HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-07-08
Council for Human Services
July 8, 2010
2 Fairgrounds Road
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Minutes of the meeting of July 8, 2010. The meeting took place at 4:00 pm in the town
building at 2 Fairgrounds Road Nantucket, MA 02554. Members of the council present
were: Dorothy Hertz, chair, Linda Barrett, Mary Wawro, John Belash.
Absent: Linda Williams, Augie Ramos, Rachel Rosen, Susan Marques and Maria
Pena. Guests: Libby Gibson, Town Manager and Michael Kopko, BOS member.
Staff present: Maryanne Worth and Ann Medina.
Quorum: Meeting was called to order at 4: 10; a quorum was not established.
A motion to approve the agenda was made and seconded.
Dorothy thanked Libby and Michael for attending this meeting.
Libby is here to explain the charge that has been given to the Council for Human
Services (CHS). Basically the BOS is asking the CHS for their recommendations
for the scope of services for services for the community that the town will pay
for in FY12. An RFP will be issued then responded to instead of the agencies
asking for funds, the current process is backwards. It will be up to the BOS how
many RFP's will be issued, it could be 1 or 15 +. The BOS wants the Council to
look at the needs assessment survey and consult with agencies to come up with
an outline format in terms of services for the community that the town will pay
for. Specific services are being sought. The BOS is not asking the council to write
the RFP, just an outline. The BOS wants the Council to let them know what the
specific services are, categorize the services to be provided, an example would
be domestic violence counseling.
Scope of services can be based on the needs assessment survey, what services
are needed; some may be needed more than others. How will we determine how
much funds to provide since it is not known how much money will be available?
One recommendation might be that more money is needed.
Monitoring contracts: quarterly reports - making sure the information is there,
that might be working fine for now and the same monitoring process may be
used with RFP or it could be something different.
Criteria: To determine if an agency qualifies for funding, comparative criteria can
be used - example an agency might be Highly Qualified with 10 years +
experience; Qualified with up to 5 years experience; and Not Qualified with no
experience. Another methodology is the point system; allocate points for years of
experience etc. Libby stated she thought the point system is not used in MA but
would check on it. The point system might be a tool the council could use An
RFP can be tailored specifically to get what you want. It is up to the town what
comparative criteria will be used. When the RFP's are returned a spreadsheet will
be set up with the comparative criteria. The Council will look broadly at what the
needs are and what services that will be provided by agencies. It is for the
Council to know what the human services picture is on the island and worry less
about the structure of the RFP.
This may become an incremental process as it is a fairly substantial project. Main
recommendation is will there be one RFP or many.
Town administration will work with the Council on a letter of the comparative
criteria.
The challenge is going to be consulting with the agencies and what their
priorities are. All agencies will be asked separately. The council will meet
agencies at an open meeting on July 28th. What the Council wants from the
agencies is for them to provide what services are important and what are the
unmet needs. It is important to have a meeting with them all together. HSWSG
is more current as to what is going on. It would be helpful to us to have a
picture of where the BOS wants to spend town money. The charge relates to
specific services that are to be provided to residents of the town; since it is town
money that is derived from property taxes that funds this, is there a definition of
town resident? Residents are people who live here. There isn't a formal town
designation. If it is not a major issue the council does not want to delve into it;
neither does the town.
Dorothy stated that the Council hopes to reach the timeline but it is a short time
to get things done and the council will do its best to get things done. Michael
stated that the BOS has a contract to get the RFP out; the BOS are working on a
deadline and will keep the council posted. There are seven weeks to do this.
The last needs assessment survey was done in 2006, things have changed
drastically since then, and therefore the 2006 survey is not current. The
services that will be recommended have to be based on documentation. What
funding will be available? Maybe the town needs to invest more into human
services, convince the tax-payers to invest more. What are the needs and what
is the cost? Identify a clear need, what resources the town might invest in.
The Council can make a case for these things and plan to go with the same
amount as last year. Mary thought a meeting with town counsel and Diane
O'Neil would be helpful for the council to see what has been written and help
them understand. Libby suggested the council to focus on their questions and
get them to her, it would be reasonable for one or two of the members to meet
with Diane. The Council will get those questions to Libby. The BOS is not asking
the council to construct the RFP, just to come up with what the needs are.
An addendum to questionnaire might be needed. This is based on CRC process
with quarterly reports, needs assessment for Council's purpose. Maryanne will
ask Bob Martin about the point system. The Council will look at services other
than what is provided. The Council will also assess what is needed instead of just
what they provide. A public notice for the RFP process will be in the newspapers
this week and next week (&/7 & 7/8 -7/14 & 7/15) Maryanne will send the
questionnaire and RFP information out to the agencies that have received
funding in the past. Questionnaires are due back in the office on July 23rd. The
council will meet on Monday July 26th at 4:00 and there will be an open meeting
on Wednesday July 28th.
Meeting adjourned at 5: 13 pm. Next meeting will be Thursday July 15, 2010 at
4:00pm.
Respectfully submitted by.Jlnn :Medina