HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-06-20-HSC-minTown of Lexington Human Services Committee Meeting Minutes
June 20, 2017
Attendees: Gail Fields, Co -Chair; Pam Joshi, Bonnie Tempas, Helen Walsh, Doug Lucente,
Selectmen Liaison, Kristie Demirev, Youth and Family Services Social Worker, Charlotte
Rodgers, Human Services Director and Carl Valente, Town Manager
Gail called the meeting to order at 7:35 pm and everyone introduced themselves. A brief
discussion was held to give an overview and history of the Human Services Committee and
discuss its' mission. The current boards and committees that also address the needs of
Lexington residents were discussed:
• Youth Commission
• Human Rights Committee
• Youth Services Council
• Coalition for Youth
Carl explained that Town leadership is exploring the role of Lexington Town Government in
providing mental health services. The "Coalition for Youth" has formed in response to concerns
from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, and has 3 goals — it may be that these goals and initiatives
are not in alignment with Town and School programming, and thus the work of the coalition
could be confusing to residents. Also discussed was the staff time involved with Coalition
activities and meetings, which competes for staff time. While this new coalition initiative is
going strong, staff are dealing with a dramatic increase in referrals and cases, and Carl asked
the question, is staff pulled too thin in different directions? It was suggested that it is time once
again to take a look at how the Human Services Department is organized, and perhaps this
could be done with a "Mental Health Summit", that would be a broader discussion with the
BOS, School Committee, Town and School key staff and the Human Services Committee.
The upcoming Board of Selectmen (BOS) goal setting will have a proposal from the Senior
Management Team to take a closer look at these issues, and answer the following questions:
1. What is the role of Lexington Town Government in providing mental health services?
2. Who is driving the coalition initiative?
3. Is staff pulled too thin?
Members of the Human Services Committee expressed a desire to be actively involved in this
work, and also, to have a "voice" in Community Center programming.
The committee also voted to approve the following goals to send to the BOS goal setting for FY
2019:
1. Ongoing review of the role and responsibilities of the Human Services Committee
2. Assessment of possible overlaps in Town committees (Human Services, Youth Services
Council, Youth Commission)
3. Recruit new members with an eye toward diversifying committee membership and
representing Lexington across the lifespan
4. Work to support the work of the Human Services Department and make
recommendations to address unmet needs in the community
• Trends indicate increasing requests for mental health and prevention programs
including counseling and educational programming
5. Stay informed about the new and needed programs at the Community Center
The committee voted to wait until fall, 2017 for the next Human Services Committee meeting.