Evanston aldermen will get a report tonight that calls for increasing spending on social service programs by at least a quarter million dollars to add new positions in a reorganized Health and Human Services Department.
The plan, developed by a staff committee headed by Deputy Cty Manager Kimbery Richardson, calls for moving the youth and young adult division and youth advocate workers now housed in the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department to the Health Department.
It also calls for a new Senior Services Division in the Health Department with three employees — a manager, an ombudsman and an assistant.
A memo from Richardson says the manager and assistant would assist elderly residents living outside of nursing homes while the ombudsman would be ressponsible for nursing home complaints.
The plan would also move property maintenance inspectors from the Health Department to the Community Development Department.
The new positions would include a part-time human services advocate to work overnight and a community health project specialist to work with community partners to maximize community engagement activities.
The proposal also calls for developing a “resident-focused intake process” to support “integrated service delivery” and a standardize intake system to cut the number of places people need to go to obtain services.
It also calls for improving community engagement to ensure that programs and services reflect community needs and priorities and for identifiying unmet needs that could be provided more efficiently by external organizations.
Youth services move to Health Dept.
As I recall this was already proposed and rejected after community reaction. Am I mis-remembering?
Misrecollection
Hi Jessica,
The reogranization proposed last year would not have moved the youth programs to the Health Department. Details here and here.
— Bill