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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997-10-08-HSC-min.pdf Human Services Committee ( Minutes Meeting of October 8, 1997 Present Helen Cravis, Barbara Ciampa, Co-Chairs; Rick Safford; Nancy Freed, Director, Social Services Dept ; Steve Baran, Human Services Co- ordinator and recorder Absent Eva Glick, Lauren MacNeil and Roz Gittleman Minutes of meeting of 9/3/97 The minutes of the meeting of 9/3/97 were not approved due to lack of a quorum. Candidate interviews Gregory Kotonias-Payne, M.D , and Linca Pucci, candidates for membership on the Human Services Committee were interviewed Linda Pucci Linda contrasted the U S which had a strong tradition of voluntarism with Sweden where she had spent many years Volunteering interfered with wide- spread paid involvement When she returned to this country in 1992, friends ( encouraged her to volunteer Her background includes being a social worker in St Paul where she provided services to children, was active as a community organizer with a concern for the disenfranchised Linda went to Sweden to study its social welfare system, became interested in their handicap movement, obtained an MSA from the University of Stock- holm, continued in the area of occupational and prventive medicine and ob- tained her MPH She is currently a Ph.D candidate Most recently, until December, she had been a consultant to City of Boston tobacco programs Ms Pucci is interested in assisting with our community needs assessment, had spent some time with Steve Baran examining data pertaining to the preschool population, had deduced that there were 70 children who had not attended preschool She thought, in terms of outreach, that we should be concerned about DSS and DTA caseloads as well as pediatric patients Linda is looking into a job at the Mayo Clinic and would know in ten days if she would need to leave Lexington for employment, would notify the Co- mmittee if there were a change of plans For recommendation to the Board of Selectmen pending approval of absent members Gregory Kotonias-Payne M.D. Greg said that he had been living in Lexington for four to five years with children attending the Waldorf School He was attracted to Lexington because of its small town atmosphere reminding him of the small town in Minnesota where he grew up Human Services Committee Minutes 10/8/97 Page 2 Greg noted that his interests were in homelessness, hunger and the chronically mentally ill His clinical experience was related to problems of alcohol and drug abuse He was interested in joining the Committee and attending all meetings but did not think he would have time for extra assignments In response to a question about what he saw as human services needs, Greg said that he was a consultant at the Mt Auburn Hospital Emergency Room where he had seen older adolescents with issues of drug and alcohol abuse as well as sexual assault and rape (often not labled as such by the victim) He had watched kids in Lexingtoncenter and wondered what they did in their spare time He wondered, too, about group norms that might be applied by parents in the community as was the case with parents of 7th and 8th graders at the Waldorf School He was particularly interested in the middle school years For recommendation to the Board of Selectmen pending approval of absent members Agenda for meetingof November 5 - priorities - charge/policy (previous suggestions to be consolidated by Steve in new draft)