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HomeMy Public PortalAboutHHS Meeting Packet_3.6.2024Town of Brewster Health and Human Services Committee MEETING AGENDA 2198 Main St., Brewster, MA 02631 (508) 896-3701 Wednesday, March 6, 2024 @ 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/89269307805?pwd=SUdza05ISzZ3Y3BIQVJOa2tHY1NlUT09 Passcode: 027724 +1 646 931 3860 US +1 929 436 2866 US (New York) Webinar ID: 892 6930 7805 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 February 7, 2024 Minutes 6.Select Board and Fin Com Meetings Summation regarding HHS Funding 7.Discussion and Framework for Reviewing and Recommending Grant Awards 8.Matters Not Reasonably Anticipated by the Chair 9.Next Meetings: April 3, 2024 10.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 Robert Ziegler Town of Brewster Health and Human Services Committee MEETING MINUTES 2198 Main St., Brewster, MA 02631 (508) 896-3701 Wednesday, February 7, 2024 @ 5:00 p.m. Present: Suzanne Kenney (Chair). Sean Parker (Vice Chair), Mary Jo Murphy, Deborah Blackman Jacobs, Anne O’Connell, Robert Ziegler, Lisa Perkins (Secretary); Conor Kenny (Town Liaison) Absent: Patricia Hess, Kari Hoffman (Select Board Liaison) 1.Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 5:00 p.m. 2.Declaration of a Quorum: A quorum was declared by Chair Kenney. 3.Meeting Participation Statement was read by the Chair. 4.Recording Statement was also read by the Chair. 5.Approval of January 3, 2024 Minutes: The minutes were approved 7-0. 6.Upcoming Select Board and Fin Com Meetings: Suzanne reported that she will be presenting the HHS funding recommendations to the Select Board on Monday, February 26, at 6:00 p.m. The presentation with the Finance Committee has not been set. Lisa reflected that she hoped that as many committee members as possible would attend these meetings to support the Chair. Suzanne reviewed the experience this year of determining the recommendations, thanking the committee for their diligence. Committee members reviewed their impressions. Mary Jo noted that the assignment of 3 organizations per member was helpful. She would like to see more time spent on the amount of money that organizations had on hand which she felt suggested a reduced need for town funds. She wanted to be able to see a more concise picture of an organization’s total assets. Anne recommended that we spend time at a future meeting to discuss even more fully the philosophy of town giving. Suzanne suggested that we make this an agenda item for the next meeting. Bob noted that this discussion would be very helpful as a newcomer to the board and all agreed that we will dedicate the next meeting for the discussion. Sean said that he would like training in how to read the financial data. Suzanne described how agencies deal differently with their budget reporting but there is a standard for their financial audits. She noted that we need to learn what questions to ask when we meet with an agency to better understand their actual need. 7.Presentation: Housing Assistance Corporation: Patricia Mitrokostas, Senior Director of Strategic Funding Initiatives & Foundation Relations of HAC, was introduced to the committee members. Suzanne requested that she provide an overall view of the agency and how they support Brewster residents. Patricia reported that her primary role is one of fund-raising. HAC serve 6500 residents on the Cape, up 20% since 2020. There were 220 Brewster residents who have received support from HAC last year. She noted the lack of both housing and affordable housing, specifically, resulted in individuals and families leaving the Cape due their inability to find places to live. HAC provides shelter facilities and work to have clients transition to more permanent housing; they provide Section 8 vouchers. This is their 50th year anniversary, now having 125 employees with a $38,000,000 budget. Of that, $24,000,000 is pass thru (rental subsidies) and $14,000,000 goes directly to services and operations. Currently there is a $2,500,000 gap in their budget. Their largest growth of population is the elderly, who struggle to find housing on a fixed budget. They also provide support with money management and coordinate services with other agencies on the Cape. They recently opened up an Orleans office so that they can more easily serve residents near here. Relative to Brewster residences, HAC paid out $225,000 to 55 households. HAC has provided rental assistance through vouchers and has been instrumental in the construction of affordable rentals (Brewster Woods). They also provide services for energy audits and weatherization for houses. Patricia indicated that there are also many residents who don’t qualify for federal or state support because they don’t meet the guidelines. They have 3 homeless shelters and have outreach workers. They will be asking all the towns to support the homeless. Suzanne asked how they would use our funds: she responded that it would go to Brewster residents, but in varied ways. Patricia indicated that we could restrict what type of support to give to Brewster residents. Lisa asked what the level of coordination with the other many housing agencies was, and Patricia indicated that they have teams of staff who work with the other agencies that provide support to Brewster-that is their jobs to coordinate services with these agencies. They also try to teach people to become housing advocates, citing the statistic of the number of fire officials who cannot afford to live on the Cape and are leaving their jobs. Patricia further noted that case management is critical to prevent clients from getting lost or receiving support from duplicating agencies. They utilize volunteers providing a variety of outreach services. Suzanne thanked Patricia for her attendance and presentation. 8.Presentation: Duffy Health Center: Daniel Rodrigues, Director of Substance Use Disorder and Outreach Programs, was introduced to the committee members and introduced himself. He reviewed the work of Duffy Health Center, with its mission to serve vulnerable and marginalized populations. He noted that they serve individuals that “live in not-ideal living” situations. They also serve different ethnic groups and those with different life experiences-those coming out of incarceration, vulnerable youth, etc. They have the primary center in Hyannis but also one in Falmouth (the Pier Recovery Center) and they partner with St. Joseph’s House. He shared that their patient population was roughly 3000 unique individuals. They provide truly integrated healthcare—medical care, behavioral health, and case management. Their focus is to work with clients in their comfort areas which involves programs such as Housing First, and In from the Streets (IFTS), etc. Their case management also involves different forms and locations, including recovery programs, spiritual care and suicide prevention. They work with local area recovery homes. A table Daniel provided indicated that Duffy served 75 unique Brewster residents. The IFTS program served 179 Cape wide; 1 from Brewster. Suzanne questioned why their application is just for IFTS. The program is funded partially from state funds. Lisa noted that the services given to Brewster residents has never reached a level of funding provided. He indicated that at times the identity of residence for a client may be somewhat ambiguous and may be listed as Barnstable when it might actually be another community. Also, they use the money for services more broadly, “regionalized” not just for Brewster individuals. Referrals for teen services come from many organizations: school systems, pediatricians, etc. The REACH data has indicated that opioid use is still increasing. But the users are more aware of the risks and may be turning to other drugs. There were 73 fatal overdoses in 2022 on the Cape and 79 in 2023; these were mostly individuals in the early 30’s to 40’s. Suzanne thanked Daniel for his attendance and presentation. 9.Matters Not Reasonably Anticipated by the Chair: Suzanne updated information regarding the town’s funds from the Opioid legal settlements which can be used for harm reduction, prevention, treatment and recovery services. A new committee has been formed to discuss how best to use the funds and Suzanne has been asked to participate given her role as Chair for HHS. Suzanne indicated that Duffy, OCHS, and AIDS Support Group are a few agencies that may be eligible for funding should the Committee choose to award funds to existing organizations providing the above services. Conor added that Pause A While and the Cape Cod Children’s Place had ticked off the box on their applications for providing substance abuse support and may also be eligible. 10. Next Meetings: March 6, 2024 @ 5:00 p.m. 11.Adjournment was at 6:23. Date Posted:Date Revised:Received by Town Clerk: **MEMORANDUM** TO:Human Services Committee CC: Conor Kenny, Kari Hoffmann FROM: Anne O’Connell DATE: February 13, 2024 RE: Higher Brewster Costs During my review of the FY2025 Grant applications, I noticed that both Lower Cape Outreach Council and Our Lady of the Cape Conference of the Society of Saint Vincent De Paul showed a higher cost per unit of service for Brewster residents as opposed to the average cost for a unit of service (UOS) for all clients. Lower Cape Outreach Council LCOC) on p.5 of their application shows an average cost of $178 per UOS but the cost for a UOS for Brewster is almost 16% higher at $206. The discrepancy for Saint Vincent De Paul (SVP), as shown on p. 7, is not as dramatic but interesting nevertheless. The cost per unit of service overall is shown as $508.03 with a corresponding cost of service in Brewster of $534.28. At my request, Conor looked into both of these and received the following information back from the respective agencies: LCOC – “My best estimate based on a quick review is the Brewster residents are underutilizing our food pantry. The food pantry unit of service has a high value but a low cost whereas financial assistance is dollar for dollar.” SVP – “The primary reason Brewster has a higher per unit cost than the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul overall cost per unit is housing. Looking at the grant application, I see the overall cost per unit of service was $508.03 and the cost per unit of service for Brewster was $534.28. On the Section B2 page, Benefits Disbursed, you will see Brewster had 60 of the 88 total requests for disbursements for Housing. Additionally, Brewster Housing requests represented 43.1% of the total benefits disbursed for Brewster and only 38.4% of the total benefits distributed for the communities the Society serves.” I thought the rest of the committee would be interested in these responses. s e.:;" N 'rte ° _ ,0 = i.;xwa,xa>>�Jo /iiiiin l l l u it i t uiuu�\ To Whom It May Concern: Town of Brewster BREWSTER, MASSACHUSETTS 0263 1-1 898 (508) 896-4506 — Fax (508) 896-8089 cwilliams@town.brewster.ma.us OFFICE OF: COLETTE M. WILLIAMS, C.M.C. TOWN CLERK JUSTICE OF THE PEACE NOTARY This letter is to certify that at the Annual Town Meeting, held May 5, 1997 with a quorum being present the following article was adopte: CREATION OF A HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE ARTICLE 23. To see if the Town will vote to amend the Code of the Town of Brewster by adding the following by-law as Chapter 16, Article 1, Section 16-1 and 16-2: Section 16-1. There is hereby created a Health and Human Services Committee. This Committee shall consist of up to nine (9) members appointed by the Board of Selectmen. Three (3) members shall be appointed for one (1) year; three (3) members shall be appointed for two (2) years; three (3) members shall be appointed for three (3) years; and all members thereafter, unless filling the remainder of an unexpired term, shall be appointed for three (3) years. The Board of Selectmen, for good cause, may remove members from this Committee. Section 16-2. The Health and Human Services Committee is established to enhance the quality of life of all Brewster residents by ensuring a range of health and human services in an effective and cost efficient manner. This Committee shall evaluate and assess the health and human service needs of the Town, shall review and weigh requests for financial assistance, shall set priorities, and shall submit recommendations concerning the funding of those agencies and organizations best able to provide needed services to the Town; or to take any other action relative thereto. (Majority Vote Required) (Board of Health) MOTION: I move that the Town vote to approve Article 23 as printed in the warrant. ACTION: ADOPTED A True Copy Attest: Town Clerk PC/Codebook Town of Brewster, MA CODE OF THE TOWN OF BREWSTER, MASSACHUSETTS, v31 Updated 02-01-2011 / PART I ADMINISTRATIVE LEGISLATION / Chapter 16, HEALTH ANC HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE Chapter 16, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE [HISTORY: Adopted 5-5-1997 Annual Town Meeting, Art. 23. Amendments noted where applicable.] GENERAL REFERENCES Board of Health -- See Ch. 6, Art. VII. CODE OF THE TOWN OF BREWSTER, MASSACHUSETTS, v31 Updated 02-01-2011 / PART I ADMINISTRATIVE LEGISLATION / Chapter 16, HEALTH ANC HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE / § 16-1. Creation; membership. § 16-1. Creation; membership. There is hereby created a Health and Human Services Committee. This Committee shall consist of up to nine members appointed by the Board of Selectmen. Three members shall be appointed for one year; three members shall be appointed for two years; three members shall be appointed for three years; and all members thereafter, unless filling the remainder of an unexpired term, shall be appointed for three years. The Board of Selectmen, for good cause, may remove members from this Committee. CODE OF THE TOWN OF BREWSTER, MASSACHUSETTS, v31 Updated 02-01-2011 / PART I ADMINISTRATIVE LEGISLATION / Chapter 16, HEALTH ANC HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE / § 16-2. Purpose; powers and duties. § 16-2. Purpose; powers and duties. The Health and Human Services Committee is established to enhance the quality of life of all Brewster residents by ensuring a range of health and human services in an effective and cost-efficient manner. This Committee shall evaluate and assess the health and human service needs of the town, shall review and weigh requests for financial assistance, shall set priorities and shall submit recommendations concerning the funding of those agencies and organizations best able to provide needed services to the town. 1