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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: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87354818467?pwd=ZzNCNXJuTGgxTFVUT0k3cUNNTFRUdz09 Passcode: 027724 +1 929 436 2866 US (New York) +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC) 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.