Statewide Independent Living Council meeting
Thursday March 20, 2008
Discussion Faith called the meeting to order at 9:20 am Introductions New members- Carol Hunter Linda LaPointe Kristie moved to approve the January 2008 minutes Terrance Seconded the motion There was No discussion All in favor of approving minutes as written, there were none opposed, Approval of the January 2008 minutes passed unanimously No changes recommended
Update on Center certifications Judy has scheduled all re-certification visits Still Need someone for next week 3/26 at Greeley- Georgeanna may be able to do it Debbie doing Boulder visit with Judy in May
Linda LaPointe Questioned if it is a conflict to sign up for visit In a member’s own town- Judy stated that it is not a conflict- Linda LaPointe will do the Pueblo visit
Employees of centers cannot participate in the site visits
Southwest center in Durango needs an executive director by May 15- The board is still working on announcement and job description
Deputy director position open in Boulder Performance standards and indicators for SILC Information from SILC congress- follows section 705 title 7 of Rehab Act They Inform us about our role in working with the center- emphasis on advocacy Changing systems, empowering cetners
Leadership day response Judy has received no responses- This was to be a recruiting effort to partner with centers – We are still looking for ways to recruit members DVR report from Nancy Nancy- reported that there is an initiative to serve returning service members with disabilities-Ft. Carson has 2 full units (480 soldiers) in the wounded warriors program- with disabilities ranging from temporary to complex and permanent- There is only 1 counselor available at this time There is an out pouring of resources from the civilian community to hire veterans but not necessarily those with disabilities- Ft. Carson is getting a team together to review what to do with these resources. TBIs- DVR adopted the program and trust fund who were looking for a better fit Growing interest in this disability area meeting of boards to determine responsibilities forming a collaborative to work together as TBI gets higher visibility-Karen Bye looking at TBI which involves more that just disability type- She is getting meeting together on 4/8/08 to look at how these people might be affected as well as their families
State rehab council completed consumer survey- focused on consumers of VR services who are deaf on of the barriers is difficulty tracking and following consumers but found key informants across the state- recommendations from this survey for 10 centers for IL for deaf in Colorado New director, Cliff Morris, of Colorado commission for deaf and hard of hearing- looking as service for deaf- how can we help, Nancy asked the SILC to consider how ILCs can provide more and better services for those who are deaf-
DVR is Involved with the legislative session Following a number of bills: SB 4- Opening state employment for those with disabilities thru introduction of a law
HB1067 Set aside Bill to allow preference for non profit organizations who serve people with disabilities (employment of high percentage of people with disabilities- 20% or more) as contractor for certain services- i.e. Goodwill, CCD, IL centers Unclear how broadly the services will be defined- Management of this would be done through bid systems. Concern from SILC that it would be limited to nonprofits- Nancy said that at this time the bill is focused on supporting non profits
Establishment of pilot project to model milestone project in OK- concern about wording and not sure how it differs from current activity
3/19/08 Joint budget committee reported that the state $45-50 million in the hole and has refinanced $1 million of DVR’s general fund
Rules revision going on, the next meeting is 4/4/08- focus is to bring rules into compliance with federal laws or make process easier no IL rules involved, just the general program
DVR under hiring freeze- DD, Aging and DVR- have some areas without counselors, Eastern plains has no counselor, cannot replace staff even if budgeted, Some regional centers cannot hire which could impact patient care
No increase of Federal funds for state DVR- so they are shaving anything unnecessary out of the program and the focus has to be on client services
Can council help with anything related to DVR? Nancy said we Could speak to John Dario- but he has been gone Year to date expenses report March 2008 financial report reviewed- (attached)
Recommendations for 2008 budget changes (vote)
$863 from professional services line item into meetings line item
Program accommodations line (interpreters) $1800 budgeted historically we have only spent $50-100 per meeting- propose to move $1000 to travel line raising the travel line from $13000 to $14000
Move $4000 from operations budget to the training line- $7000 budgeted for operations but expect we will only need $3000, this will increase training funds from $10,000 to $14,000, The centers are planning on using these funds for training, Linda has a budget from ACCIL for those funds Original was $1000 for each center but they want to pool funds for 1 ½ days training session
Pat G. made a motion to accept the proposed changes Terrance seconded the motion There was No discussion- all were in favor there were no opposed- motioned carried unanimously Pending recommendations for spending funds in the conference line for the NCIL conference and the AT Partners conference • NCIL conference July 21-24 in Washington D.C. (possible $650/person RT, $300 /person= $1000/ person possible send 2-3 people) some costs could come out for this fiscal year- Faith would expect those attending to meet legislators, part of conference usually includes going to the “Hill” Amy is interested in going to NCIL possible attendance to AT partners conference 6/13-14 ($240 per person for conference plus travel- but travel would already be incurred for the SILC meeting in June (could send 3 people)
Pat would like to see us more involved with NCIL- would recommend to have a plan-what can we bring back to SILC what is benefit to SILC
Kristie would like to make decision about how many people we can send to the conferences
Recommend proposal from members to indicate if they would like to attend NCIL or AT partners Joyce needs information ASAP to arrange travel due to end of fiscal year and approval requirements- Nancy states that DVR suggests all requests be in 2 months in advance.
Linda T made Motion to approve up to 3 to go to NCIL those interested should send proposal by April 2- Executive Committee will review at April meeting All were in favor there were none opposed
Georgeanna made a motion to approve 3 people to go to AT partners conference- Terrance recommended amending the motion to 3 or more Georganna revised the motion to state the council will send as many as budget and interest will allow Pat recommended that a maximum dollar amount be allowed for the AT partner conference Discussion continued with information from Kristie
Patricia recommended that we defer this decision to the EC to make the final decision about how many to go to AT partners based on how many will go to NCIL.
Georgeanna made Motion that the council encumber the funds to send a finite number to the AT partner conference and the final decision to be made by EC committee, Terrance seconded- all were in favor- there were none opposed Recommendations for 2009 budget- July 1 2008- June 30 2009- attached
Kristie reviewed the recommendations- Need bid for needs assessment- allowing $50,000 for this bid Increase SILC coordinator for full time- Patricia cannot continue in full time position 6 meetings per year- with 4 committees very active asking for additional $20000 to support a full time SILC coordinator 2009 Budget justification reviewed- Finance committee feels that we are on target to spend the funds allotted for F.Y. 2008 Pat G. made a Motion to accept budget for 2009 Bill seconded the motion- no additional discussion All in favor non opposed motional passes
Resource development team (Kristie and Georgeanna with the help of Joyce) received a round of applause- Nancy explained that If the proposed budget cannot be fully funded it will be sent back to SILC from DVR
Old Business Patricia reviewed the proposed changes to the by-laws- (attached) 1. Recommend a Mission statement 2. Will be MOU between DVR and SILC 3. Reviewed every other year or more as needed 4. Membership composition- Ad hoc committees will not be limited Application forms and process- Judy shared the process in the dept. thru a memo process Judy-supervisor-Nancy Smith- Karen then to Judy then to Governor’s office to keep Karen Bye (Executive of Colorado Dept of Human Services) in the Loop- If applications are made outside of the usual process they still go to Judy and the SILC will have a say before anyone is appointed 5. Compensation- Child care compensation will be moved to policies 6. Principal officers-election at Spring meeting, chair elect will be chair of state plan committee 7. Treasurer no need to have access to all CILs finance 8. Change in name of Finance committee 9. Treasurer will prepare an informal report for SILC and EC 10. Regular meeting calendar at beginning of F.Y. schedule reported Members notified 1 week ahead of the meeting 11. Meet 4 times per year- as often as needed and as funds are available 12. Committees meetings may be done by electronic media Robert’s rules of order used for SILC meetings, including EC- committee meetings may be more informal 13. Voting- electronic media may be used- eMail can be used 14. EC- members are officers and chair of committees, but only need 3 of the elected officials for quorum 15. Finance committee- changed function- 16. Replaced advocacy committee with Public Policy Committee 17. Youth committee- encourage better working relationship, promote leadership opportunities 18. Other committees- adhoc committee options 19. Conferences and travel on behalf of the SILC- must be approved in advance- decision rests with the EC- required to make report to SILC at next meeting
Faith and Judy attended SILC congress 38 states were represented Learned how important to have a full time coordinator to do work of SILC and what congress expects the SILC to do.
Faith reported that Judy did a great job with her sessions- it was designed to be interactive- crossing over bridging the gap between IL and VR It was not recorded-
Performance standards and indicators were presented- and states were compared- some SILCs have more than 1 staff member Did not get real useful information on how to become 501c3
Some SILCs have conflicts with RSAs- which we are not experiencing
Learned a lot about history of SILCs will incorporate some of this information for orientation for new SILC members
Next SILC congress will be in Phoenix
Faith found it to be a valuable experience and encourages us to send people in future years
Resolutions were on 1) standards be adopted in the Rehab Act 2) parents should not lose custody just because they have a disability 3) satellite centers- tabled 4)increasing employment of people with disabilities in Federal Government- 5) rotate SILC congress in alpha order- failed
Amy recommended that we may have a library of information available to us
Faith explained paper ballot bill is no longer on the table- this makes things easier for disability access concerns Each county will use re-certified voting equipment Denver is using paper ballots Every county will have an accessible voting booth Faith is working with counties to make sure they are accessible
Georgeanna asked if electronic voting machines has a tracking mechanism Faith reported that Colorado has VVPAT voter verified paper audit trail and some stringent security mechanisms and audit requirements
New Business Patricia discussed IL needs assessment in Ca cost was $100,000 goal is probably $50,000 for Co- Univ. of Northern Colorado rehab program may be interested Linda suggested we might use the Rehab council’s assessment- Judy is investigating possibly piggy backing on this assessment- but they may have different focus than the SILC needs Full time SILC coordinator- $20,000
Consensus from the Council to accept the justification statement
No vote required- We will go to Grand Junction rather than to Ft. Collins- for May meeting and June meeting will be in Denver Patricia reports that Carol needs help with setting up appointments with congressional district- making phone calls etc.
Judy just compiled information on senators
Tabled until later if time allows Organizational Reports Linda reported that ACCIL lobbied JBC directly for additional funding and it was approved an extra $100000 split between the 10 centers- it looks like it is intact at this point- it is in the long bill and it looks like it will be approved Per 704 report 11 million dollars available to centers with 50% private money, of the state money 12% of IL budget, approx. $2000 per person per year, to keep them out of NHs, in 2007 prevented 522 people from going to NHs moved 47 people out of NHs, approx $4 million savings Have to spend for HCBS but not as much as if they are in a NH- approximately 50% savings when not in a NH Would like to lobby with SILC and DVR to lobby JBC for additional funds to explain why small $ spent at the state level equates to many $ saved thru Medicaid and HCBS Encourage SILC to Support ILs working with Voc Rehab- possibly $500000 to 1million to help with outreach problems and serving the underserved 6 part C centers get money from Federal money-they have seen 1% cut each year for the last 3 years Need to educate our state legislators about these cuts. This ties in well with the SILC’s plan to do a needs assessment. RSA would not talk about any more money so probably no new part C awards
ILs will be doing fund raisers but will probably have to cut staff positions to meet budget deficits
Georgeanna asked about assessing the quality of life for those taken out of NHs- Per Linda there is a Subjective review of quality of life gained when people move out of NHs
Preprogrammed soft ware packages are being used to gather some of the data- but it is $2000 to sign up and $2000 annually Requested that RSA develop a data collection software to be available to the centers at no cost- it is on the list of needs- There are just limited funds available
Colorado has unique issues due to Tabor-
There is a potential Source of income for a Successfully returning to work program- this needs more investigation
SILC is encouraged by ACCILs goal to partners to reach goals and being a bigger voice for persons with disabilities.
Bernie who will probably be speaker of the house is a proponent of human services. Larry Williams is liaison but has not been able to attend- so Faith attended last week Marla Decker co-chair of SRC gave a presentation about the difference between State voc rehab and the tribal voc rehab. Programs Marla is still looking for SILC members to represent the tribes Website is being created- organization of website is there- www.coloradosilc.org $1400 for set up and $75/month for upkeep, changes and hosting- this is a 3 year contract We need to redo some pictures Need bios from everyone
Had someone call about doing the logo- They asked questions about our primary customer, and what our impact is- we may need to spend time to develop answers to some of these questions, May need to have website just use Colorado flag and State seal until logo is developed
Administrative issues- will buy a cell telephone for SILC- Will use DVR address without DVR name-
Will be working on Policies and procedures and MOU
Connections right now has the contract for the coordinator-10% goes to Connections which helps with work comp- we will involve the SILC to select another full time coordinator.
Faith meeting with Nancy Smith April 1 will discuss MOU
Public comments The floor is open to anyone who wishes to address the SILC about IL issues whether they are on the agenda or not. Sign Language interpreter is available Reps from Atlantis requested that SILC members visit Atlantis after the meeting 25th anniversary ADAPT is this year- will have celebration april 26-May 1 in Washington D.C. SILC members are invited or possible sponsor or help with funds- supports disability rights and choices for those with disability to live in community and receive services in the community- Terrance will send out information again- A Fun run is a primary sponsor- contact Babs if you are interested- Key note speaker with be Pat Schroeder from Colorado ADAPT25.org is website
David Kennedy-newly hired disability rights coordinator for Democratic Convention to be held in Denver Atlantis is working on getting people from NHs to affordable community housing. He is to make sure hotels are accessible, accessible transportation, communication accessibility. Does have a mobility disability and has found Denver to be very accessible. David and Faith will be involved with Training of hotel staff, highlighting Denver for disability rights, website for accessible resources. Will try to use local vendors when able.
HCPF nursing facility transition program 10 ILs together transitioned people from nursing home Community Transition Services (CTS) other centers are working on getting Medicaid certification to be able to participate in this program Atlantis is doing training for any agency thinking about doing this program on April 10 being held at Atlantis- Single Entry Point for this service is Options.
Committee Reports Terrance reported that minutes were made available to all SILC members Monitoring state plan progress Progress is being made- we are meeting the goals that we set and planning for goals next year. Faith reported that she is doing some investigation on SILC becoming a 501c3 Faith met with Bill Hanna- legislative rep for state dept. of human services. We could be a non-profit and could continue to receive funding from DVR due to the fact that we are a mandated council.
Soon to be Finance committee- already covered Mike Rooney resigned as chair of membership committee and he recently also resigned as a member of the SILC. But he would like to join youth committee when it is formed.
The interview process with several people has been working well.
There are several prospective candidates Joe Cordova Hope Crouse- Ft. Morgan Sterling- from CCDC Julia Beams- with AT partners Steve Wallin- needed additional education before being considered Judy suggested possibly looking at some who have been SILC members in the past
Kristie has some people who may be interested in Grand Junction- will encourage them to visit the meeting when it is in Grand Junction in May. Terrance suggested that they be invited for
Mental health clients group called “We Can” mental health consumers- Patricia will investigate if they can possibly help with members
Carol asked about make up of Council- 23 members majority have to be people with disabilities who do not work for state or ILs.
Orientation for new members- maybe evening before June meeting- June 11, 6pm encourage members who have been on council for a short time also attend
Still need someone who is deaf-
Not active Following some bills that are in collaboration with SILC or in conflict with SILC- will consider email voting regarding support or Will try to get David Bolen on the committee who has contact with the legislature SB 165- codification of the advisory council for persons with disabilities- HB 1356- Landlord and Tenant rights- to protect renters Larry Williams is writing a HUD grant to grant or do loans to build ramps, small remodeling projects for people to stay in their homes- IL centers are writing letters of support- requests that SILC support this effort- trying to write the grant to be a grant rather than loans- $500,000 has been set aside by HUD and has requested that we write this grant- Pueblo would be fiscal manager- Add to HCBS funds- would have to qualify under low income criteria- this could serve people who are trying to get out of a nursing home since HCBS funds need to be used when someone is already living in a residence No time in the meeting for this report Speakers/Education Improving Colorado’s consumer Directed Attendant Services and Support Program (CDASS)
SEIU interested in working with disability community to improve service- to give home care users more of a choice. 3000 attendants under CDASS now Accent is now FI – employer of record- but no coordination at this time- SEIU could help coordinate this group of providers Impact home care workers- make sure enough workers for the future- growing number of people who will need these services
Strengthen infrastructure to make sure home care services are available. Started as a pilot program- Select hire/fire own home care workers- it is now a permanent service delivery option to anyone who receives HCBS- mental illness waiver and OIB waiver. Will be a bill presented in the next session- building coalitions and support for the groups- goal-consumer directed quality home care authority- legal authority to negotiate with a home care providers union Possible volunteer program for authorized agents- for cognitively impaired SEIU 2525 W. Alameda
The committee visited Atlantis after the meeting