HomeMy WebLinkAbout1988-08-08-HSC-min.pdf Minutes Human Services Committee 8/8/88
Present Harvey Lowell Chairman; Bob Cushman, Co-
Chairman; Renee Cochin; Marion Shepp Sylvia
Perlman; Leonora Zola Seymour Mandel and
Steve Baran, Human Services Coordinator
Minutes
The Minutes of 7/18/88 were approved
Membership list
Bob Cushman' s term of office ends in 1989 and not in 1988 as
shown on the list Correction will be made and addresses and
telephone numbers added after which the list will be
redistributed
Senior Health Monitor report
Renee reported on the Senior Health Monitor subcommittee which
has been reconvened She had the sense that the subcommittee
would accomplish its planning task and viewed Barbara Rubin a
new member from the Council on Aging Board as positive and
pragmatic Renee was not yet sure whether everything could be
accomplished by September 30th as requested by the Town Manager
The Committee has begun discussing criteria for admission as well
as what the case manager would do and was about to review a joint
assessment tool developed over the past three years by Linda Crew
Vine and others
The job description for case manager called for a B A degree ,
and Renee had hoped for someone with more credentials On the
other hand, there would be regular case conferences so that the
COA case manager could benefit from other more experienced
participants
Terry Gent had assured Bob Cushman that the Council on Aging
would pay for all of the costs of the program It was not clear
what this meant Steve will inquire
Letter to Seymour Mandel from Tony Morton of RePlace
Seymour was surprised at the tone and omissions of letter from
RePlace on the subject of fund raising and Seymour ' s decision to
no longer assist RePlace in its fund raising efforts It was
noted that Seymour had not at any time received a very complete
communication about RePlace fund raising efforts The Committee
decided not to pursue the matter of the letter with RePlace
Candidates for the Human Services Committee
Steve reported that Connie Sprauer remained interested in joining
the Committee, but her schedule in the fall might not permit her
to participate Harvey Lowell reported that Dick Dougherty would
very much like to join the Committee while Leonora Zola
mentioned that Suzanne Larsen a psychologist practicing in
Lexington was interested Renee will ask Suzanne Larsen to
send a letter or resume
Steve made available resumes obtained from the Town s Talent
Bank The information on the whole was not of recent vintage
and included names of candidates who had been considered but not
accepted for the Committee It was agreed that it would not be
appropriate to contact these people again
A discussion followed as to whether there should be outreach for
candidates through the Minute-man and the Selectmen, what kind of
screening should take place , what criteria were appropriate for
reviewing candidates and who should conduct such a review There
was hesitation about conducting a vigorous outreach as had been
done previously in the life of the Committee since this had led
to disappointing some candidates who became involved in an
interview process only to be ultimately rejected without
necessarily being followed up by the Town in an effort to find
some other suitable volunteer position If there were outreach to
citizens not already known to someone on the Committee then
there inevitably had to be some kind of screening so as to avoid
prematurely bringing on someone not prepared to deal with the
kinds of human problems that confronted the Committee
While there was general agreement that candidates with a
professional background, particularly in human services , and/or
financial expertise were desirable there was less than full
agreement as to the desirability of readily accepting candidates
with no background in human services , albeit having an interest
in providing volunteer service for the Town Should generalists
be welcomed along with candidates having a specialized kind of
expertise?
The question was raised as to whether advocates for certain
consitutencies (minorities the handicapped, youth elderly, the
mentally ill, and the economically disadvantaged) belonged on the
Committtee if various Town bodies were already constituted with
the capacity or potential to carry on such advocacy Would a
member of a constituent group be overly inclined to advocate for
that group as opposed to considering the public interest? On the
other hand, was it conceivable that a member of a constituent
group might help the Committe reach a greater understanding of
what that group ' s needs might be?
Since the Committee had been constitutedto advise the Selectmen,
Renee Cochin and Bob Cushman were asked to discuss the matter
with them and determine what might be their pleasure in light of
the Committee ' s charge
The next meeting of the Human Services Committee will take place
on August 29 with agenda items including planning for a party
new members , and "agenda" items Steve distributed a revised
list of agenda items some of which could become the Committee ' s
activities in the coming year
Respectfully Submitted
Stephen Baran
Human Services Committee
August _5 1988
Robert M Cushman Co-Chairman _3 Smith Ave ,w) 725-1400 (h)
862-0521 (1989)
Harvey Lowell Co-Chairman 47 Wachusett Dr ( w) 1-7"4-0774 (h)
862-L976 _988 )
?enee Cochin 7 Partridge Rd w) 348-5617 (h) 862-9309 ( 1989)
Janet W Eustis -5 Potter Rd (wi 727-0900 , x443 h) 361-7984
( 1988 )
Seymour `?andel 7 Stedman Pd (h) 862-7830 (989 )
Sheila D Martin, 29 Dewey Rd (w) 232-2858 (h) 862-6723 (1990 )
Sylvia Perlman 0 Minola Rd (w) 732-4034 (h) 861-6075 ( 1988)
'anion G Shepp 68 Shade St (h) 862-8642 (1990)
Leonora Zola 4 Moon Hili. Rd (w) 727-9550 :6689 :) 362-8495
;_990)
All terms of office are for three years and expire on September
30