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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1991-01-31-HSC-min.pdf Minutes Human Services Committee 1 /31 /91 Present Renee Cochin, Bob Cushman, Co-Chairmen; Barbara Levine ; Seymour Mandel ; Dennis Murakami ; Steve Baran, Human Services Coordinator Absent Dick Dougherty, Ann Levine, Jack Sarmanian Minutes The Minutes of 1 /16 were approved The Minutes of the Subcommittee on Fundraising Mechanisms were approved with one exception Dennis Murakami was also present Coordinator Steve submitted his report (as an appendix to last set of minutes ) made to the Selectmen on January 23 regarding the Human Services Department He also reported to the Selectmen on the human services budget which included increases in expenditures for veterans and recommended 3% cuts in youth services budget and budget for the developmentally disabled Steve reminded the Committee that the library was asking for a copy of the Heller school report from last spring and that no dispositon had been made regarding summary of that report and its recommendations He noted, too, that the Heller School was prepared to continue needs assessment activities in Lexington this spring Renee and Steve plan to meet with the Heller Project Coordinator, Susan Kerman Human services budget issues Renee commented that the Human Services Committee would be presenting its annual report to the Selectmen in two or three weeks including recommendations on the FY ' 92 budget She noted early indications suggested that we were moving into a period of extreme fiscal severity At the same time, the Town was responding to veterans' needs with increased expenditures ( $ 18, 024 spent in first 6 months of FY ' 91 ; $26, 095 spent in FY ' 90 In a preliminary discussion on budget the following issues were identified Is the Committee prepared to propose level funding of human services? What is the impact of the war on need for certain kinds of services? ( Human Services Committee, 1 /30/91 Page 2 Is peer counseling cost effective (23% of proposed RePlace FY ' 92 budget ) ? Barbara Levine will research its value Should all youth services be reimbursed on a "fee for service" basis? Should present array of services receive less funding in order to permit some Town expenditures for the Human Services Funding ( $4, 146 spent in first two quarters including $640 for camperships) and day care? Fundraising mechanisms The subcommittee on fundraising mechanisms had identified certain areas of needs to be met A structure had yet to be conceived to meet those needs Renee had reviewed materials sent by the Council on Community Foundations concluding that the community foundation concept seemed to apply to much larger communities or perhaps in small communities where there was a concentration of great wealth Further budget discussion and Annual Human Services Report Renee asked members to come in to next meeting with ideas for inclusion in Annual Report There will be further discussion of the human services budget next time The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, February 6 at 7 30 p m Respectfully submitted, Stephen Baran, Human Services Coordinator L