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