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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1989-05-15-HSC-min.pdf Minutes Human Services Committee 5/ 15/89 Present from Human Services Committee Renee Cochin and Bob Cushman, Co-Chairmen; Dick Dougherty; Seymour Mandel ; Harvey Lowell ; Sheila Martin; Ann Irving; Leonora Feeney; from School Department Philip J Geiger, Superintendent, and Peter Burke, Director of Guidance ; from Lexington Citizens with Special Needs Marion Shepp and Judith Gottleib (present during presentation of request) ; from RePlace Roberta Black, Suzanne Larsen, and Bill Blout; and Steve Saran, Human Services Coordinator 1 Marion Shepp read a memorandum addressed to the Human Services Committee entitled "Request to become a subcommittee of the Human Services Committee" and copies were distributed to the members It was agreed to discuss the request at the next meeting 2 The Minutes of the meeting of 4/24 were revised as follows The Minutes were unclear on whether there was a dearth of special needs resources inside or outside of the (I ) school system The lack was seen as outside of the schools As to the discussion on RePlace, $ 15, 000, not $ 10, 000, was needed to fund an additional half-time worker The Trustees had not been contacted for funding (page 4, last paragraph) This was something Dick Dougherty could pursue once a proposal was prepared On page 5, paragraph I , the present outreach worker has been 80% at $ 18, 000, not full time On page 5, paragraph 2, Renee objected to the Committee being pressured into making a decision on a school counseling program On page 5, next to last paragraph the Committee agreed to advise Renee floor "of" (not "or" ) Town Meeting The Minutes of the meeting of 5/ 1 were corrected as follows Terry Gent felt it was sufficient for the Town Manager to conduct oversight of the "Council on Aging", not "RePlace" 3 Steve Baran announced that the Mass Department of Mental Health/Retardation had abandoned its plans to set up a community residence at 1963 Mass Ave due to Minutes, Human Services Committee, 5/ 15/89 Page 2 zoning restrictions on parking in favor of a site at 282 Bedford Street where the same number of residents could be accomodated 4 Dick Dougherty saw outcome of reallocation of RePlace positions to be 30% counseling, 20% in peer counseling program ( to be combined with drop in) and 50% for MassCapp A 0 5 FTE position would be in the schools while outreach would be reduced as a result of the deficit The total FTEs ' would be 4 3 Next year' s reporting would show allocations according to what was school -based and what was not school -based The real issue was to find out from the school whether there would be enough counseling in view of the concern about drugs and other problems Funding had initially been mentioned by the Superintendent in February Dr Geiger clarified that there was no money in his written proposal The schools' mission was not all - encompassing nor was school personnel trained to do counseling on problems not school -related The schools could provide the kids and the space while Replace, which had the expertise as well as funding from the (7) Town, could continue to provide services in the schools The School Department had considered hiring a lower paid employee to replace a counselor now in the system, but ended by looking at the problem in a different way Renee Cochin asked Dr Geiger what were his objectives He said drug counseling would be a mainstay Also, a conviction about a school -based progorm would have to be built among the entire staff The program should be aimed at "mainstream" students and not be seen as an "alternate" It should be available to parents, beyond normal hours Parents would not have to be informed through the program in the same way that was the case for the school The latter was an obligation as had been clarified with the school ' s attorney, Mike Chandler Dick Dougherty asked about crisis counseling Dr Geiger said there had been a choice bettween dropping one of seven guidance counselors or dropping a crisis counselor in view of the census in the high school having been reduced by 140 students Since the schools already had psychologists (2 45 FTE) and social workers ( I FTE in special needs ) , one of them, or a guidance counselor, could be diverted in the event of a crisis situation Minutes, Human Services Committee, 5/ 15/89 Page 3 Renee asked if this plan would meet the needs both of the kids and of the faculty Dr Geiger replied that drug and alcohol problems would be referred to a therapeutic agency; other problems would be referred to a clinican who could give treatment and services for non-academic problems outside of the school day Moreover, it was up to the school counselors to improve the environment, not make sick kids better or champion problem kids as a cause Existing counselors in the school should concentrate on ecological counseling, helping teachers deal with aberrant behavior whether on the part of the teacher or the student Renee asked about the future role for RePlace Dr Geiger saw RePlace as being consumed by the need to deal with referrals Were they to become overwhelmed, that would be another problem Once parents became involved, reimbursement could be through a third party Bill Blout explained that RePlace was not presently licensed as a mental health clinic, but there was the possibility of becoming a satellite of another agency in order to collect insurance (J) Peter Burke questioned there being two sets of rules around confidentiality with Suzanne Larsen asking how a guidance counselor might become involved around a drug problem if a RePlace counselor were the first to hear about the problem Dr Geiger did not think there would be any problem, legal or otherwise, since the school was only providing space Renee Cochin said that without a contract the relationship between RePlace and the School Department would only be based on good will Bill Blout said a contract could be negotiated, but he was pessimistic about the question of money Bill outlined the mix of services he saw in the coming year for RePlace outreach, MassCapp, crisis intervention, 766 counseling and peer information Next year there would be 0 4 FTEs for Mass Capp in the elementary school as well as 20 trained volunteers Dr Geiger said that the elementary school counselors could coordinate the program Bob Cushman noted that the Committee had earlier been prepared to vote for additional funding for school - based counseling with Dr Geiger wondering about alternative funding sources including a Lexington education foundation, United Way funding and third party insurance Although RePlace is not a United Way Minutes, Human Services Committee, 5/ 15/89 Page 4 agency, the United Way is obligated to honor the donor' s wishes The School budget did not permit any funding of a counseling program Roberta Black expressed her concern about kids who did not have severe problems, felt there should be resources for them already in the system Dr Geiger suggested reexamining the problem in July following further discussions with his own staff and the RePlace board and resolution of the drug and alcoholism precedure Bill made clear priorities for RePlace MassCapp, crisis intervention and ongoing counseling in that order Dr Geiger and Peter Burke expressed their surprise and interest in Bill ' s emphasis on prevention Later, after Dr Geiger and Peter Burke had left Renee Cochin expressed her disappointment at the lack of specifics and programmatic thinking coming from the School Department Sheila and Dick thought the discussion had been constructive since there seemed to (—) be the need for an intermediary to bring the parties together, Dr Geiger seemed to ,know what he wanted while RePlace expressed priorities of which the School Department had previously been unaware 5 Renee expressed concern about the Senior Health Monitor "pre-bidders' " conference Steve clarified that the discussions with potential providers had been purely exploratory, and no RFP had been prepared Renee suggested that this be on the agenda for the next meeting Respectfully Submitted, Stephen Baran, Human Services Coordinator U ( TO: Town of Lexington Human Services Committee FROM. Marion Shepp and Martha Ziegler, Co-chairpersons, Lexington Citizens with Special Needs Committee RATE May 15 1989 SUBJECT' Request to become a subcommittee of the Human Services Committee The Lexington Citizens with Special Needs Committee requests that the Lexington Human Services Committee initiate steps to inn-hide us as an official subcommittee of the Human Services Committee This letter outlines our reasons for this request They include the original purpose and history of our committee our ongoing stability and growth, our surnessful advocacy role for handicapped Lexington residents, and our fulfillment of the Human Services policy of prevention and amelioration of vulnerability for Lexington citizens. Purpose and History The Lexington Citizens with Special Needs Committee formed in 1985 as a response to the Human Services 1984 Retarded Citizens needs assessment The survey showed that 46 retarded citizens of Lexington needed housing at that time Our group met during 1985-1986 to focus on obtaining information about special needs housing The group riisharr M in 1986 ) after several families found privately funded housing in Brookline. Our present committee began meeting in Spring 1987 with the overall objective of representing all mentally harriioapped citizens in Lexington. Our committee is comprised of parents of high-functioning mentally lharriicapped young adults I-clrviing those with mental retardation. menta 111nass epilepsy arra other lifelong iiisabilities. Our children require a range of appropriate community services. They have all.eaperienc 1 rejection from the recreational, vocational, and. social mainstream. Therefore, our goal is to address the needs of housing first of all, but also vocational, recreational, transportation, and social concerns. We applied for and received a grant from the Human Services Committee for 1987-88 to allow us to focus on the housing issue as our first concern. Ongoing Growth aid Stability, etc. Apprcminately five families attenrini our first meetings in 1987 We now have twenty-six families on our list most of whom attend our regular meetings and are active in our advocacy work. Our group has grown by word of mouth because as an ad hoc committee, we do not have time or resources to consistently inform Taxing= residents about our work. As a result of our committee's persistent advocacy with the state (_) Department of Mental Health, the Area Director has made a commitment to us to include our mentally ill young people in a residence that is slated to open in Lexington this year We could never have arhievred this success as individuals, but we have great strength as a group. Implementation of Human Services Prevention Policies The Lexington Human Services Committee policy holds that 'well-hPing should be the ultimate end of all human service activities' The Town policy emphasizes prevention rather than remediation. Our committee's long-term objective for our family members is to give them an integrated life within our town. Many of our children have been Viatica in segregated, restrictive group care settings that do not recognize their individual needs. Programs have been cut staff turnover has been high; there is constant change in their routines and services that has thwarted their development We want to prevent our children from slipping t-nck into socially unacceptable behavior We want to find ways to help them access and participate in the mainstream as adults We want to help them break the cycle of stereotype prejudice and rejection that surrounds adults with dicahilities Conclusion We are a strong advocacy group We have had success with the Department of Mental Health. At present we have several retarded young people who need housing immediately through the Department of Mental Retardation. We need support from the Town to achieve this goal. But also we want to support the Town through the Human Services Committee by informing the Town about who we are, and sharing our knowledge of service funding sources At this time when Lexington is considering affordable housing needs, we want to participate actively in the planning process. Also we would likes to bring more Lexington families into our group through effective publicity for our activities. We can cooperate with the Town to achieve our mutual aims.