HomeMy WebLinkAbout12122013 Human Services Contract Review Committee MinutesCONTRACT REVIEW COMMITTEE
Meeting of December 12, 2013
Minutes of the meeting of: The meeting took place at 10:00 at 4 Fairgrounds Road,
Nantucket, MA 02554.
Members Present: Mary Wawro, Augie Ramos, Christy Kickham, John Belash, Holly
McGowan and Linda Williams
Staff Present: Ann Medina
Members of the Public: none
I. Called to Order: meeting called to order at 3:10
II. Quorum: a quorum was established
III. Approval of Agenda: the agenda was unanimously approved
IV. Public Comment: none
V. Action and Discussion: Interview agencies requesting funds: Alliance for Substance
Abuse Prevention (ASAP); Nantucket Cottage Hospital Social Services; South Coastal
Counties Legal Services; A Safe Place.
Meeting was called to order at 10:08. Mary explained to each applicant that the committee
would be following the same format as in previous years; each agency would make a brief
presentation and then the committee would ask questions. The CRC would then make
recommendations to the Board of Selectmen and the Finance Committee, final approval will
be at the annual town meeting in April 2014
Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention (ASAP) Linda Spery, Michael Dagessee,
Cathy Kelly $5,650
Holly is on the ASAP board so she has recused herself from this presentation and
deliberation.
The town funds would be used towards ‘Red Ribbon Week’ which is during the last week in
October and is held to raise awareness of the dangers of drinking and using drugs. One
particular role for ASAP is distributing red ribbons in the schools. This year, with feedback
from the parents, teachers and students ASAP will reach out to twelve and thirteen year
olds, as this is where drug use often begins. Red Ribbon Week makes a difference.
ASAP sponsored a “Chowder & Chat” event for high school parents who wanted to find out
about drug and alcohol use in the high school, The Seagrille Restaurant provided the
chowder, and an addiction specialist from Family & Children’s Services came to speak,
there was great information and parents were eager to ask questions. ASAP also sponsors
a drug take back program, prescription drugs are a problem here on Nantucket. Awareness
of prescription drug abuse has grown.
Linda Williams arrived at 10:21 am.
What is the effectiveness of what you are doing? The issue is that this problem is going to
continue, especially when kids see what parents are doing they mirror that behavior. The
Youth Risk Behavior Survey is taken every two years and it shows that Nantucket has had
a small decrease in some drug and alcohol use, but an increase in marijuana use.
With the ‘Social Norms’ campaign, hopefully attitudes will change around drug and alcohol
abuse.
Nantucket Cottage Hospital Social Services Peter MacKay $62,569
Augie recused himself from this presentation and deliberation.
Town funds would be used to supplement the social services department, it will help offset
the cost of a position, this helps the community, not the hospital.. The social services
department at the hospital is unique as to the services they provide because they are not
provided elsewhere, if some other agency could pick up this service that would be great.
Peter established this department thirty years ago, there are now three health care
advocates providing service to the community. The Medicare D program open enrollment
just ended and they did over two hundred enrollments, (there were three people in one
week who saved over $3,000 on medications).
Right now the health care advocates are dealing with the new health care requirements,
1,400 people are being told that their health care will be stopped on January first, ethically
and morally, it is important that everyone should have insurance
South Coastal Counties Legal Services Raymond Yox $4,120
The funds from the town would be a subsidy towards all the work that legal services
provides to residents of Nantucket. Legal Services provides free legal services to the elderly
(sixty years and older) and low income folks (below 200% of the federal poverty
guideline). The services provided are for civil matters only, no criminal cases, these include
housing issues, (evictions, and foreclosures) family law (divorce, custody, child support),
public benefits (unemployment, food stamps TAFDC, social security disability).
Legal Services comes to the island the first Thursday of the month to four different
locations on a rotating basis, locations include the Saltmarsh Senior Center, Nantucket
Behavioral Health Services, The Courthouse and A Safe Place.
A Safe Place Kat Robinson-Grieder, Bill Steeleman $50,000
This year the proposal has been streamlined a bit to focus on emergency services, the
hotline and being able to respond , at any time, to a client at the police station or hospital.
$20,000 is the cost for the hotline, the court advocacy is almost entirely funded by the
town. Basically, court advocate is at every district court session in the event that a victim of
domestic violence or sexual assault, that has not contacted A Safe Place, but could use
services, the advocate will stand with the victim in court to help them through it.
The largest portion of the proposal request is to support counseling and case management,
ongoing services that A Safe Place provides. The issues that A Safe Place addresses cross
all ethnic and socio economic portions of the community. They also help with ongoing
safety planning, medical treatment, food and shelter, anything that impacts the victim’s
lives. One area that they are trying to expand is the outreach / prevention education
services. Prevention education will have the biggest impact on this problem.
A Safe Place does not provide services to the abusive partner, people do not volunteer to
attend abusive intervention group.
Mary wants each member of the committee to take two agencies and then write a
narrative and a rationale for what the amount should be for the report. Mary will tprepare
the executive summary.
Mary will work on access nantucket and ASAP.
Linda will work on Nantucket Cottage Hospital and A Safe Place.
Christy will work on MVY Community Services and IFC Food Pantry.
Holly will work on Family & Children’s Services and Family Planning.
Augie will work on IFC Rental Assistance and Legal Services.
John will work on Elder Services and Small Friends.
At the conclusion of the interviews, the Chair requested that members remain for a
discussion of appropriate interview questions and demeanor.
The meeting adjourned at 12:19
The next meeting is scheduled for January 8, 2014 at 2:00 at 4 Fairgrounds Road.
Respectfully submitted by
Ann Medina