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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 1