Human Services Advisory Commission

 Meeting Minutes
February 7, 2006
7:40 - 9:30 PM
Glenview Mansion

Re:  Call Meeting to Order /Introductions

Tim Stranges called the meeting to order at 7:40 p.m.

 Re: Approve December 13, 2005 Meeting Minutes

David L'Heureux moved that the minutes be approved as recorded. Agnes Saenz seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

 Re: Nomination of Commission Chair

Tom Lawrey nominated Tim Stranges for the position of Chairperson.  Deborah Hopson seconded the motion.  Tim said that he would be willing to serve a second term as chair.  The motion passed unanimously.

 Re: Committee Reports

• Affordable Housing Subcommittee Report
  Members of this subcommittee include Michelle Beadle, Tom Lawrey, Ann Reiss and Tim Stranges as Chair.  Tim said that their initial data collection included rereading the minutes of previous HSAC meetings related to affordable housing, reviewing the handouts from the Rockville Housing Enterprises (RHE) Housing Conference he had attended in April 2005, and reading the Toolkit for Affordable Housing Development created by the Washington Area Housing Partnership. 

The subcommittee also talked with Sue Walsh, the Section 8 Manager for RHE, who said that her biggest concern is the diminishment of Section 8 Housing monies.  They then contacted Wilma Bell, RHE board member, who said she agreed with Sue about funding for Section 8.  She thought a study should be done of affordable senior housing in Rockville with a focus on the level of care needed (independent, assisted or nursing care).  She further believes that there is a need in Rockville for Workforce Housing for police, firefighters, City employees, teachers, etc.  And the subcommittee spoke with Ed Duffy whose comment was “Section 8 Housing is in trouble.”  He said that with RHE receiving less money and rents rising, RHE would not be able to rent enough units to meet the need.  He agrees that Workforce Housing is needed in the city.  While more Moderately Priced Dwelling Units (MPDU’s) are becoming available, Ed is concerned about residents who don’t meet the $20,000 threshold.  He thought that a study of housing needs might be helpful, but its focus should include those people who work in Rockville, not just those who already live here.

Tim said he had pursued his idea of using “unused” City parkland for mixed income housing, like the new development in Lincoln Park.  Ed Duffy said that, in many instances, that land had been deeded to the City by developers and others with the understanding that it would remain parkland.  Other subcommittee members said that Rockville prides itself on its parks and the fact that everyone can walk to a park in the city.  They advised that if the Commission were to advocate using parkland for affordable housing, the idea would be met with great opposition.

After discussion of these topics, the subcommittee decided this year to focus on the issue of Section 8 Housing.  This focus supports the HSAC charter to make sure that the food, clothing, shelter, and health needs of Rockville’s most vulnerable residents are met.  Further, the residents in need of Section 8 Housing are among that population who are being virtually ignored at the federal and state levels.

On February 2, Tim sent an email to Sue Walsh, with a copy to Wilma Bill, stating the subcommittee’s intention to focus on Section 8 housing and asking for a meeting in order to obtain additional information on funding problems.  Wilma responded by leaving a voicemail for Tim saying they were not ready to proceed at this time because RHE is currently without an executive director and a board chair.  She suggested waiting until next summer.  Because of the urgency of the problem, the subcommittee would like to proceed with data collection and draft an action plan so that, when RHE has a new executive director, they will be prepared with recommendations.

Agnes commented that it has been her experience that sometimes families must wait years and years to get a voucher and they must pass “credit checks”.   Mary Lou Jacobs said that with a voucher, a family should be able to access any available unit in Rockville.  Tim asked if the system is ever tested by someone “pretending” to be a Section 8 recipient.  Tom Lawrey asked if the City should add some money to the Section 8 system to help people who may lose their vouchers.  Tim said the subcommittee had asked Sue for data on the number of vouchers RHE has given in the last several years.  They would like to see the same level maintained.

Tim asked the Commission if the subcommittee had their support in continuing data collection and analysis of the Section 8 Program.  David L’Heureux moved that the Housing Subcommittee continue its analysis of the Section 8 Program.  Agnes seconded the motion.  The motion passed unanimously.

• Gang Prevention Subcommittee Report
  Members of this subcommittee include Deborah Hopson, Eric Wang and Agnes Saenz as Chair.  Agnes reported that each of the members read and reviewed the Executive Summary of the Montgomery County Gang Prevention Task Force.  This report provides general recommendations on gang prevention, intervention and suppression.  After reading the report, members of the subcommittee believe that the Commission may have a role in the area of prevention.  Additional meetings for data collection are planned with the Chinese Community Culture Center, the Korean Community Center and the three school sites of the Latino Outreach Program of Community Ministries of Rockville.  The purpose of these visits will be to find out if the human service needs of these three different populations are being addressed and to see if there are concerns about gang activity.

Eric Wang has also collected many newspaper articles with information about gangs.  In addition he contacted Luis Cardona, a former gang member who is now the County’s Youth Violence Prevention Coordinator.  Mr. Cardona is willing to meet with subcommittee members or with the Commission as a whole.

The subcommittee reviewed the information presented by Karen Rawlins on the City’s after school programs and want to analyze it further to determine the need for additional programming, facilities and tuition for children to participate.  They are also interested in locating churches that run after school programs where there might be spaces available for children.  And they want to identify the challenges facing after school programs, e.g., what funding sources exist.

Finally, the subcommittee contacted Terry Treschuk, Rockville Chief of Police, who is willing to continue to dialogue with their group as they continue to work.

After discussion it was decided that this subcommittee should first meet with Luis Cardona themselves to determine if he should speak with the entire Commission.  Tom pointed out that the Commission is focused primarily on Rockville so it would be important that he speak to specific issues in the city and best practices that could be implemented here.

• Residents with Disabilities Subcommittee
  Members of this subcommittee include Paul Mutyambizi, Mary Caroline Colletti, and David L’Heureux as chair.  David said that this group has not met but he has done some research.  Providing sufficient services to people with disabilities is a nationwide problem and Maryland has its own issues.  Currently there is a waiting list of 25,000 people in the state who need various kinds of services for disabilities that include vision and hearing problems, difficulty with speaking, mental/emotional problems, etc.  David is working to find statistics on how many of the 25,000 people live in Rockville.

One issue for David is that Rockville has people with disabilities getting help from different counties and from programs located both inside and outside the city.  David suggested that the subcommittee should meet with each provider agency in Rockville to ask them if, in their opinion, the need is being met and what the City of Rockville could do to assist.  For example, is there a need for more shelters?  Are the County and State doing the best they can?  David thinks there may be as many as two dozen programs/agencies working with different populations.  They have organized themselves into a group called Montgomery County InterACC/DD (Interagency Coordinating Committee for People with Developmental Disabilities).
 
Mary Lou said the City would primarily be concerned to learn about service gaps/barriers being experienced by provider agencies that serve a significant number of Rockville residents.  In addition, it would be important to know about service issues facing group homes physically located in Rockville.  David said the subcommittee would want to get information on the number of Assisted Living Units (ALUs) located within city limits.   Tim said he would like to be included in those meetings.

Tim thanked everyone for their subcommittee reports and suggested that they give updates in two months.

Re:  Updates from Chair

• Salute to Non Profits
  Tim asked Commission members if they want to continue co-sponsorship of this event with the Chamber of Commerce.  He said that Joy Young had already had some tentative discussions with Recreation and Parks about holding the event on a weekend in conjunction with the Chili Cookoff.  Mary Lou asked if there would be a way for nonprofits to make money.  Agnes said that her agency, Community Ministries of Rockville, already has an arrangement at the Chili Cookoff where they make money through the concessions.  Tim asked if other nonprofits could be there to do what they did at last year’s event, mainly to publicize their agencies.  Mary Lou said that her understanding was that part of the goal was to recruit volunteers.  The time and place of last year’s event did not lend itself to that effort.  After further discussion the consensus from Commission members was that the Salute should be combined with another City event such as the Chili Cookoff.
   
• Representative to the Community Action Board
  Mary Lou passed around a letter requesting that a representative from Rockville be chosen to sit on the Community Action Board.  She said that this would be a way for a Commission member to learn more about issues in the rest of the county.  Agnes asked if it would be necessary for the representative to live in Rockville.  Mary Lou responded that they would either need to live in Rockville or work for a provider agency in Rockville.  Deborah said she would like to take the letter to her church to see if anyone there might be interested.  Agnes said she would also take the letter to the next Caregivers meeting to see if any providers would want to represent Rockville on this board.

 Re:  Plan Agenda for Next Meeting (March 14)

Tim said he was hopeful that they would soon be able to discuss some of the consultant’s report and findings.  However, the Commission had previously planned that the March meeting date would be used for their annual social occasion.  He said that if the report is released, Commission members would have the flexibility of holding an ad hoc meeting for the purpose of discussing it.

It was agreed that the next meeting would be a potluck supper for members and family members.  A sign-up list was passed around for dishes to bring.

 Re: Adjourn

David moved that the meeting be adjourned.  Deborah seconded the motion.  The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 p.m. The next meeting of the Human Services Advisory Commission will be a potluck supper to be held Tuesday, March 14, 2006, at 6:30 p.m. in the Glenview Mansion Dining Room.