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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1979-06-05; City Council; 5876; Report from Council Member CaslerAGENDA BJLL NO . DATE: DEPARTMENT: CITY OF CARLSBAD F 76, JUNE 5' 1979 CITY MANAGER Initial:^ ' '&' Dept.Hd. C. c- Subject:REPORT FROM COUNCIL MEMBER CASLER REGARDING SOCIAL ELEMENT TO GENERAL PLAN. Statement of the Matter Mrs. Casler has researched the various approaches cities have used in dealing with the human service needs of residents. The attached report and recommendation by Mrs. Casler is forwarded for Council Consideration. Exhibit Report dated May 14, 1979 Recommendation See attached report dated May 14, 1979 Counci 1 Acti on : 6-5-79 Council directed that a Human Services Committee of five members be established to present requests and make recommendations to Council in regard to the Social Element to General Plan. Council agreed that the task of determining the City's role in identifying an evaluating community human needs and coordinating human services and pro- grams be assigned to the Human Services Committee. Council determined that the establishment of an appropriate staff position be delayed until the budget is presented and should be included in same by the City Manager. DATE: MAY 14, 1979 TO: MAYOR AND COUNCIL FROM: Councilwoman Mary Casler SUBJECT: SOCIAL ELEMENT OF THE GENERAL PLAN In the past month I have reviewed Social Elements, Social Services Elements, Human Services Elements and a Quality of Life Element written and titled by 13 other California cities as additions to their General Plans. In this report to you I will freely plagiarize, since you understand I am presenting a summary plus some of my own questions; however, I am extracting only that information which I feel is pertinent to Carlsbad. The original elements are now in the Planning Department for your reference. SOME HISTORY: In 1973 the League of California Cities adopted a resolution Social Responsibilities of Cities stating that the provision of existing social services is highly fragmented and suffers from a lack of comprehensive planning and coordination. The Action Plan recom- mended that each city prepare and adopt a social services element, determining city goals and objectives and establishing standards and priorities to meet the community needs. The social services plan would seek to eliminate the overlapping and duplication of services and to identify service gaps. The City of Carlsbad had for years provided some social services for the community: Police protection Fire protection Library Parks Recreation programs Each year the Council was requested to allocate money in other directions: DEFY, Lifeline, Project Oz, Senior Citizens Association, to name only a few of the many requests. In June 1976, the Council authorized preparation of the Human Resources and Social Services Needs Assessment for the City, resulting in exhaustive documents telling us what services are available not only in Carlsbad but also in San Diego County and what Carlsbad citizens felt their needs were. The information May 14, 1979 Page 2 was gratefully received, we had provided a needed referral guide, we felt self-righteous and we dropped the ball. - Who is responsible for dissemination of all this information? Helen Bainville at the switchboard gets the most questions, answers what she can in the limited time available to her, or gives the County telephone number. Some questions are answered by the reference desk in the library, some by the Senior Citizens Association. - Who is responsible for updating the guide? I must assume that some of the agencies no longer exist and new ones do. Do young mothers in Carlsbad know that the County provides a "Well Baby" Clinic once a month at the Union Church where inoculations are given free? Did people know the County also had some health care services weekly at St. Patrick's? The program has been discontinued; several phone calls could not give the reason why. Do they know the Senior Citizens Association gives free blood pressure checks, other health care services, legal aid, tax aid, delivers meals to shut-in's, etc.? These are some new services; there may be others existing now in Carlsbad. - Was our public opinion poll a waste of money? Have we allocated our money in relation to the expressed needs of our citizens? The following top needs are ranked in order of percentages from the poll: Law enforcement Low cost housing Emergency services (paramedics) Drug abuse Health and medical services Employment services Child abuse - neglect Recreation and cultural Senior services, alcohol abuse,Education and Training (Tie) Transportation, Youth services (Tie) HOW CAN WE PROCEED? All elements studied were in essence the same. Introduction Needs Assessment and Resources Goals and Policies Implementation In some cases the goals were broad, as "To provide opportunities to ensure the welfare and rights of all citizens", or "To acknowledge that basic needs for food, clothing and housing need to be met for all Davis population." In other cities the goals were factual. May 14, 1979 Page 3 The City of Placentia wrote a simple but effective Social Element. Six goals were formulated to guide the City in its social planning. GOAL - Determine Needs Objectives: a. Identify sections of the population needing assistance. b. Identify neighborhoods in Placentia needing assistance, c. Encourage citizen participation in preparing the needs assessment. d. Elicit input from professionals in the human services field. GOAL 2 - Inventory Current Resources Objectives: a. Identify public agency resources. b. Identify private agency resources. c. Identify available resources by function. GOAL 3 - Meeting Needs Objectives: a. Coordinate needs with existing resources. b. Promote interagency cooperation. c. Act as broker/contractor for new services. d. Develop new programs. GOAL 4 - Implementation Objective: a. Develop methods of implementing the Social Element. GOAL 5 - Evaluation Objectives: a. Provide for an annual review of policies and programs. b. Encourage citizen participation in the evaluation process. GOAL 6 - Merge social with physical planning. Objective: a. Integrate the Social Element with the other elements of the General Plan. The succeeding chapters give a description of each goal and discussed each objective as it related to achieving the goal. Voila! May 14, 1979 Page 4 A Social Element! If the City Council were to assume such goals appropriate for Carlsbad, we can see we have accomplished some of them already. RECOMMENDATIONS In order to provide an ongoing mechanism for identifying and evaluating community human needs and coordinating human services and programs to meet those needs, the following recommendations are made: 1. The Council will determine the role the City will play. Broker - The City is the funnel through which a service is brought into the City. Advocate - City attempts to develop a service to be provided by another agency. Facilitor - The City operates in partnership with another agency to provide a service. Provider - The City is the primary source of revenue, facilities and manpower for a program. 2. Establish a Human Services Committee. The committee should be the catalyst for focusing on the human needs in the community and presenting appropriate requests and solutions to the Council. The work of the committee will result in a Social Element. 3. Establish an appropriate staff position. This position is an essential linkage between the committee, community and city staff resources. If the committee is to be effective, it needs a staff position to do some of the necessary legwork and research. With this position, various human service programs and activities now administered by city departments, public and private agencies, and other groups in the community can be well coordinated. 4. Develop plans for use of the Community Center. The Center would serve as a coordinating and communication center not only for individual citizens but also for organizations within the community. 5. Update the Information and Referral Guide with emphasis on Carlsbad.