Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1981 07-01 HRRMMINUTES. OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF BROOKLYN CENTER IN THE COUNTY OF HENNEPIN AND THE STATE OF MINNESOTA REGULAR SESSION JULY 1, 1981 City Hall CALL TO ORDER o The Brooklyn Center Human Rights Commission met in regular session and was called to order by Chairperson Kuhar at 7:40 p.m. ROLL CALL Chairperson Kuhar, Commissioners Lemke, Reichgott, Mayleben, Paulos, and Trautwein. Also-present were Councilmember Gene Lhotka and Administrative Assistant Tom Bublitz. Also in attendance at the meeting was Lisa Cohen, CSSA planner for the Northwest Hennepin Human Services Council. Chairperson Kuhar noted that Commissioner Yencho was absent from this evenings, meeting and was excused. She also noted commissioner Coop was absent from this evenings meeting and was not excused. APPROVAL OF MINUTES -.5-13-81 There was a motion by Commissioner,Mayleben and seconded by Commissioner Reichgott to approve the minutes of the May 13, 1981 Human Rights Commission as submitted. The motion passed. COMMUNITY SOCIAL SERVICE ACT Chairperson Kuhar reviewed Dr. Duane Orn's presentation he made at the last Human Rights Commission meeting in which he reviewed the Northwest Hennepin Human Services Council's role in the Community Social Services Act. Ms. Cohen reviewed the working draft of priorities proposed by the CSSA Sub- Committee. She also reviewed program proposals from the Hennepin County department of Community Services. Commissioner Stacy arrived at 7:55 p.m. Ms. Cohen reviewed proposed budget cutbacks for the Commission and noted the proposed cutbacks by the County were in the areas of Chemical Dependency, Youth Diversion program, child care funding, support services for child care and the Community Emergency Assistance Program. Ms. Cohen pointed out the Northwest Hennepin Human Services Council CSSA Sub-Committee has been charged with the reaL,.s:biiity of developing priorities with regard to the Community Social --Service -Act-.---She -passed-out-a--=work-ing -draft -of--pri-or,ities---to---..omm is. *om mamharr containing the 10 areas of program priorities. Commissioner Lemke asked Ms. Cohen about the possibility of funding for trans- r portation for the elderly and handicapped. Ms. Cohen replied that transportation is a major problem in Hennepin County for elderly and handicapped persons pointing out the county has indicated they will be discussing a transportation program in conjunction with the 1983 budget. O 7-1-81 -1- Ms. Cohen explained-the current budget.cut proposals by the County are expected to be made from the purchase of services and the general operating budget, pointing out that 50V of the cuts would come from the purchase of services and • 50% from the operating budget. She explained the county board would ultima`ely decide the final cutbacks. Chairperson Kuhar inquired if there were any comments from Commissioners regarding the priorities as indicated on the handout from Ms. Cohen. Commissioner Reichgott stated she believed battered women shelters were an important priority for the northwest suburban area. Commissioner Trautwein stated the problems he saw as primary for the elderly Were in the areas---of went- and ti 3itpvitatun.- Lisa Cohen inquired of Commission members what priority they would give to the Community Emergency Assistance"Program. Commissioner Stacy stated he sees CEAP as an agency that is able to service large numbers of people and in his opinion should receive a high priority in the budget. He added that he believes CEAP serves a larger ndmber of people than smaller programs listed in the priorities and that it was important to get the most for the dollar spent and he believed LEAP could do this. Ms. Cohen explained the budget submitted by the County will likely be 5-7 million dollars less when it is finally adopted by the County Board since Federal and some State cuts were not included in the proposed budget- Councilmember Lhotka inquired if Ms. Cohen could comment on the cost effectiveness of the social service programs listed in the ten priorities and how this might apply to their relative ranking. Ms. Cohen explained the Northwest Hennepin Human Services Council staff relied on information from the service providers with regard to effectiveness of various programs. Next year she said we hope to attain additional information on programs which will help us make more detailed evaluations of the programs with regard to the cost for services. She added that, as an example, the Child Care.program is a very well administered program and helps keep people off social welfare. Essentially, she said the staff relies on* the individuals in the program for information along with general reputation of the program. Councilmember Lhotka commented that the ranking appeared to be rather subjective. Ms. Cohen agreed and noted that the staff is now working with the County to obtain data to help evaluate the programs on a more objective basis. Councilmember Lhotka inquired what the total County budget was for 1982. Ms. Cohen stated the Community Service department budget is $80 million dollars. Chairperson Kuhar stated that any additional research and data that could be provided by the Northwest Hennepin Human Services Council or Hennepin County would help the Commission make decisions on the priorities as listed on the working draft. She also requested that any additional information on the handicapped population in Hennepin County or the elderly population in Hennepin County be forwarded to the Commission. Ms. Cohen stated that when the numbers become available she would share them with the Commission. 0 Commissioner Reichgott stated that she believes the Commission should also have confidence in the Northwest Hennepin Human Services Council process for establishing priorities since they do a.quite thorough job of evaluating programs through their committee process. Ms. Cohen stated she would send a report of the final priorities to the Commission.- 7-1-81 -2- 504 PROGRAM Administrative Assistant Bublitz stated that the final draft of the Request For Proposal has been prepared and is presented for the Commission's review and comments at this evenings meeting. He. stated that the draft as presented is essentially-what he would recommend be sent to the consultants with a few minor changes one of them being to request the consultant to provide the names of previous clients related to handicapped accessibility so that these clients can be contacted for their input on the consultants work. Chairperson Kuhar inquired of Commission members whether they had any,,additional comments or requests for changes on the draft of the Request For Proposal for the 504 Program as prepared by Administrative Assistant Bublitz. There were no additional comments or requests for changes from the Commission and there was a general concensus that the draft of the RFP be approved as submitted with the changes as recommended by Administrative Assistant Bublitz. Administrative Assistant Bublitz pointed that he would hopefully have the RFP in the mail to the consultants within the next week. Administrative Assistant Bublitz pointed out that, as requested by the Human Rights Commission, the City will be obtaining a TOD machine to use on a trial basis. He pointed out that the machine will be used in the City Hall offices on an experi- mental basis and that he will report back on the use of the machine at a later meeting. Commissioner Lemke stated the Spinal Cord Injury Foundation will be sponsoring an event at the Brookdale Shopping Center in October along with various disabled groups. She inquired whether the Commission would like to sponsor a booth at the event in October. She noted that it is tentatively being planned for the first weekend in October. Chairperson Kuhar stated that this item could be placed on the August agenda for further discussion by the Commission. ADJOURNMENT . There was'a motion by Commissioner Trautwein and seconded by Commissioner Lemke to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed. The Brooklyn Center Human Rights Commission adjourned at 9:45 p.m. f Chairperson 7-1-81 -3-