A task force on special needs

LEADERS OF JEWISH social service and philanthropic agencies acknowledge that there are gaps in the MetroWest community’s delivery of services to those with special needs and have assembled a multi-agency task force to address the issue.

Created at the urging of Kenneth R. Heyman, president of United Jewish Communities of MetroWest New Jersey, the task force is spearheaded by his wife Mimi Heyman, a speech and hearing specialist with 30 years of experience dealing with special-needs populations.

“We are concerned that we are not meeting the needs of this population as well as we could,” Mimi Heyman said in an interview. In particular, she said, Albert Brandmaster seems to fit into the category of the underserved. “Everyone will acknowledge servicing the mentally ill as a gap in services” of the local Jewish agencies. “It’s a problem that needs to be addressed, and we intend to address it.”

The Special Needs Advocacy Council includes leaders of eight agencies affiliated with UJC MetroWest: Jewish Service for the Developmentally Disabled of MetroWest, JESPY House, JCC MetroWest, Jewish Vocational Service of MetroWest, Daughters of Israel, Friendship Circle, and Jewish Education Association of MetroWest.

The task force is so new that Mimi Hyman is still putting together a committee to oversee it, and its goals are still evolving. Still, she said, even at this early date, she has a tentative plan.

“We will analyze where the gaps are, what the challenges are, and try to close the gaps,” she said. “Hopefully, by the end of the fiscal year, we will be able to accomplish some of our goals.”

In some cases, she said, extra funding may provide an answer. For example, in Brandmaster’s case, he could benefit from the creation of scholarships for JESPY House that would cover rent. In other cases, perhaps a social worker at one agency knows about a resource that could help a potential client at another.

“I’ve been blown away by the wonderful services we are providing,” said Heyman. “But we’re finding that people are still falling between the cracks. Either they are not known to the agencies or, if they are known, they are not getting services that we can provide.”

— JOHANNA GINSBERG