Human Services director outlines youth, senior and opioid priorities as Wheaton Fund distributions shift
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Summary
Human Services Director Jeannie Milstein told the Finance Committee the department is prioritizing youth engagement, homelessness prevention among children and seniors, and opioid response; she explained the Wheaton Fund is now managed by the Community Foundation and distributions vary year to year.
Jeannie Milstein, director of Human Services, told the Finance Committee the department frames its work around health, safety, learning and earning and highlighted several priorities: the Youth Engagement Partnership, a homeless youth working group (the department has identified about 350 children experiencing homelessness), expanded senior support at the senior center, and ongoing opioid response and reimbursement work.
On the Wheaton Fund, which supports senior programming, Milstein and finance staff explained the fund was transferred to the Community Foundation to provide better investment management and protect the corpus. The Community Foundation’s required endowment distribution rules mean annual distributions vary; Milstein said the FY27 appropriation reflects a conservative estimate of what will be available and that the fund is permitted under its rules to cover senior homelessness prevention and short‑term financial assistance (utilities, hotels, first month’s rent) in coordination with housing counseling and partners.
Councilors pressed for more detail on past spending versus budgeted lines; McBride and Reinhardt agreed to provide historical actuals for the Wheaton Fund and noted the FY26 number in the packet was a budget figure that may have been reallocated during the year. The committee also discussed senior transportation and SmartRide, and Milstein described current staffing (a full‑time driver, a backup) and the city’s request for additional DOT funding; Deputy Director Reinhardt said the local legislative delegation asked DOT for a $1,000,000 pass‑through for the pilot but DOT remains unconvinced about micro‑transit pilots.
On opioid settlement funds, Milstein said there are state and local pots; local dollars must be tied to opioid‑related, evidence‑based interventions and rigorous evaluation and have been used for Narcan and treatment supports. She said the city had learned of an additional small allocation the morning of the meeting.
Milstein closed by stressing partnerships across nonprofits, schools and state agencies and said the department will provide follow‑up data requested by councilors (Wheaton Fund actuals; senior center ride‑use numbers).
