would cost around $22,000 with monies contributed out of existing funds
already earmarked for services to the elderly and health visiting through
the Human Services Committee, the Board of Health, the Council on Aging and
the Friends of the Council on Aging The program would be separately tracked
and monitored
Steve Baran advised including consultation from a gerontologist M.D. since
this would serve to evaluate the medical component of the program and enlist the
cooperation of the medical community Additionally, the possibility of psy-
chiatric consultation through the Department of Mental Health should be ex-
plored
Next steps include arriving at a more precise definition of case management,
determining the kinds of data that would be needed to substantiate need
(beginning this year) , determining what the Board of Health might contribute
to the visiting nursing component of the program and drawing up a separate RFP for
visiting nursing services Potential respondents to this RFP would include
Visiting Nurse and Community Health, Inc Minuteman Home Care Corporation
and Choate-Symmes Hospital
Minutes, Human Services Committee, 8/17/87, p 2
3 Equity sharing
Steve Baran distributed a revised draft of an RFP for a feasibility study of
equity sharing (absent members see attached)
Bob Cushman has been in touch with three securities firms which have expressed
an interest in doing the study and has heard positively from Bill Hays of
LexHab, Nathan Becker of the Tenants' Action Committe and Terry Gent of the
Council on Aging about serving on a review advisory committee Leonora Feeney
spoke with Marge Battin who was too busy to serve Ms Battin explained that
members of the Appropriation and Capital Expenditures Committees were pro-
hibited from serving due to potential conflict of interest Steve Baran
had approached Joe Hansen, Raytheon planner He had expressed some interest
Harvey Lowell will ask Bill Spencer, Chairman of the Lexington Housing Authority,
to serve and will discuss with Jack Eddison having a Selectmen (preferably
Paul Marshall) serve and an academician knowledgeable hbout banking It
was decided not to ask a banker to serve due to potential conflict of interest
The Review Committee list will, when completed, be submitted to the Selectmen.
Steve Baran will ask Ellie Klauminzer to serve
Respectfully Submitted,
Stephen Baran,
Human Services Coordinator