Statewide Independent Living Council meeting
Thursday May 15, 2008
The meeting came to order shortly after 9 AM when a quorum was reached. Introductions were made.
Faith had several additions to the agenda.
The minutes were tabled until the Secretary arrived. Faith has several additions to the agenda Krisitie moved to approve the March minutes Amy seconded the motion Georgeanna requested the spelling of her name be corrected in all places in the minutes It was also requested that Linda LaPointe’s name be corrected in all places All were in favor of approving the minutes with these changes None were none opposed- there were none who abstained
Update on Daurio Letter- Judy reported that everyone should have received Mr. Daurio’s response via email from his assistant. He thanked the SILC for its letter and indicated that the hiring freeze for the entire department would be lifted July 1. Mr. Daurio also indicated that he would be happy to attend a SILC meeting in the near future. Everyone thought that would be a good idea. Patricia will put it on the agenda for the next time the SILC meets in Denver (January, 2009).
Judy indicated that State Personnel is taking applications to begin the process. Update on Center recertification visits- All but one of the CILs recertification visits are complete. The last one to be done is the Center for People with Disabilities (CPWD) in Boulder. Judy thanked all the SILC members who have participated. Their help was invaluable. Judy now has a good idea of the types of technical assistance and training that the CILs could benefit from and will be offering that to any CIL that is interested.
Status of NCIL travel for SILC members- All NCIL travel is set up and has been approved Judy announced that there had been a rearrangement of work within her unit. Joyce will be taking direction from Judy and the SILC was asked to work with Joyce directly ONLY on travel arrangements and reimbursements. All other requests should come to Judy so that she can reduce confusion and increase efficiency. Judy also indicated that she was putting together a meeting checklist to help Joyce with tracking all the details of a meeting from the putting out of the notice to the end of the meeting. Judy said that she would be putting out a SILC member preference survey to capture people’s preferences on rooms, meals, etc. She will be creating a folder on each member so that Joyce won’t have to ask each time.
Year to date budget- Kristie went through the update April Financial statement and explained the money situation. For the first time in a number of years, the SILC will have expended all of its dollars before running out of projects to fund. After explaining the figures, she reported that the Finance committee recommends the following priorities as we wait to see how much ACCIL will need of their training dollars and whether the website contractor can wait til July 1 to bill us. 1. Bringing new members to the June 12 meeting 2. Conducting a facilitated retreat at the June meeting 3. Sending SILC member(s) to the AT Partners Conference June 12-14.
Linda LaPointe moved that the priorities be accepted and Carol Hunter seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously. Kristie indicated that the Finance committee would make decisions by May 30 based on the information available at that time. Judy and Joyce will be working on getting the June meeting costs nailed down. The SILC agreed to have the Finance committee make the final decision since the next Executive Committee won’t be held until June 5.
Faith talked about the need for a retreat as the last productive one was held in 03-04. This will not be a full blown strategic planning retreat but one for visioning, creating a new mission statement and guiding values for the organization. Our logo/branding contractor is looking for this information to produce our logo. His work is to be finished by June 30.
Linda Taylor moved that, if funds are available, the June meeting should be devoted to the strategic focus work that the SILC needs to accomplish. Terrance Turner seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously.
Carol Hunter asked for a list of abbreviations and their full names. Judy indicated this was a project she hoped to do this summer. SILC coordinator report Website update- working to reach contractor at CPWD Patricia Asked the website contractor to remove any other logos and use the Colorado state flag colors now Pictures of SILC members did not turn out well Someone will come to take pictures at June SILC meeting Bios will go up- Patricia still need a few more bios to be done- Bios still needed from Linda T, Larry, and new members The website contractor has information about catchments areas The Website is being Populated with some data The goal will be for SILC members to be able to go to website to pick up board packet for the meeting Logo update-we have a person out of corporate world and specializes in branding and portraying what the entity does, but there are some questions that need to be answered 1) Who are we- 2)what is our name, 3) who is our primary customer, 4) who is our secondary customer 5) what is our message The contractor Should have something by June 30, he plans to have a Logo, a business card, letter head, and a template for an issue brief so we will be able to send something to legislators, and it will be clear it is from the SILC, So we will stand out and give us an identity
Patricia passed around some examples of logos from other SILCs and some we have already reviewed Patricia is working with CILs to set up Colorado AT network- to hire someone who is 55 or older with disability to coordinate the AT network in the Centers AT partners will be hub and provide training It will pay Minimum wage and will be an 18-24 month position Should be able to model across the country- this will knit the centers together in ways they are not currently working together.
Area agency on aging is also participating Patricia’s plan- would like to hire someone to help with SILC activities Patricia’s Contract goes until Sept 30 and she will extend it if she can hire this support person. This person will do minutes for committee meetings- and possibly could do minutes for the SILC meetings. This person will also set up meetings and do research Committee Reports SILC member snapshot 4/08 Presented snapshot-This snapshot was sent to all SILC members - Attached
Corrections: legal center is an advocacy program- Faith would like to be listed under the advocacy section of membership
3 present members who have terms that will expire Oct 2008
Terrance is not able to reapply Georgeanna is able to reapply Bill Aceves- is questionable as to whether he will or should reapply
Must have a majority with disabilities- we need at least 1 more to meet the goal Tech Act person has applied- Project 121 is required- we have made an effort to get representation but no one has applied Committee has been working on recruiting and have several good possibilities
Pat and Patricia have interviewed Billy Allen from Colorado Springs- is deaf and is very interested in applying- he has history with NCIL, other SILCs etc
Received Hope Crouse’s application- person with a disability from Ft. Morgan- and will be interviewed
Mental health consume has shown interest in applying
Jan Ward(person with a disability) has submitted her application- need to schedule telephone interview
Would like to recruit someone with a youth background
We still are not getting ethnic diversity with these potential applicants
We need to go to a Latino and African American organization to appeal for recruits
Report on slate of officers
The membership committee also has the assignment of acting as the nominating committee. Pat Going and Patricia worked on the slate of officers. Patricia explained that the process was that a slate would be announced and nominations would be taken from the floor. Anyone wishing to nominate themselves or others could do so at that time. The vote will take place at the June meeting. The nominations would take place a little later in this meeting. The slate of officers so far include Larry will opt out as chair Debbie Petersen will serve as chair if elected Linda Lapointe- chair elect Krisitie will continue as treasurer Secretary is vacant- Faith- will serve as past chair
Georgeanna expressed an interest in running for secretary
Letter for HB 1356- Tenant rights act- this committee sent a letter of support of this bill to senate state affairs committee, Faith reports it has been passed and is sitting on Governor’s desk-Faith took the letter personally and testified in support of the bill- authors appreciated support from the SILC No indication that Gov. Ritter will veto the bill Other issues SB 165- codification of Govs council for people with disabilities create a funding pool for members of that committee Members did not get enough responses to send a letter Faith reports that it has passed Increased funds to $9000 for members to travel etc This will be a sister council to SILC- and can work together to meet some of the needs- This will be a good council to support Update on voting- Faith reported SB 189 would have required voting be done using paper- with 1 accessible machine but it did die Some counties are going to paper i.e. Denver will be paper voting with All voting machines have been certified Faith is encouraging people with visible disabilities show up and to vote on machines for accessibility, privacy and independence Anticipate 40 ballot issues this could be very difficult for those with a disability to vote Colorado is a swing state- and target for both parties- Polling place accessibility- has been taken seriously – Secy of state Coffman has focused on polling place accessibility Faith is Asking CILs to work with county clerks to ensure accessibility Faith Will be doing some accessibility audits Faith working Assisted Living Facilities (ALFs) Permanent mail in ballot- options Faith is encouraging some esp. in ALFs to use this option- esp. since the ballot is so complicated Other issues- Legislators are not in session- no other issues at this time Linda T. says public policy will look at state plan and be able to make recommendations about bills that might be related to IL, and priorities listed in the state plan We need responses from the SILC members to move forward with plans to write letters etc
Presented with budget information We are covering exec committee information during this meeting and committee reports- The minutes were sent to all SILC members DVR reps were not present during this discussion Met on Tuesday reviewed goals and objectives Reviewed progress Two topics were discussed 1- Did not get funding for needs assessment- Larry Williams Director of the Pueblo center and David Bolin Dir. Of Boulder center How would centers react to taking funds from training ($8000) for a needs assessment- they were positive about this possibility, maybe there would be Grant money to fund the remainder for the cost for the needs assessment- the budget asked for $50000-
2- Centers have approached Patricia about communication between Division of VR and centers 3 things related to the Division of Vocational rehabilitation and the centers 1. changed employment contracts last year without much communication to centers- 2. stopped employment contracts this year, 3. Cut Part B funds (funds for CILCS) due to an error this year and did not tell centers- until contracts were received
Patricia proposed that the SILC write a letter addressing the fact that we are seeing a pattern and letter would address improving communication between DVR and centers- letter would go to Nancy Smith indicating that it should not be a paternalistic communication pattern but more of a partnership Division issue- this communication issues was not Judy’s issue- Judy has had good communication with SILC and centers
Faith reports that Rehab act says DVR and centers should be equal partners in IL world
This is not a unique problem in Colorado
We need to advocate for the centers and Ensure a working relationship Philosophical issue- can centers be viewed as partners and not subcontractors under a thumb
ACCIL would like to be in partnership with DVR to request more money for the centers- Would like DVR to back them in requesting more money
Patrician is Proposing submit two letters to Nancy Smith 1. regarding communication 2. advocate for DVR to partner with ACCIL to ask for additional General Funds to provide IL services
There was a lengthy discussion regarding these two issues:
Kristy suggested the letter re: communication should include some remedies – i.e. monthly meetings Georgeanna thinks our role is not to make suggestions- we should not be solving the problem SILC is a partner also- Linda L- suggested the letter include the questions how can we help let us know how you might fix it We have an expectation that this will be fixed Solution goal will be to improve communication between both DVR and CILs we are aware of this problem- Clarification-ACCIL provider organization for CILs ACCIL does not have ongoing communication with DVR ACCIL was making calls related to employment contracts to DVR but there was no communication Linda has taken info from SILC to ACCIL Responsibilities how to respond to each other
Kristie Braaten made a motion to compose a letter addressed to ACCIL and DVR letting them know that we are aware of communication issues impacting persons with disability asking them to address those issues with the goal of better outcomes and partnerships Amy Allred seconded the motion Georgeanna amended the motion: SILC will formulate a letter to ACCIL and DVR indicating there are communication issues. Kristie B and Amy A accepted the amendment- Linda L moved to accept the amended motion. All were in favor, there were none opposed Linda T abstained from the vote Patricia will write the letter
Patricia recommended Another letter be written: Georgeanna made a motion that a second letter be written by the SILC addressed to both parties indicating that we support joint advocacy for increased funding for IL services. Carol seconded the motion Linda T- clarified the plan: ACCIL will go to legislature next year to show how they are under funded and ask for general fund $ they are not going after DVRs budget ACCIL wants DVR to support and stand at the table with them
All were in favor there were none opposed and Linda T. abstained from the vote
Linda T. presented the ACCIL 704 report- due in December Annual report from each center Went to legislature last year to show how funded and how funds were flowing Paid on a Per head basis per month Formula to determine CILCS funding service to 300 people paid for 55 Raising new funds to provide services Some Fee For Service categories come from DVR Want to demonstrate to the government that we Save money when keep out of nursing homes
Judy reviewed services and funds last year and found it cost $650/yr to serve a consumer and Govt. funds were paying for less than 40% of what it cost If the state wants all counties served- they need to know that more funds would be needed
We can prove that the IL services saves money does not just spend money. ACCIL reports that centers are serving 5732 consumers and these numbers are low because not all services are counted- referral is not included in the numbers this is not paid for but is an expectation of part C money- only 6 centers get part C funding
Centers with larger budgets provide home health services
Faith appreciated this ACCIL report- it has never been available before
There is an effort for CILs , AT partners and AAA to work together to support AT services Old Business Patricia reviewed the proposed bylaws- All SILC members received a copy of the proposed bylaws prior to the meeting Georgeanna recommended 2 changes 1. Item J on page 1 –Georgeanna asked that the wording be changed for clarity we will not change the wording as this is directly from the Rehab Act 2. Georgeanna was concerned that a membership maximum is not defined- There is no need to include this in the bylaws as it is established by executive order that the maximum is 23 but the Federal Law has no maximum stated Terrance made a motion to approve the bylaws as presented and Carol seconded the motion There was No further discussion All were in favor there were none opposed No members abstained from the vote New Business Reviewing the draft memo of understanding (MOU) Patricia sent out the first draft of a MOU between the DVR and SILC that will delineate each other’s roles and ensure autonomy for the SILC. This will be taken up again in September but she wanted to get feedback from the members. Carol indicated that we may want to look for a stronger instrument as in her experience parties can abandon an MOU with no consequence. Faith and several others indicated that the MOU system is respected and used widely at DVR. However everyone agreed there had to be a range of effective dates and suggested a five year clause for renegotiation and renewal. It was suggested that that discussion occur several months before the end of the contract. Setting next year’s meeting dates Faith reviewed the document of previous years’ meeting locations and dates. The group agreed on meeting 6 times a year with no meetings during July or August and two meetings back to back in May and June. The locations and the months were approved by consensus. However, there was a request to change the day from Thursday to Wednesday. The SILC Coordinator is teaching on Tuesdays and Thursdays this fall and ACCIL has asked the SILC to move to Wednesdays as one of its members has a board meeting on that third Wednesday night. ACCIL meets the day before the SILC meeting to reduce the costs of travel for the ACCIL rep to the SILC. There was quite a discussion with the upshot being that Faith asked Patricia to send out an email with all the options and let the members vote. Also included in all of this was a request that the SILC meet on the second week of September as ACCIL has scheduled its two day retreat on Wednesday and Thursday of the third week in September. This would affect three SILC members.
Call for nominations Faith opened the floor for nominations for board officers. Georgeanna Chapman asked to be considered for Board Secretary. No other nominations were made. DVR request for SILC staff Judy reviewed the events leading up to Patricia and Faith making a decision to go ahead and let the DVR make a request to the Department of Human Services for two positions for the SILC, Executive Director and a full time Administrative Assistant. In addition the Division is willing to assume the overhead for an office, equipment etc. This request could be pulled at any time but there was a deadline for an answer so that the Division could mover forward with the request. As it turned out, the request for SILC staff never made it out of the Department. However, the door is open for the SILC to approach the Governor about this.
DVR has been in process of revising state rules- related to the administrative procedure act Changed burden of proof in impartial hearings SRC opposed the changes 5/2 with DVR exec committee- but DVR will follow rules and determine who should have the burden of proof Now clients will have burden of proof
Faith commented that it is Important to note that the SRC took action with DVR- SRC is to be a partner with DVR and this is a significant steps
Judy reports that there were no IL rules changes with the state rule changes that recently occurred.
Public meetings- original plan to have 4 hearings for state plan but now will put on line between 5/15 and June 30 Jeff will get out to SILC when he knows were it can be found on line 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
Margaret Elrich- State housing authority- Linda reports that housing has come up in every needs assessment for ILs to keep people in heir homes or get them out of NHs We need to get creative to provide Affordable accessible housing Margaret handed out some information about the program in GJ Housing is tough for the elderly and disabled Program in GJ has housing advocate 2% vacancy rate- limited 1 bedrooms available Working with HUD to get fair market rents higher but have not been successful only got 8% increase National trust fund for housing trying to get set up 4 cents RE transfer tax for every $100 for housing help rehabilitate housing- trying get these funds
1000 people on waiting list in GJ now
Housing authority has 20 accessible properties out of 400- but there are limited funds and no real mechanism to modify properties. To make places accessible.
There are other private entities who are developing accessible properties
Patricia asked What do we need to do as SILC? Need centers to help find housing for people with disabilities But can only find them if they are available- review information handed out and impress on legislators that we need help and funding to build accessible and affordable housing “what you can do” section in hand out Faith recommends we consider this as a summer advocacy project and it may need an issues brief.
Linda reports that Larry is working on a grant for making housing accessible and the language says it would not be reversed if person moved out with the goal to increase the resources for accessible housing. Cannot use these funds in GJ, every city is different
SILC encouraged Margaret to consider the next time brochures are printed to include w/c accessible information Speakers/Education Setting the framework for how the SILC could do advocacy- will table There was a review of the issues around the SILC getting is own 501 C 3 but so little money is available to the SILC that it does not seem possible with out the SILC offering a service and competing with the CILS in fundraising activities. Patricia will be producing a white paper on the issue of whether or not to go for a non profit status or stay loosely in the department.
The meeting adjourned at 2:45 to go visit the Center for Independence-Grand Junction. Georgeanna made the motion to adjourn and Terrance seconded it.
Several SILC members visited the Center for Independence in Grand Junction