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11 3/3/80
HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE
REPORT TO THE SELECTMEN
The Human Services Committee has met weekly since November 20, 1979
to identify a common approach to human services in the Town of Lexington
At the suggestion of the Selectmen and as part of the charge to the
Committee, we have started the process by evaluating and informing ourselves
on three agencies that have requested monies from the Town for 1981 The
results are the attached recommendations on the following
Central. Middlesex Association for. Retarded Citizens
Mystic Valley Mental Health Association
REPLACE
These recommendations must be understood in context For this year,
agencies requesting funding had no guidelines or requirements to justify
requests to the Town of Lexington No "vulnerable" populations had been
identified by the Town as a priority for requested funding Also, lacking
coordination, it was unclear as to where overlaps and gaps in services exists_
The subcommittees who studied these three agencies found a complex
set of relationships, planning in a vacuum and inconsistencies in each agency
Outcome of service appears to be a new concept Coals of agencies are broad
and definition of programs has not been required
We have endeavored to understand these agencies in order to form a
set of criteria and expectations for the next funding cycle Our recommenda—
tions are based on the understanding that agencies had no direction from the
Town this year The criteria by which we have viewed these budgets will be
documented and presented to the Selectmen in the next month. We expect that
these criteria will be useful in Fiscal Year 1982 when the Committee reviews
funding requests from human service providers
In the course of this study, it has become evident that the Lexington
School system is a key service provider through the counseling services,
Pupil Personnel Services, as well as educational programs around life issues
for the youth There could be duplication of services among the three pro—
grams (School System REPLACE and Mystic Valley Mental Health Center) CMARC
also must be understood in terms of the school programs for Special Needs
students Mystic Valley Mental Health provides consultation and education to
the school system by a contractual arrangement REPLACE, while not receiving
any monies from the school system, also provides consultation and educational
services There is no coordinating or planning group to monitor or determine
the need for these programs There is no current plan to assess the outcome
The scope of these recommendations must be viewed with the above
limitations in mind