HomeMy WebLinkAbout1990-05-07-HSC-min.pdf Human Services Committee Minutes 5/7/90
Present Renee Cochin, Co-Chairman ; Dick Dougherty, Ann Irving
Seymour Mandel , Sheila Martin and Dennis Murakami ;
Reuben Rotman and Karen Steudel , Brandeis Management
Team; Steve Baran, Human Services Coordinator
Steve reported that the Council on Aging had decided against
taking a position on the override referendum
Steve cited cases involving the threat of homelessness and/or
likely to receive funding from the Trustees of the Public Trust
I 59 year old man with cerebral palsy working but in need of
budget supplementation for food ; 2 21 year old single woman with
history of depression and bulimia on verge of eviction for non-
rent payment being referred to Family Service ; 3 Young mother of
3 year old, recently divorced and working but in need of day care
scholarship
A grammatical error was corrected in Minutes of 4/ IB on p I ,
item d re availability of square feet at CMARC' s new site
"There were as many square feet as before" instead of "There is
as much square feet as before"
Reuben Rotman and Karen Steudel of the Brandeis Management Team
said that the needs assessment report would be completed 5/ 15
The students were reminded of mandate and role of the Human
Services Committee to put more emphasis on making policy
recommendations to the Selectmen
Students saw essential problem as one of distribution of
resources in face of growing and changing demands Informants
felt problems were growing more severe
Areas of need studied were
Elderly--65 and older the fastest growing group in the country
with local agencies concerned about increased demand for services
during funding cuts Children living in Lexington want their
parents to live with them If taxes are increased , elderly can' t
afford them If taxes are decreased, there will be no Lexpress
Mental retardation--hard to get demographics with many mentally
retarded not identifying themselves as such There is concern
about federal Medicaid cutbacks and what shrinkage of dollars
will do to a long list of personal care items It is hard to get
placements in face of social stigma Also , cuts in
transportation prevent clients from getting to jobs The LABB
program and DMR go beyond mental retardation to respond to other
special needs
Youth--number of adolescents decreasing ; number of younger
children increasing Parents are turning to options other than
day care-- live- in help, nannies Adolescents need prevention
Human Services Committee Minutes S/7/90 Page
services , increased life skills There is a lot of denial in the
community about drugs Addiction treatment agencies say
Lexington families tend to go out of town for services The
Superintendent feels kids are bored Hence the "zone" becomes
important
Human services data from other towns similar in population and
income was obtained in relation to proportion of budget going to
human services , proportion in poverty, availability of staffing
for coordinating services
In sum, the future of human services will have much to do with
people' s values Hence, there is a leadership role to be played
by the Human Services Committee Agencies view the Committee
both as a source of funding and of articulating values It is up
to the Committee to do consensus building in support of human
services while coordinating its efforts with the Town Manager,
human service agencies and citizens An ongoing self-assessment
will be needed since it will hard to foster a vision without
discussion The Committee should consider having more
subcommittees
Dennis inquired about the rise in reporting of sexual abuse and
decrease in alcoholism abuse This might be explained by an
increase of " ideas in good currency" Sex abuse is now high on
the Lexington agenda He also asked about proportion of elderly-
- 17%--3rd highest among towns surveyed (Arlington has 22%) Ann
and Bob were concerned that religious groups had not been
questioned Ann asked about unexpected areas Students found
striking need of young, single mothers for housing Also
organizations seemed to find people who came to them unaware of
services pointing to the need for more information They found
that the Coordinator needed to act in this area but had very
little time to do so In the Town many agencies and citizens
don' t know that the Coordinator does
The students felt their time spent in Lexington had provided a
valuable learning experience in using interpersonal skills and
being diplomatic They had been afforded an inside look at town
government
It was agreed to meet with the students again after the report
was submitted
Steve Baran
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