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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1990-03-19-HSC-min.pdf Human Services Committee Minutes , 3 19/90 l Present Renee Cochin and Bob Cushman, Co-Chairmen; Dick Dougherty, Leonora Feeney, Ann Irving, Seymour Mandel , Sheila Martin, Dennis Murakami , Human Services Committee ; Steve Baran, Human Services Coordinator ; Stephen Coan, Reuben Rotman, Karen Steudel , Heller School Team Minutes of 3/5/90 The Minutes of 3/5/90 were approved Heller School consultants/needs assessment The consultants introduced themselves Stephen Coan graduated from Brandeis in 1984, has served as director of youth ministry for the Archdiocese and with the Brandeis admissions office His field of specialization is youth and family policy Reuben Rotman is participating in the Brandeis Hornstein program for Jewish communal studies, works at Temple Isaiah and plans to pursue a career in the field of Jewish community relations Karen Steudel graduated from the Boston College School of Social Work in 1987, has done child therapy in a mental health center setting and specializes in policy and planning for children and youth ( 1 The draft Work Plan earlier presented as an attachment to the most recent set of Minutes was based on two meetings with Steve Baran and Renee Cochin The consultants considered it focused and feasible It included the gathering of demographics and performance of a needs assessment ( systematic appraisal of human needs ) and setting up a strategic framework Options for pursuing the assessment included client survey, population survey and interviewing of key informants The Brandeis team was planning to meet with key informants , e g , town officials, proprietary and non-proprietary providers and the clergy, and examine human services budgets and utilization in similar towns Following interviews with a variety of providers, they planned to evaluate services by three main providers and conduct an examination of Lexington' s service delivery response to special needs The strategic framework included analyzing both present and desired states of human services, assessing need , and the gap between present and desired states This would be followed by considering why the gap should be closed ( Is it worth the time and money? ) and how it should be closed The final product would be a framework, a map showing where the Town wants to be and how it will get there This would mark the beginning of an ongoing process �) The consultants asked the Committee to suggest various Human Services Committee Minutes, 3/ 19/90 Page n definitions of human services assistance to the poor, helping people whu have difficulty dealing with society, services to assist humans, and activities which enrich the human experience The Committee was then asked to portray what the poor looked like Examples given were Cambodians (higher than average number of children, lower than average income, not speaking the language well , living in rental housing, etc ) and the elderly ( invisible, isolated, some lacking in transportation, others frail ) Renee commented that the Town was having considerable difficulty in defining its role in providing human services and would be for the foreseeable future This led to the Committee members being invited to discuss their views of desirable end states These ranged from incremental change (Dick) to dissolution of the Committee as private groups took over (Bob) , to an expectation that the Town would always have a limited role, although the determination of what was meant by limited remained an open question (Renee) It was felt that the needs assessment process might raise the consciousness of the Town In summarizing, the consultants noted that if the Committee could articulate a vision, it would be able to advocate effectively for services At the same time, the Committee' s perspective was one among many The consultants would be ascertaining what were the C1 perspectives of other groups The Committee saw the need to further focus the consultants' scope of work and decided that the evaluation of service provision, including services to special needs populations, should be deleted from the work plan The list of respondents under "private/proprietary" should be enlarged to include health providers and health care professionals A timetable for the students to meet with the Committee was decided as well AIDS Policy and Planning RePlace had approached the Board of Health about sponsoring an AIDS task force to respond to the needs of adolescents The Board had declined since they lacked staff and time Bill Blout had expressed concern that the Town was not interested in responding to a social problem The incidence for the adolescent population is not known, since the disease would not declare itself until after a six to ten year incubation period No decision was reached by the Committee on the RePlace request, but Steve asked why RePlace could not develop a plan and take leadership while the Committee supported the undertaking Renee reported that she had joined a school task force to develop a policy on AIDS It would discuss such issues as the protection of the rights of the individual and who should serve as gatekeeper for coordinating medical care for a child People f" Human Services Committee Minutes, 3/ 19/90 Page 3 (Th with AIDS are now a protected category under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (amended ) Town Meeting Members' Association Meeting Renee reported on the meetings of the TMMA The Selectmen and the School Committee seemed to be moving toward supporting an override package which would cost I 1 million dollars The "B" (balanced) budget would be adopted if the override did not pass Senior Health Monitor report Renee felt that the Senior Health Monitor program reporting format needed to be improved COA representatives will be meeting shortly with the Human Services Committee Planning for Town Meeting There was some discussion as to what the role of the Human Services Committee might be during Town Meeting, particularly if the Committee found itself disagreeing with the Selectmen Should the Committee adopt an advocacy, as opposed to an advisory, role? Steve felt the Committee had not fully communicated with the Selectmen, and, therefore, it would be C 1 inappropriate to oppose them on the floor of Town Meeting Bob Cushman, felt the Committee' s role was clearly advisory, and it would be inappropriate to take on an advocacy function at the Town Meeting It was recognized that individual members could ask fur a reconsideration of the human services budget which includes the RePlace account This would permit a further assessment of the situation at a later point in Town Meeting Respectfully submitted, Stephen Baran, Human Services Coordinator U