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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1990-01-22-HSC-min.pdf itzz Human Services Committee Minutes 1/8/90 Present Renee Cochin and Bob Cushman, Cu-Chairmen Dick Dougherty; Leonora Feeney; Ann Irving ; Seymour Mandel ; Sheila Martin; Judy Zabin and Bill Blout, RePlace (after 9 30 p m ) ; Steve Baran, Human Services Coordinator Minutes of 1/8/90 The Minutes of 1 /8/90 were accepted with the following corrections In section on review of the budget situation, Renee was said to wonder if keeping the E Lexington branch library open meant a duplication of services Add adduced as an example illustrative of budget issues deserving scrutiny in Town Meeting In subcommittee report on RePlace, costs were said to be 60% above comparable agencies Add costs were believed to be 60% above Move and correct sentence under "AIDS School Policy Committee" Move to paragraph on "Herb Wasserman Candidacy" The sentence should read as follows "Steve will inform him of the Committee' s decision" Subcommittee Reports Council on Aging Seymour presented figures on allocations voted for RePlace in FY ' 90 by Town meeting Following discussion, Seymour was asked to relay to the RePlace Director, Linda Crew Vine, the following questions What is the reason for the comparatively large increase being recommended for the Executive Director? Have there been losses in direct services, and if , so which ones and what is the expected impact? How are maintenance and repair items accounted for in the budget? The Committee recognized that COA had submitted much more data than the year before making it possible to raise useful questions L Human Services Committee Minutes, 1/8/90 Page 2 Replace Dick and Ann reported Taking into account collateral activity as well as direct interviews on a 50%-50% basis, the unit cost for counseling is $41 50, and this compares with the Arlington Youth Consultation Services cost of $45 per hour Lee was concerned about the direct service rate which she estimated to be $ 150 per hour A preliminary set of recommendations were submitted suggesting that Replace move more in the direction of preventive services and act as a referral agency for long-term counseling cases Bill Blout and Judy Zabin brought in a revised budget indicating counseling costs based on primary, collateral and no show hours resulting in a cost of $41 55 per hour Further discussion related to how the outreach school counseling costs and revenue might be reflected, the reason why from year to year the number of counseling cases seen during the year remain stable, fee scale, affiliation with another clinic, and application to United Way Bill Blout raised question about the Town Manager' s comments that RePlace was not a traditional service for a Town to fund The Town Manager had claimed that youth services in Winchester and Concord were not supported by the Town whereas RePlace had discovered that they were Moreover, many communities received a higher proportion of funding for human services than did Lexington Committee members commented that COAs' were no more traditional in other towns or in Lexington than RePlace and yet the Council on Aging was supported by the Town, that what is traditional is a matter of perspective since there is a lot of variation in what municipalities choose to fund, that some Massachusetts municipalities were taking over State responsibilities in funding services to youth, and that it was worthwhile to pursue this sort of inquiry Schedule for appearing before the Selectmen Since Rick White had indicated to Steve that the Human Services Committee presentation to the Selectmen scheduled for January 29 could be postponed, Steve was asked to inform him that the Committee would not be ready at that time and to inquire if it would be possible to appear on February 7 instead Budget Human Services Committee Minutes , 1 /8/90 Page 3 recommendations will be further discussed at the next meeting on Monday, January 29 Committee budget recommendations will be discussed with Leo McSweeney Respectfully Submitted, StephenBaran Human Services Coordinator ' I