Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1988-05-24-HSC-min.pdf Minutes of meeting between Human Services Committee and RePlace May 24 , 1988 Present Bill Blout Sylvia Perlman Harvey Lowell Esther Eisenberg, Bill Hayes Connie Counts Rick White, Bob Cushman, Renee Cochin Sally Castleman and Steve Baran REPLACE ACCOMPLISHMENTS Bill Blout spoke on the accomplishments of RePlace during the past year 1 Peer Outreach 35 high school students have been trained in counseling skills A manual has been produced and there is a ( training program Trainees feel a special benefit has been in their being empowered to reach out to their friends The hotline is now open 4 nights a week until 10 p m Cable TV shows have been produced including one on AIDS 2 Child Assault Prevention Program A Department of Social Services ' funded program is in the planning stages RePlace has recruited and screened (Tina and Janine) just under 20 volunteers (target is 35) who will be trained by staff from the Judge Baker Guidance Center The volunteers will reach parents and go into the classrooms to do skits The program will be ongoing and reach the same children as they progress through the grades RePlace did extensive research before locating this model which emphasizes child assertiveness as a response to a need in the community Staff determined that half of those counseled have been subjected to sexual assault Nationally one in four girls and one in seven boys are assaulted before they reach the age of 18 3 Expansion into the school system RePlace is getting reimbursed to an unprecedented extent through funding from the Governor s Alliance Against Drugs and the outreach worker (Mitch) has met with 20 high school classes as well as meeting with a group of advisees in one middle school CHANGES There was a discussion of what had changed for RePlace and the Town 1 Climate Bill Blout felt that the Agency was accorded more respect seen more as a resource This was particularly reflected in the welcome in the school system where he and Connie were active on committees The Superintendent had visited Replace twice Drop-in Center Attendance at the Drop-in Center has diminished This may be because the Agency is more school-based 3 Client Composition There was a change in the type of client seen with more average" kids being seen and less of a distinction between those who were having problems as such as witnessed by the growth in the number of volunteers and the emphasis on peer counseling 4 Fundraising There has been considerable fundraising activity by the Board See attached statistics 5 Response to community need New programs reflect a response to community need which Bill Blout saw as an evolution rather than an expanding snowball 6 Leadership Steve Baran felt that Bill Blout was increasingly assuming a leadership role in the community and insisting that the community as a whole must respond to youth problems PROBLEMS ISSUES AND RECOMMENDATIONS Minutes RePlace and Human Services Committee p 1 Future Directions Committee Rick White suggested that Steve Baran or a member of the Human Services Committee be made a member of the RePlace Future Directions Committee to assist in program development and strategic planning Human Services Committee Bill Blout suggested that the Human Services Committee recruit a youth member to reflect a youth perspective 3 Statistics Rick White suggested that there be an emphasis on direction statistics that would not measure outcomes but help to describe activity For those who were counseled how many were referred to other agencies for more extensive help? How many were referred to yet other programs such as recreations? For how many would referrals have been made were new programs available e g Outward Bound? To what extent for individuals counseled were the families involved? Harvey Lowell agreed that there should be "measures of direction Sylvia thought it would be a good idea to show the number of different programs in which each indivdual client was seen Bill Blout did not see how this could be done for kids seen in outreach since there 1000 kids seen with a multiplicity of referrals 4 Communication and education of the community Renee Cochin saw the need for an emphasis on reviewing the Agency s mission statement with particular reference to including such a statement and a succinct description of programs in direct mail solicitations Bill Blout agreed that there was a need on the Agency ' s part for better communication but felt the Human Services Committee should ask better questions All of the data was there if people would just ask for it Others suggested that RePlace needed to be more proactive in this respect and could not depend on the Committee to necessarily formulate the proper questions It was up to the Agency to define itself 5 Mission Rick White understood the Agency to be a place largely Minutes RePlace and Human Services Committee p devoted to counseling with an emphasis on affording a haven for kids who had no place to go Shouldn ' t there be more of an emphasis on mainstreaming Connie questioned the concept of mainstreaming since the mainstream had the same incidence of social and psychological problems as did the special populations This raised the question of what was the general perception of RePlace Did the perception of RePlace as being a haven for a very special population differ from what the Agency was becoming an agency ro provide preventive interventions for all youth' Bill Blout differed with the perception of RePlace as mainly a counseling agency since only 1 5 FTEs were allocated to counseling while the entire staff was 4 5 FTEs The Agency ' s mission was prevention ( 6 Climate f Support Board members were critical of the Human Services Committee for putting too much of an emphasis on finances as opposed to programs and not acting as an advocate along with RePlace for youth services The impression had been created that unless RePlace did fundraising it would cease to e::ist as a private agency There was question as to whether the Committee and the Town really was committed to a model of public- private partnership or was it seen preferable to dissolve the independent status that the Agency had enjoyed up until now? Rick White and Committee members assured RePlace of their support and concern An essential purpose of the Town and the Committee however was to insist on accountability to ask the difficult questions and maintain along with caring an element of expectation that would be helpful to RePlace in the long run Rick White assured the Board members that he had no private agenda of making RePlace a Town department but only by RePlace giving a good accounting of itself could he provide the kind of support that was desired Rick suggested further that it was important to be aware of the politics involved Last year the Committee had disagreed with the Town Manager and recommended a higher lvel of funding with the understanding that RePlace through fundraising, could make up the shortfall They felt they had made a commitment and must stand by it Therefore when Minutes , Replace and Human Services Committee p RePlace came back a second time with a large request for funding they felt they could not be supportive NEXT STEPS Rick said that he would meet with Steve and Bill to discuss the FY 89 contract Pespectfully Submitted, /17 Stephen Baran Human Services Coordinator L