May 9, 1978
Page 13017
THE CHANGING MUNICIPAL ROLE IN HUMAN SERVICES IN MAINE
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, Madeleine Freeman, president of the Maine Municipal Association, recently addressed that association's annual human resources seminar. Her speech describes numerous human service activities which have been developed at the municipal level in Maine.
Mr. President, Maine communities have shown their initiative in the human services arena. They are assessing local needs and cooperating with social service agencies to develop innovative programs.
The municipalities have developed a human service posture they have lacked in the past.
I believe they have reason to be proud of their accomplishments.
Mr. President, I ask that Mrs. Freeman's remarks be printed in the RECORD.
The remarks follow:
THE CHANGING MUNICIPAL ROLE IN HUMAN SERVICES IN MAINE
It is a pleasure to have this opportunity to address what I understand is now the Seventh Annual Maine Human Resources Seminar. I would like to thank the Welfare Directors Association for their invitation. The Maine Municipal Association appreciates your hard work in forming an organization that is effective in advocating municipal concerns and is working to improve the quality of welfare administration. The partnership between our associations has been very productive.
In reflecting upon the topic of this session and the history of the MMA Human Resources program. I am inclined to think that in many ways local government in Maine is still attempting to overcome the early negative attitudes toward Lyndon Johnson and his Great Society programs.
At the creation of these programs, the predominant municipal view in Maine was that of disinterest or outright opposition. It was a federal initiative that we had to accept whether we liked it or not. We were not consulted, we were not involved and we were not in control. In fact, the theme of several of the anti-poverty programs clearly established local government as the bad guys. In reaction to these initiatives, it was not surprising that local government developed less than a positive view toward human services.
With the passage of time, politicians and programs, municipalities have reoriented their response to the Johnson Initiatives. In my opinion, the initial negative reaction to programs has evolved into a positive consideration of the philosophy behind those programs. Thus change has been assisted by human service providers and the federal government who have realized the need for local government to participate in the human services system. As a result, Maine municipalities are now initiating on their own a multitude of human service programs designed to meet community needs. These initiatives represent the desire of municipalities to shift the focus of programs away from Washington to the local level. Today I would like to comment on some of the municipal programs that are in progress in Maine. I also intend to mention problem areas which deserve increased attention by local government.
Clear evidence of the departure from the past is represented today by the municipal use of programs that were once viewed in an adversary manner. As an example, the MaineMunicipal Association and the Community Action Agencies now have a well established relationship.
Working together, MMA and CAPS have established several programs that allow municipalities within a defined area to share a CAP social worker for the purposeof administering the general assistance program. An example of such an arrangement is in Southern Aroostook County where an ACAP Outreach Worker acts as a Social Services/General Assistance Coordinator to municipal officials in the communities of Patten, Oakfield, Dyer Brook, Island Falls, Smyrna, Merrill, Stacyville, and Sherman. While this would have been unheard of five years ago, today increasing numbers of rural municipalities are seeking this type of cooperative effort. Through the use of a professional social worker, municipalities have documented that the needs of their citizens are being addressed more adequately. For those who are concerned about cost, it has also been documented that expenses for general assistance have declined.
The VISTA Program offers another exampleof the changing times. Since 1976, the Municipal Association has placed 21 VISTA Volunteers in municipal human service projects. While VISTA Volunteers were once on the outside of local government attempting to achieve change, in these examples the volunteers have joined forces with local government. Services performed have included community surveys to assess human needs, followup to such surveys, job development activities, youth services, preventive health services for elderly shut-ins and energy audits for residential housing. Similar, but more limited use of the Senior Public Employment Program has also occurred. This program is operated out of the Orono Cooperative Extension Offices.
One of the activities performed by municipalities that deserves mention is the human needs assessment. I would like to use the example of Princeton, a Washington County community of 1,000 people. Princeton, utilizing its VISTA Volunteer, conducted a needs assessment and realized several results including increased citizen participation and dialogue with town officials.
Townspeople answering the survey noted major concern over the lack of physician services, inadequate shopping facilities, lack of recreation opportunities particularly for youth and the need for a Princeton ambulance service. As a result of these concerns a physician now comes to Princeton once a day and plans are underway for establishing a health clinic; the Small Business Administration has approved a loan for the creation of a grocery store; a Bureau of Outdoor Recreation grant has been secured to build tennis courts and a ball field; a skating area has been established as well as a place for swimming and basketball; and citizens are now developing a local ambulance service.
In the community of Dexter the needs assessment supported that Town's application for state funds to create a day care program. On Mount Desert Island, a cooperative effort on the part of four towns led to a needs assessment and subsequently to the creation of a home energy audit program primarily for low income persons.
In Rockland a VISTA Volunteer used the needs assessment to develop alcohol educational programs for the local school system. Also the volunteer has worked to establish a community- based agency that would work with the public to remove the stigma and denial associated with alcoholism. I should note that the work with alcoholism in Rockland, on Mount Desert Island, and in other municipalities has encouraged the state to develop a better partnership with local government. The State Office of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse is now working with MMA to develop an alcoholism education and prevention program for local governments. This situation provides just one example of the shift in human service program development from the federal to the local level.
The needs assessment process has been a valuable tool for local officials to encourage citizen participation and gain a better understanding of community needs. Municipalities have combined this process with the human service evaluation work of their regional planning commissions. The two processes combined offer municipalities the opportunity to gain control over the resources available to meet human needs in their community. With a knowledge of community needs and a report from a Commission on human service programs, a municipality can begin to determine if resources are being allocated on a priority need basis. Further, the effort of the planning commission encourages dialogue and accountability between local officials and human service providers. As an example, Auburn currently is participating in the Androscoggin Valley Planning Commission's effort to evaluate human service programs annually. Simultaneously, the local CAP and MMA are completing a countywide needs assessment. Through these efforts along with initiatives of the City, Auburn is now more thorough in its review of human service agencies seeking local financial support. This year the City addressed the quality of the Senior Citizen program and Auburn's need for the services offered. While the City Council felt the nutrition programs were of high priority, they thought the information and referral services were unnecessary and duplicative. For the first time, the City was unwilling to accept the package of services, and instead favored specific portions of the overall program. Further, through a review of the agency's financial condition, the City decided to raise money but retain it until an ongoing audit was completed.
Municipal concerns such as these regarding the Task Force on Aging in this region and in my region where a municipal committee of the Penobscot Valley Regional Planning Commission has been reviewing human services programs for the pest three years contributed significantly to the recent shake-up in the Bureau of Maine's Elderly. This, again indicates the capacity of local government to influence the service system. My one fear on this issue is that human service agencies will ignore legitimate municipal concerns by labeling them conservative or that municipal officials may claim agency abuses as an excuse for not financing needed programs. A dialogue must develop with human service providers that has the best interests of the people to be served in mind.
A frequent concern expressed by municipal officials and the general public is the fragmented nature of the social service system. A recent initiative on the part of Windham offers a significant response to this problem. Through the use of an Economic Development Administration grant, Windham has converted an old junior high school into the Windham Human Resources Center. While the Center is new, it currently serves as the site for the Senior Citizen Meals Program, Food Stamp certification, programs for youth and elderly recreation and for services offered by the local Community Action Agency. The Recreation Department makes heavy use of the building. The Windham Human Resources Committee is working to attract other social service programs to the Center. The thought of creating multi-purpose social service centers is not new but few centers have actually been developed.
Another concern expressed about human services is that of welfare abuse by able-bodied persons. Through the joint efforts of MMA and the Welfare Directors Association, Maine now has a work-for-welfare statute. Numerous municipalities are now enacting work-for-welfare ordinances. As a result, abuse has been reduced, costs have dropped and taxpayer concern has lessened. Besides these facts, I feel the program has renewed municipal attention to the problems of unemployment. In York County three municipalities with work-for-welfare programs have sat down with the Maine Employment Security Commission to request greater attention by the Commission to the problems of the unemployed in need of welfare. The Commission has promised an increased effort and a close working relationship with the municipal welfare officers. I think all municipalities should be placing pressure on the Commission to be more responsive.
In a similar fashion the municipalities of Brunswick and Portland have actually hired staff to assist welfare applicants in locating employment. I am told that in Portland this work has saved the City $90,000 in welfare costs. Obviously, it has also been of benefit to people and families in difficult circumstances. In Brunswick, work-for-welfare is a last resort with all possible job opportunities pursued first. Without denying assistance, efforts such as these have saved Brunswick considerable expense and have served the needs of people far better than a voucher for general assistance.
I have discussed some of the developments taking place in municipalities. There are many more.
In Farmington, a HUD Community Development Program assisted by the Franklin County CAP has given that municipality state and national attention. Not only does it work to rehabilitate homes, it also treats the occupants as whole people with other problems that deserve attention. In Portland, programs of preventive health for elderly shut-ins and programs for young people are unique in their approaches. My message is that we in local government are capable of taking the initiative to design new programs and redesign old ones to meet the needs that are understood best at the local level. We have come a great distance since the enactment of the Great Society Programs. There is still much to do, but it cannot be done without a continuing, creative dialogue among all those concerned with human needs — and that must include the active participation of local government. The Maine Municipal Association has a strong commitment to encouraging the dialogue and implementing the participation..