MINUTES
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
6:30-8:00 PM
PRESENT: K. Grunwald
(staff), S. Baxter (staff), A. Bladen (Chair), L. Dahn, MJ Newman, C. Guerreri,
N. Hovorka, S. Daley, J. Higham, J. Greene, J. Goldman, J. Stoughton (staff),
K. Russo
REGRETS: K. Paulhus, D.
McLaughlin, J. Soroka, B. Lehmann
|
ITEM |
DISCUSSION |
OUTCOME |
|
Open |
-Welcome: meeting
called to order at 6:35 PM by Chair A. Bladen; members introduced themselves. -Vote to adopt 6/4/08
and 8/28/08 MAC Minutes -Discuss MAC meeting
schedule: A. Bladen reported that the group had decided to meet every other
month; question as to whether or not we need monthly minutes for purposes of
continuity. S. Baxter pointed out that
this was changed due to the Local Planning Grant; it turns out that most
members are not part of that group. J.
Goldman suggested that it’s helpful to meet early in the month, but not Aug.,
Sept. or January. Suggestion that we
meet on the second Wed. of every month, with the exception of July and
August. |
Minutes accepted as written. Agreed that we will meet monthly on the first Wed.
through June of 2009, and will start meeting on the second Wed. of the month
as of September, 2009. |
|
Announcements |
School Readiness Grant: S. Baxter announced that
the School Readiness grant has some open slots. Local Planning Grant: S. Baxter announced that the
group has collected data and is in the process of coming up with indicators,
which will tell us when a change has occurred. K. Grunwald pointed out that MAC is
identified as the oversight group for this planning initiative, and should
ensure that the group is moving in a direction that is consistent with the
overall goals of MAC. The group is
currently in the process of forming a sub-committee on communication. J. Goldman asked if the group is focusing
on issues related to healthcare and transportation. J. Stoughton pointed out that this group
will be seeking feedback around these issues from the community. |
Asked that if members know anyone who needs care
for 3 & 4 year-olds please have them contact MJ Newman will provide information about the mobile
dental clinic. Members are asked to
familiarize themselves about the work of this group through www.leadershipmac.blogspot.com |
|
Update- Infant/ Toddler |
Infant/Toddler group will update us on meetings in
June and September with local leaders and discuss next steps: S. Daley reported that the group recently
met with Tom Callahan from UConn and Matt Hart to discuss results of their
surveys. T. Callahan suggested that
the group develop a “Scope Statement”, which would support the need for a
feasibility study. They also discussed
possible funding. The feasibility
study should examine multiple options for a solution; not just a preferred
option(s). Look at surrounding
communities and whether or not it makes sense to work with them. |
The group will meet on 10/9 at 9 AM to develop a
Scope Statement; contact unions affiliated with UConn and Mansfield to build
a constituency. Identify contacts at
surrounding communities. T. Callahan
and M. Hart will provide feedback on the Scope Statement. The UConn Work/Life Committee is interested in this
and would like a presentation from A. Bladen. |
|
Parent Group |
Report on 1-on-1 Interviews: J. Higham distributed
a handout on the outcomes of the 27 interviews that they conducted and
presented these results to the group.
J. Goldman suggested including feedback from the “other” list in
future presentations. C. Guerreri
suggested “intentional connection” with other town-wide planning projects
under next steps. J. Goldman also
suggested explaining the methodology that was used for these interviews;
include questions that were used. C.
Guerreri suggested that interviewees be invited to a town-wide presentation.
K. Grunwald suggested that participants be encouraged to look at other
intentional connections (e.g. Downtown Partnership, Advisory Committees,
etc.). J. Goldman suggested that these
people may be convened as a focus group for the planning initiative. Recruitment for more members on parent committee:
will use these contacts to recruit new members. |
Look at presenting these results to other
groups. Focus on building parent
leaders around specific issues. Invite
interviewees to presentation of results that is done. The group will be meeting again in the next
few weeks to discuss. |
|
I-Parent |
Hear about a new parent website coming up: K.
Grunwald reported on the work of the iParentNetwork/underage drinking initiative. |
K. Grunwald will continue to provide updates on the
status of this initiative. |
|
MAC Discovery Action
Plan |
Review plan to check
for progress towards meeting goals: S. Baxter distributed copies of the
update that was recently submitted to Graustein. This is primarily budgetary,
but could include other issues as well, as indicated in our action plan. |
C. Guerreri will do a presentation on the
_______ model at our next meeting. |
|
Other Business |
Mansfield Family Information
Packets: S. Baxter acknowledged the work of J. Greene, J. Higham and B.
Lehmann on updating these packets and putting the information together. J. Greene sent out a letter to all realtors
in town asking for ongoing information about sales to families with young
children in town. There was some
discussion about changing this to an online format and producing refrigerator
magnets with the link to this packet.
J. Goldman advocates for still having something to hand out. J. Goldman announced
that UConn’s Work/Life Coordinator position was frozen and then
defunded. HR at UConn has identified
graduate students with children, and targeted mailings can be sent to
them. They are in the process of
putting handouts together for them. The issue of the need for care for
infants and toddlers continues to come up. |
Explore if Family Fun In |
|
Adjournment/Next
Meeting |
Meeting adjourned at 8:03
PM; next meeting will be Wed., Nov. 5 at 6:30. |
|
Respectfully submitted,