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<br />whether other agencies want to join in. He thought this could end up being a cost savings for the <br />County by increasing the efficiency of determining what services are available. <br />Chairman Ginn reiterated that the current ordinance and guidelines specify the <br />children in our community, but this requests an assessment of “social services”. <br />Ms. Maurer <br /> stated that should be changed to “human services”. She also pointed <br />out that the current plan is up in 2005. We need to start working almost immediately on assessments <br />for a new plan. <br />Vice Chairman Neuberger saw no reason to object if the UW is interested in partially <br />funding this study; he thought we should do our part and help them with it. He suggested <br />considering tweaking the ordinance. <br />Commissioner Adams recalled that in 1994, when the whole children’s services issue <br />was being discussed, one of the main issues was that sometimes a child cannot be helped until we <br />take care of the parents. At that point, we decided to get the children’s part taken care of and then <br />move on to the parental or adult things that affect the children. The whole idea is to make the next <br />generation of kids better off than they would have been. If a child’s life could be bettered by helping <br />adults, we need to know what help they need. The whole emphasis is to make it better for the kids. <br />Ms. Maurer <br /> pointed out that other agencies are paying their dollars to obtain the <br />same information that cost the County $27,000. It made sense to her to have one set of statistics <br />and demographics so there is only one payment going out. <br />Chairman Ginn interjected that this sounds good but it is nevertheless an expansion <br />and there is no reason why people cannot get together and share the information. Unless we change <br />the focus in the ordinance, she would not vote for it. <br />Beverly O’Neill <br />, Sebastian, supported this request because resources are slim these <br />days. She predicted we have real trouble if we do not collaborate and take a broad look at the needs <br />in the community in order to focus on the greatest needs. She has promoted collaboration for many <br />years and it is time to get on with it. She thinks the agencies are ready to begin to work together to <br />gather the information and put together a plan with common goals. <br />January 13, 2004 16 <br /> <br />