MANSFIELD DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES

ADVISORY COMMITTEE

MINUTES

 

Thursday, June 2, 2005

 3:30 PM

 

PRESENT: K. Grunwald (staff), J. Heald (Chair), M. Hauslaib, J. Krisch, E. Passmore

 

I.                    MINUTES: The minutes of the May 5, 2005 meeting were accepted as written.

 

II.                  NEW BUSINESS:

A.     Senior Services: P. Hope had been scheduled to present on Senior Services, but due to a scheduling conflict she was unable to attend.

B.    “Other”: none.

 

III.                OLD BUSINESS:

A.      Membership recruitment status: there was continued discussion regarding departing members and an apparent lack of clarity regarding the purpose of this advisory committee.  K. Grunwald stated that he sees the role of the committee to provide oversight for the department’s programs and services, as well as a “voice” for the community regarding unmet needs.  It was agreed that one role of the committee should be to identify pressing issues that are not being met and to then strategize to address these.  Members also expressed interest in having informational segments of these meetings on programs and services of the Department.  K. Grunwald will work on new member recruitment over the summer.

C.    Proposed School Readiness Grant: Update: The school readiness grant was submitted to the State Department of Education with all four of the local accredited centers included in the grant.  If awarded, this grant would start in July of this year.  The grant application included an administrative line item to increase the hours of the school readiness coordinator.

D.    Technical Assistance grant from National League of Cities: we received word that we were not awarded a technical assistance grant for the initiative: “Cities Supporting Parents of Young Children.”

E.     Action Plan: anti-poverty resources: K. Grunwald briefly reviewed the status of the action plan.

B.      Other: none

 

     IV.  COMMUNICATIONS/REPORTS: 

A.     Review of Department activity and other items in packet and discussion with SSD Director:

B.          Program updates

·        Early Care and Education

·        Adult Services

·        Senior Services

·        Youth Services: there is a part-time position open in the program due to the departure of Trudy Wilson.  K. Grunwald will work with the YSB Coordinator to identify staffing needs for this position.

C.    Other

 

V.        PLANS FOR FUTURE MEETINGS

·        Set preliminary fall schedule: There is a clear interest in ongoing updates on programs and services at each meeting.

 

VI.       ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 5:00 PM

 

 

            Respectfully submitted,

            Kevin Grunwald