HomeMy Public PortalAboutHHS Meeting Packet_9.6.2023Town of Brewster
Health and Human Services Committee
2198 Main St., Brewster, MA 02631
(508) 896-3701
HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE
MEETING AGENDA
2198 Main Street
Wednesday, September 6, 2023 @ 5:00 p.m.
This meeting will be conducted in person at the time and location identified above. This means that at least a
quorum of the members of the public body will attend the meeting in person and members of the public are
welcome to attend in person as well. As a courtesy only, access to the meeting is also being provided via
remote means in accordance with applicable law. Please note that while an option for remote attendance
and/or participation is being provided as a courtesy to the public, the meeting/hearing will not be
suspended or terminated if technological problems interrupt the virtual broadcast or affect remote
attendance or participation, unless otherwise required by law. Members of the public with particular interest
in any specific item on this agenda, which includes an applicant and its representatives, should make plans for in-
person vs. virtual attendance accordingly.
Members of the public who wish to access the meeting may do so in the following manner:
Please click the link below to join the webinar:
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Webinar ID: 873 5481 8467
To request to speak: Tap Zoom “Raise Hand”, then wait to be recognized.
When required by law or allowed by the Chair, persons wishing to provide public comment or otherwise participate in
the meeting, may do so by accessing the meeting remotely, as noted above. Additionally, the meeting will be broadcast
live, in real time, via Live broadcast (Brewster Government TV Channel 18), Livestream (livestream.brewster-ma.gov),
or Video recording (tv.brewster-ma.gov).
Please note that the Health and Human Services Committee may take official action, including votes, on any item on
this agenda.
1.Call to Order
2.Declaration of a Quorum
3.Meeting Participation Statement
4.Recording Statement: As required by the Open Meeting Law we are informing you that the Town will be video and
audio taping as well as broadcasting this public meeting. In addition, if anyone else intends to either video or audio tape
this meeting they are required to inform the chair.
5.Approval of August 9, 2023 Minutes
6.Review of Last Year’s Grant Recipients and Their Impact on Brewster Residents
7.Presentation by Police Department
8.Agency Presentation – Nauset Youth Alliance
9.Matters Not Reasonably Anticipated by the Chair
10. Next Meetings: October 4, 2023
11.Adjournment
Date Posted:Date Revised:Received by Town Clerk:
Health and Human
Service Committee
Members
Suzanne Kenney
Chair
Sean Parker
Vice Chair
Lisa Perkins
Secretary
Deborah Blackman
Jacobs
Patricia Hess
Mary Jo Murphy
Anne O’Connell
Town of Brewster
Health and Human Services Committee
2198 Main St., Brewster, MA 02631
(508) 896-3701
HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE
MEETING MINUTES
2198 Main Street
Wednesday, August 9, 2023 @ 5:00 p.m.
Present: Suzanne Kenney, Deborah Jacobs, Lisa Perkins, Mary Jo Murphy, Patricia Hess,
Sean Parker, Conor Kenny (town liaison)
Absent: Anne O’ Connell, Kari Hoffman (select board liaison)
1.Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by Chair Kenney at 5:00 p.m.
A roll call was taken as above.
2.Declaration of a Quorum: A quorum was declared.
3.Meeting Participation Statement was read by Chair.
4.Recording Statement: The statement was read.
5.Public Announcements and Comment: There were no public comments or
announcements.
6.Approval of June 14, 2023 Minutes: The minutes were approved
unanimously.
7.Report on Meeting with Finance Committee and Town Manager: Suzanne
reviewed the meeting that she and Conor had with Peter Lombardi and
Mimi Bernardo regarding the ability to increase the full amount of our
funding request if we wished to support additional agencies not previously
receiving any funding. Mr. Lombardi noted that we would be able to do
that. There was subsequent discussion about increasing notification to non-
profit agencies that we are currently not funding but might be worthy of
consideration. Conor discussed both a draft that he has written to notify
those agencies, and a brief article to appear in the Cape Cod Chronicle. He
also indicated that he would post the funding application on the Town
website. Suzanne also indicated that due to State court settlements with
several pharmaceutical companies Brewster receives approximately
$50,000/year to remediate the opioid crisis. Peter noted that this money
could be used for those agencies who seek funding for that purpose.
Discussion ensued regarding the complexity of this process which still needs
to be worked out.
8.Grant Application Process, Time Frame and Organizations to Present:
Suzanne revisited the rationale for making changes to our grant application
as indicated in the prior meeting minutes. Discussion included the need to
make definitive statements regarding deadlines, inclusion of required
information, etc. Conor noted that there is also often a difficulty with getting
the agencies to complete the required invoices to receive payment for the
agreed-upon support; payments are made in two installments. There does
not appear to be a correlation between those who do not provide full
information on the application and those who fail to provide the town with
the necessary information in a timely manner. Patricia raised the concern
that smaller, volunteer-staffed agencies may not have the infrastructure to
meet expectations. Suzanne suggested that she would reach out to those
organizations and offer support. Conor announced that he would be
available and would indicate that on the edited application. Subsequent
discussion included suggested changes to the current application, dealing
with consistency of deadline language by removing the current “Late or
incomplete..” sentence (front page of current application, bold underline) ,
changing the language to the agency is “providing support to” rather than
“serving Brewster residents” (first sentence of second paragraph on front
page), and adding Conor’s phone number to the application. In planning for
the next few meetings, Suzanne noted that Lt. Charles Mawn (or another
representative) of the Brewster Police Department will be joining us for the
September meeting. At that meeting, Conor will also be reviewing last year’s
funding applications. Discussion included how to reach out to new agencies
as well as decide who to call in for an update of their organization. The
consensus was to invite the 3 agencies that receive the most funding from the
town over the next 2 meetings. A new agency mentioned was Pause for a
While., which deals with addiction. Mary Jo indicated that she would
research that agency. Conor indicated that it is likely that we will have until
early January to make our final funding decisions as town budget meetings
with departments would commence mid-to late January. Sean volunteered
to deliver the applications to each member as he has done in prior years.
9.For Your Information: None
10. Matters Not Reasonably Anticipated by the Chair: None
11. Next Meetings: September 6, 2023, October 4, 2023 November 1, 2023,
December 6, 2023
12.Adjournment at 6:00 p.m.
Date Posted:Date Revised:Received by Town Clerk:
Services Provided in FY23
Services for medical case management and related support,
along with testing services, were provided to 27 Brewster
residents.
Services were provided both in-person and virtually to 368
Brewster residents.
Rehabilitation services for individuals with disabilities were
provided to 54 individuals.
Subsidies were awarded to 10 Brewster children and early
childhood eduation was provided to 9 Brewster children. 21
parent/caregiver education & support programs and 67 parent-
child engagement programs were provided to Brewster
residents.
Opened 14 cases involving Brewster residents and/or businesses,
and closed 13 cases involving Brewster. 114 units of service were
provided to Brewster.
203 persons were served during this period. 0 from Brewster.
145 from Cape Cod and the Islands.
9,415 home delivered meals served.
Food was provided to 477 Brewster households.
183 cases in Brewster.
1,103 Brewster residents accessed 15 of the services
Independence House provides for a total of 359 service units.
1287 individuals were served.
168 Brewster residents were provided with fuel assistance.
59 sign-ins by Brewster residents.
171 students are enrolled in the afterschool program as of May
2023.
2009 Brewster residents were served. 516 uninsured or
underinsured Brewster residents were seen at OCHS.
64 residents were served.
38 total cases were opened for Brewster residents, 32 cases
were closed.
Agency
AIDs Support Group
Alzheimer's Family Support Center
Cape Abilities
Cape Cod Children's Place
Consumer Assistance Council
Duffy Health Center
Elder Services of Cape Cod and the Islands
Family Pantry of Cape Cod
Homeless Prevention Council
Independence House
Lower Cape Outreach
Lower Cape Outreach (Fuel)
Nauset Together We Can
Nauset Youth Alliance
Outer Cape Health Services
Sight Loss Services
South Coast Legal Services
Funding Amount
$5,000
$11,000
$7,000
$10,500
$600
$1,000
$8,600
$5,000
$15,000
$10,000
$10,000
$15,000
$1,500
$16,000
$15,000
$1,500
$4,250
Nauset Youth Alliance
384 Underpass Road
P.O. Box 541
Brewster, MA 02631
Phone: 508-896-7900 Fax: 508-896-7906
drost@nausetyouthalliance.org
www.nausetyouthalliance.org
Report to Health and Human Services
Town of Brewster
September 5, 2023
Thank you to the HHS for their ongoing support since 2015. This grant has been a vital resource,
particularly during the pandemic.
Trends
-Continuing to see numbers growing.
o Afterschool up 10% for 2023-24. Starting year with 164 enrolled.
o EEC license allows us to serve 65 students per day at each school
Stony at maximum M-H and 53 on Friday
New Stony registrants will be waitlisted
Do not want to go way of Orleans After School
Currently seven who attended last year yet to enroll
Eddy in mid-50’s M-F, a 20% increase from last year.
Those who are attending are attending more days than in the
past
Currently 16 who attended last year yet to enroll
-Summer saw 122 students attending in various configurations
o Demand so high asked EEC to increase our licensed capacity form 65 to 78
Still operated with a waiting list though most moved off as other families
changed their schedules
-Staffing
o Continues to be a challenge
Part-time without benefits
Working parents gravitate toward Educational Assistant jobs, not after
school ones
EEC does not allow us to discount staff children
-Through the afterschool, summer, and enrichment offerings worked with 78% of
students in the two schools
What The Grant Money Allowed Us To Do
-Supported five families encompassing eight children with summer scholarships
o Replaced EL grant money from summer of 2022
-Allowed us to increase staff salaries
o Range this year $21-26.50 per hour
o Pay staff for school closures
-Did not raise daily fee despite inflationary pressures
Projected Future Needs/Challenges
-Staffing
-Scholarships
-In past town grant has also helped with our snack program. We now receive a DESE
(CACFP) grant for snack
-What town decides to do with the Bayside parcel
o Did use the pool once a week this summer
-No longer able to provide 1:1 opportunities for neurodiverse students
o Paraprofessionals not out there
We believe that NYA serves a critical need for the families of Brewster and greatly appreciate the
town’s support.