HomeMy WebLinkAbout1995-05-07-HSC-min.pdf Human Services Committee Minutes
June 7, 1995
Present Donna M. Hooper, Chairperson; Julie E Fenn; Rosalyn L. Gittleman;
Eva S Glick; Jeanne S Luongo; Richard Safford; Jolley Anne
Weinstock; Steve Baran, Human Services Coordinator; Suzanne
Larsen, Phyllis Frothingham, Barry Orenstein, RePlace
1 Minutes, 5/8/95
Approved
2 Donna Hooper report on meeting with school officials
Donna Hooper met with Carol Pilarski, Mary Neumeier and Jennifer Wolfrum
for the purpose of promoting better coordination To this end, the
School Department will provide a list of programs and services pertinent
to human services Donna suggested that a representative from the School
Department might help the Committee to prioritize FY 96 services and
discuss how these might be evaluated
3. Donna Hooper report on telephone call from Judy Zabin
Donna Hooper received a telephone call from Judy Zabin voicing hope that
RePlace and the Human Services Committee might work together positively
in the future
4 Review of Rick White s memo to Board of Selectmen, June 2, 1995
Donna Hooper reviewed Rick Whites memo commenting that the Town Manager
was concerned with service coordination and competition With the
Selectmen s agreement, an RFP would be issued for a package of services
Agencies could bid on all or part of the RFP; also an agency might
subcontract a portion of the services in its contract It was clarified
that the Human Services Committee could recommend that more funds were
needed to provide youth services in view of the passage of Article 21
which detailed a new set of services and that such funds could be drawn
through a reserve fund transfer
Donna commented further that concern was expressed in the Selectmen s
meeting about the need to start the contract(s) sooner in the interest
of best services to the children
Deadline dates related to the Town Manager s proposed plan were reviewed
6/26 to determine if there should be an RFP process, 7/31 for completion
of needs assessment and 8/14 for completion of RFP or contract
5. Planning for new contract(s)
Question was raised about HPAC priorities and whether there might be
overlap with programs proposed in the human services RFP Concern was
( expressed about how the School Department could be involved in planning
if school officials were away during the summer
Human Services Committee Minutes, 6/7/95
Donna mentioned the possibility of enlarging the Human Services
Committee on an ad hoc basis to plan for the FY 96 human services
contract Some names were mentioned including the possibility of
including high school student leaders
Dates were suggested for meeting with Bill Deveney, evaluator
Plans were discussed for interviewing key informants in relation to
completing the needs assessment including
staff of RePlace and Eliot
youth
clergy
pediatricians
Steve Baran will ask Eliot and RePlace if they would like to meet with
the Human Services Committee, and it was agreed to send the agencies
copies of the needs assessment draft report and the evaluation contract
Components of the new youth services contract should include a statement
of the philosophy of youth services, goals and objectives and
specification of services
6 Further meetings of the Human Services Committee
Next dates for meeting of the Committee are June 28 and July 19
7. Comments of RePlace representatives
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Sue Larsen expressed concern that the amount of time between putting out
a hid and getting a response by September 1 might be too optimistic a
time frame
Barry Orenstein said that he was impressed and encouraged by the process
outlined He, too, had concern about the time line issue and wondered if
it might be possible for RePlace to plan for any of the service
components Donna Hooper though that some agreement might be worked out
around the CAPP picogram as well as services specified in the Article 21
resolution
Fork Plan for FY X96 Contracting of Youth Services 6/22/95
Planning Choices
1 Determine whether community can best be served by one provider or two
2 Complete needs assessment
3 Match needs assessment recommendations for services with
a Services mandated through Article 21
b Services designated in FY $95 youth services contracts
c Services to be provided through schools, police department
and others to respond to community mental health needs of
youth
d Review RePlace preliminary budget suggesting how youth
services might be provided for $67,800; determine if present
configuration of services plus those mandated by Article 21
can be done for $67,800 or if more money is needed
e Conduct prioritization process to determine if any services
presently provided can be eliminated For example, can "peer
counseling" and "outreach" be combined?
Evaluation
( 1 Clarify philosophy or philosophies of Town's youth--serving agencies in
provision of youth services Clarify what the Town thinks the mission
should be
2 Review instruments, measures suggested by evaluator to conduct future
evaluations
3 Review quality assurance approach recommended by evaluator
4 Review guidelines for evaluating bids recommended by evaluator
5 Review options for conducting an evaluation in FY 96 including
obtaining a school of social work student wit would have a dual
clinical/research placement
Request for Proposal/Contract
1 Set forth the Town s mission on provision of youth services
2 Prepare RFP allowing bidders to explain service philosophies, goals,
objectives, program designs and costs
3 Send RFP to youth service agencies
4 Review and rank proposals; recommend vendor; prepare contract
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