Politics & Government
New Task Force Aims to Help Seniors, Latinos
The mayor outlines the city's new Human Services Task Force, which will focus on the needs of our seniors, youth, Latino and immigrant populations, the economically disadvantaged and those with disabilities.
As human service needs in our community continue to increase, resources are stretched across all service-providing entities and state funding is being broadly cut. In response, we have created a Human Services Task Force to assess service needs, improve service availability and increase resident awareness.
At Monday's council meeting, I appointed 20 volunteer members to this new Task Force.
The Task Force membership represents a wide cross-section of our community. They possess the background, vision and commitment necessary to make sure that our community is doing everything possible to coordinate and provide responsive, cost-effective, essential services for our residents.
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Over the next year, the Task Force will be responsible for:
- Assessing our community's human service needs
- Creating an inventory of the services available from our various government bodies, not-for-profits and private agencies
- Developing a comprehensive plan for human services that builds on our strengths, fills the gaps and incorporates coordinated services
- Assisting in the communication of services available to our community members
The focus will be on the needs of our seniors, youth, Latino and immigrant populations, the economically disadvantaged, and those with disabilities, physical and/or developmental.
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To kick-off the needs assessment portion of the project, small group workshops are being held. Please join us to provide your input on Tuesday, April 24 (8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.) and/or Saturday, April 28 (9:45 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.) at the (636 Ridge Road).
These meetings will be followed by focus groups at dates to be announced in the near-term. A needs survey will also be available on the City website by the end of April.
Following the needs assessment, the Task Force will develop an inventory of services available to our community members. This will help us identify gaps in services and develop a comprehensive plan to try to fill those gaps through collaboration. Once the comprehensive plan is established, the last step of the project will be to broadly communicate the services available.
If you have any questions or comments, please contact Don Miner, Director of Youth and Senior Services, at dminer@cityhpil.com.
Nancy Rotering
Highland Park Mayor
