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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1992-03-04-HSC-min.pdf Minutes Human Services Committee 3/4/92 Present Renee Cochin and Ann Irving Co-Chairmen Mimi Aarens ; Bob Cushman Eva Glick ; Donna Hooper and Rick Safford Steve Baran, Human Services Coordinator ( recorder ) Absent Dennis Murakami The Minutes of 1 /22/82 were approved with one exception Dennis Murakami was absent Steve reported A news article on the Human Services Fund would soon be appearing in the Minuteman; the Town' s Employee Assistance Program Committee was considering how diversity training might be expanded from the Management Team to the rest of the work force he had visited the Food Pantry and found it to be both receptive to users and efficient Renee discussed early morning update meetings with the Board of Selectmen on the budget There was less State Aid and local receipts , minimum free cash ( down from S million to $58O 000) and commercial real estate income There were increased costs in health insurance, unemployment insurance, refuse collection and funds set aside for abatement requests leaving a 4 million dollar gap Options trash enterprise fund 2 1 /2 override or cuts in services including LEXPRESS, Senior Health Monitor Program CMARC and RePlace allocations Nancy Schack appeared on behalf of the Enablement Committee to talk about a meeting being planned to provide information concerning the Americans with Disabilities Act She felt the Board of Selectmen should provide leadership in informing the Town about the Act Steve mentioned that Leo McSweeny would be at the next planning meeting Renee spoke about the importance of consciousness raising She recommended that at a first informational meeting the emphasis should be on the basic requirement of the act It was important to have a plan and not try to do too much in the beginning Steve reported that the Human Services Fund had seen a dramatic increase in expenditures during the months of January and February and that some of these were tor services that in the past would have been paid for by the State Bob Cushman reminded Steve that the Fund brochure needed revision and that all recipients should sign a loan statement expressing their desire to repay within three to five years with no interest The Committee discussed the position they might take regarding the Human Services budget in Town Meeting It was felt that suggesting alternative cuts would only create enemies It ( was important to explain in a low-key manner that the economy was creating greater need, also paint a picture of what the Town Human Services Committee 3/4//82 Page 2 would be like without RePlace and CMARC Subcommittee reports Special needs Bob and Rick met with a real estate agent who provided information on three properties It is not possible to work out a special needs housing arrangement without market rate units being part of the mix A meeting of the special needs parents will be called to discuss the situation Rick has been investigating hearing accessibility through the National Technical Institute for the Deaf and through Mrs Abrams in Lexington He will report further developments Yuuth services Ann will get in touch with RePlace as more nformation is obtained about the human services budget Special needs recreation Renee will meet with Pam Varrin and Chris Connor (Eva Glick to be included if possible ) Council on Aging Donna will attend next Board meeting