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Home My Public Portal AboutHHS Meeting Packet_5.1.2024Town of Brewster Health and Human Services Committee MEETING AGENDA 2198 Main St., Brewster, MA 02631 (508) 896-3701 Wednesday, May 1, 2024 @ 4:30 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 April 3, 2024 Minutes 6.Presentation: The Family Pantry of Cape Cod 7.Presentation: Aids Support Group of Cape Cod 8.Matters Not Reasonably Anticipated by the Chair 9. Next Meeting 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, April 3, 2024 @ 4:30 p.m. Present: Suzanne Kenney (Chairperson), Sean Parker (Vice Chairperson), Patricia Hess, Deborah Blackman Jacobs, Anne O’Connell, Mary Jo Murphy, Lisa Perkins (Secretary), Robert Ziegler, Kari Hoffman (Select Board liaison) and Conor Kenny (Town Office liaison). Absent: None 1.Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by Chair Kenney at 4:30 pm. 2.Declaration of a Quorum: A quorum was declared by the Chair. 3.Meeting Participation Statement was read by the Chair. 4.Recording Statement was read by the Chair. 5.Approval of March 6, 2024 Minutes: The minutes were approved unanimously. 6.Presentation of Non-Profit Financials: Sarah Robinson, CFP, was introduced to the Committee to provide guidance in understanding financial statements. Suzanne noted that the Family Pantry of Cape Cod’s financial statement was being used as an example for this purpose. She also noted that the Family Pantry will present at next month’s meeting. Sarah asked the committee if they had specific questions and Mary Jo noted that she didn’t know what to look for in statements. Suzanne noted that we were focused on the agency’s last audited financial statement and Anne added that financial statements come in many forms from applicants. Sarah indicated that variability in financial statement forms depend on the revenue that has been generated and she noted that, some organizations do not need to file an independent audited financial report if they are less than $200,000 and those that are less than $500,000 must prepare statements in accordance to generally accepted accounting principles. Statements still all contain the same information: a balance sheet referred to a Statement of Financial Position for non-profits which shows: assets, liability and net assets. Another statement that is important to review/understand is the profit and loss, referred to the Statement of Financial Activity: the revenue minus expenses. She noted that Family Pantry is a very robust organization. The Statement of Financial Position includes various assets and liabilities; the organization generated considerably more assets in this year versus last. Statement of Activities contains income, expenses, and what is left over. Sarah described cash flow as what keeps all businesses running. Restrictions on donations are pulled out of the cash flow stream in reporting. Regarding the in-kind contributions on the Statement of Activities, Sarah observed that they had notes assigned to them which are informative about where all their donations come from. It is important in general to see from where their money comes. The Statement of Functional Expenses is what are the day-to-day expenses, including salaries. Consultant fees, like fundraisers, can be an expense here as well, but you hope to see that the fund-raising activities earn more than the fee paid. Suzanne asked what a healthy ratio would be spent on fund-raising; Sarah indicated that it would be in the range of 80-20. When asked why an organization such as this would only ask for a limited amount of funding, she indicated that why they only asked for $6000 was probably that they request this amount from multiple funding sources that contributes to their grant revenue line item and they don’t need more because they have a lot of money. Suzanne said that even though they make a lot of money, it would be reasonable to ask what they do with our small donation and its impact. Sarah also noted that a line of credit was important to understand their borrowing capacity. Family Pantry has liquidity and availability means to borrow from a credit line. She offered a take-away for reviewing financial statements: try to read the notes, putting them right next to the statement from which their reference comes. The complexity of a financial statement doesn’t mean that it isn’t a weak (or strong) organization. Sarah recommended that we ask agencies what the award would be used for. The question was asked if agency’s get pro bono help in preparing financials. Sarah responded by saying, it is not likely that there is much pro bono tax assistance, given the complexity of tax returns. Bob asked if we were going to develop a policy as a result of this knowledge; Suzanne responded that we may not have a policy, but likely have “a spirited discussion.” Most of the agencies that we funded this year have been funded for a long time as noted by Deborah. Additionally, Sarah noted when asked what a red flag might be, she responded showing a lot of revenue, from one year to the next but not spending it. 7.Establish Committee Sub-Groups to Review Groupings of Service Areas: At the last meeting it was suggested that we take a deeper dive into the issues facing our applicants. Suzanne noted that one way would be to assign committee members to various categories including Housing, Food/Meals, Health/Treatment, Children Services and Miscellaneous. The miscellaneous agencies which have unique, not overlapping missions might not need to be explored in the way the other organizations should. Anne stated the issue is duplication of services. Deborah agreed. Suzanne also noted that it was brought up before on whether all agencies were serving our residents in a way that we would feel comfortable advocating for them. Lisa had a concern about CAC. Conor noted that relative to Consumer Assistance Council, its mission hasn’t changed, and it still does provide mediation. Suzanne proposed that we each pick one cluster. We will make that selection in September. 8.Meeting Times Going Forward: Suzanne reported that we have been asked to meet at 4:30 p.m. from September to May/June if we are going to continue to meet on the 1st Wednesday of the month. Or meet every other month. Conor indicated that other days of the week were possibilities, although most agreed that Wednesday was best for them. Anne asked why we are the committee that has to change. Conor reported because in the past (not this last year) we met infrequently. When Lisa noted her concern about whether this request was an indication of the perceived lack of importance of the needs, Suzanne responded that our deeper dive might help us become greater advocates which can be relayed to the town boards. 9.Matters Not Reasonably Anticipated by the Chair: Patricia asked if we are going to seek additional agency applications next year. Conor reviewed last years’ experience and indicated that there might not be as strong an effort on the part of the town to seek new organizations. Anne noted that if an agency approaches us with a compelling request, we should consider that. Suzanne agreed; she further reminded the committee that two or three agencies might still be eligible for funding from the Opioid settlement law suits in the State. 10.Next Meeting: May 1, 2024 at 4:30 p.m. Representatives from The Family Party and AIDS Support Group will present at that meeting. We will also determine whether meetings in June-August will be necessary. 11.Adjournment took place at 5:33 p.m. Date Posted:Date Revised:Received by Town Clerk: