HomeMy WebLinkAbout1995-03-01-HSC-min.pdf Human Services Committee Minutes
( March 1, 1995
Present Donna M. Hooper, Chairperson; Julie E. Fenn; Rosalyn L. Gittleman;
Eva S Glick; Eva Havas; Jeanne S Luongo; Richard Safford; Jolley
Anne Weinstock; Steve Baran, Human Services Coordinator; Chris
Casey, Chief of Police; Ellen Widen, Meg Anzalone and Siegrid
Burke of Eliot Community Human Services; Elizabeth Stevenson,
Artisans Way
Community Policing
Chris Casey, Chief of Police, talked about principles of community policing--
problem-solving, partnership and prevention. Police officers are encouraged to
see the response to a call as not a simple episode but as an event that is a
potential response to a social problem. He went on to give examples of
community policing including the court diversion program that is used as a
follow-up to juvenile delinquency issues such as shop-lifting and vandalism.
30-36 young people are involved in the program now in its third year with F
Eliot involved in counseling young people around drug use, particularly of
marijuana
Eliot has a memorandum of understanding with the school department and
participates in a regularly scheduled meeting which includes Meg Anzalone,
Steve Corr and Art Dulong (Vice President of Student Affairs)
Chief Casey went on to talk about elder and family abuse of which there were
( 57 incidents last year He explained that the law requires that an arrest be
made following a critical incident (e.g , push, shove, slap) even when the
victim does not desire to press charges and may later not wish to testify In
addition, last year there were 71 domestic disputes (no violence involved) and
12 51As (suspicion of child abuse and/or neglect--mostly neglect)
As to drug abuse among youth, the drug of choice is alcohol followed by
cocaine Among the 35 - 45 year-old population, there is a population of
heroin users Last year, there were three ODs
Eliot Community Human Services
Ellen Widen advised the Committee that in January 18 hours of counseling were
provided (16 individual and two family) , 11 hours of crisis intervention and
20 hours with groups In February, there were 36 hours of counseling (31
individual and five family) , four hours of crisis intervention, 29 5 hours of
groups
Groups include a women s group concerned with self-esteem and personal issues,
a relationships group which is co-ed, and a drug awareness group
The Eliot program helps youth become connected with the whole town through its
drop-in center and the cleaning up of Depot Square To this end, Meg is
becoming involved with the social action committees of churches, in health and
wellness day and helping young people find employment
Human Services Committee Minutes, 3/1/95 Page 2
In the drop-in center, kids sign in There is a flow of movement in and out of
the Center The number of users is usually in the 30s although on one day
there were 60 49 is the limit at any one time The population is very diverse
with up to 50% African-American at times; it is evenly divided between boys
and girls 10% are seniors There is a significant number of students from an
Asian background
Staffing, in addition to Meg and Sig, included a student with an M.Ed degree
from Lesley College leading a group one day a week, a social work student from
Boston University who is on hand three days a week, and a volunteer available
one and one-half days per week.
Ellen commented further that the School Department had been conducting an
independent evaluation of the CAPP program, and the results were being
awaited
As to the evaluation of the total program, a subcommitee of the Human Services
Committee had met with Bill Deveney, evaluator It was their feeling that he
could be of great help in developing measurable objectives and evaluation
criteria There is already available considerable data from the program. It
was felt that it would be possible to come to some conclusions about the
program s effectiveness The Committee unanimously agreed to recommend that
Bill Deveney be engaged to provide an evaluation
( Business people have had problems with youth traffic around the Drop-In
Center Liz Stevenson commented that she did not feel that the soundproofing
that had been installed by Eliot had made any difference
Article 21
Donna Hooper reported that she and Steve Baran had been in touch with Margaret
Coppe of the Town Meeting Members Association to assist in the preparation of
background materials that they will provide regarding Article 21 being
presented at Town Meeting by RePlace requesting funding of human services
Faculty Advisory Committee on Shared Responsibility
Roz Gittleman reported on her meeting with the Faculty Advisory Committee on
Shared Responsibility Its purpose is to improve school-community dialogue
The meeting which she attended had discussed the Eliot Drop-in Center s
services
Assisted Listening System for Cary Hall
Rick Safford reported that the study on assisted listening for Cary Hall had
been completed Steve reported that the Town Manager had approved purchase of
a system. The Committee applauded Rick on his product
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Human Services Committee Minutes, 3/1/95 Page 3
Julie Fenn, new member
The Committee expressed its pleasure that Julie Fenn had been approved by the
Board of Selectmen to become a new member
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