Meeting Minutes for October 11 , 2007

Meeting Location: Four Points Sheraton, Minneapolis

Present: Larry Lura, Roberta Cich, Ann Zick, Judy Sanders, Connie Lee Berg, Julia Washenberger, David Sherwood-Gabrielson, Brad Westerlund, Gail Lundeen, Linda Lingen, and Hulet Sherry.

Absent: Mark Eggen (Excused), Vicki Dalle Molle (Excused) and Barbara Chromy.

Guests: David Hancox, and Ann Roscoe.

Approval of September Minutes and October Agenda

Roberta asked if there were any revisions to the September 2007 minutes. Hulet Sherry was listed as absent, but not as excused. On Pg. 5 of the September minutes, it should be noted that Vicki Dalle Molle nominated Julia Washenberger for Secretary. Also, under the announcements section, Judy Sanders indicated that the SSB library has a new name, and will be called the Minnesota Braille and Talking Book Library.

Judy Sanders moved, and Julia Washenberger seconded that the September minutes be approved as corrected. There was no discussion and the motion carried.

The chair next asked for additions to the October 2007 agenda. Ann Zick asked to add time for a review of the Executive committee meeting that was held on September 26th. Time will be added under the SPIL review.

Judy moved, and Ann seconded to approve the October agenda as revised.

SPIL 2008-2010 Update

Roberta discussed the executive committee meeting that took place on September 26th. The SILC and the DSU met to discuss the proposed language changes in Objective A1, strategies A1.1 through A1.4. There were no real substantive changes. These changes were approved by the DSU, and required SILC approval prior to submission. During this meeting it was decided that the SILC executive committee agreed with the proposed changes, and approved them as written. Ann moved, and Judy seconded to approve the revised FFY 2008 SPIL.

Roberta announced that RSA has approved the FFY 2008-2010 SPIL. Roberta stated that she was concerned about the language describing advocacy related to the educating of legislators. Ann discussed her concern with whether or not council members were o.k. with the action taken on approving the changes made to the SPIL. Discussion followed.

Brad read through the language changes that were made to the SPIL. Discussion followed. Brad indicated that copies of the approved SPIL were on the table, and that the approved SPIL will be added to the SILC website.

DEED-RS Update

David S-G reported on the status of a planned Rehabilitation Services collaboration with the Minnesota Centers for Independent Living that was part of the 3-22-07 agreement between DEED/RS and MACIL.

Sherwood-Gabrielson provided the Council with the 10/11/07 draft Request for Proposal (RFP) that was sent to Center Directors and that was shared with the Council, inviting feedback and comments before the RFP is finalized. (Available upon request) This proposal calls for collaboration between the local Vocational Rehabilitation office and Centers for Independent Living to meet the unmet need of mutual clients – consumers who will need both VR and IL services to achieve their goals for living and working in the community. These grants, funded with Social Security Administration Program Income dollars will be three years in duration. The time table for this DEED/RS-IL collaboration is: RFP available 10/17/07; proposals due 11/2/07. The goal is to have the funding decisions made by 11/9/07 with contracts in place and funding available by 12/2/07.

Although the primary responsibility for these grants is with the Independent Living Centers and Rehabilitation Services, the SILC can be of assistance by providing comment and evaluation during the SILCs annual on-site and monitoring meetings with the Independent Living Centers.

Hotel Accessibility

Hulet Sherry discussed her concerns with the lack of accessibility in hotels in Minnesota. Hulet stated that she feels some sort of advisory group needs to be developed, that could deal with accessibility issues in hotels. Hulet stated that hotels do not clearly know what it means to be accessible, and are not held to the same standards.

The general consensus of the SILC was that the hotel industry does not have an adequate sense of what constitutes disability access. Hulet stated that hotels should be required to follow the same guidelines. Hotels need to learn what it means to be disabled. Members suggested that Sherry contact the Minnesota State Council on Disability to see if they know of any efforts in this arena.

Hulet Sherry moved and Ann seconded, that the SILC send a letter to the State Council on Disability, asking the SCD if there are any efforts currently underway that address hotel accessibility, and if so, the SILC is interested in supporting these efforts.

Committee Planning

The advocacy/outreach, finance, and education/training committee's met to discuss the tasks and timelines that have been identified under the FFY 2008-2010 SPIL.

Committee Reports

The committee's used this time to finish their discussions. Reports will be given from each committee at the November 8th, 2007 meeting.

SILC Congress 2008

Roberta informed the SILC that the 2008 SILC Congress will be held on January 25th through January 28th, 2008, and that the council needs to decide how many delegates to send. Discussion followed.

Connie Lee Berg moved, and Julia Washenberger seconded, that the MN SILC send four delegates to the SILC Congress. All were in favor.

Roberta stated that Vicki Dalle Molle had expressed an interest in attending this year's congress. Roberta asked if there were any others that want to attend. Larry Lura, Judy Sanders, and Roberta indicated that they would like to attend. Ann Zick offered to be an alternate, if someone was not able to attend.

Roberta advised the members that will be attending the Congress that they need to submit a summary of the conference, to the SILC at the following meeting.

Brad informed members that he will submit conference registration forms for each person, and will also arrange for hotel accommodations. Members will be responsible for making their air travel arrangements.

Visitors' Comments

There were no visitor comments.

Announcements, Issues, Correspondence

David Hancox mentioned that the Annual Charlie Smith Banquet will be held on November 2nd, 2007, at the Black Bear Crossing. The purpose of this event is to acknowledge and honor the work of Charlie Smith, and to also award someone with the Charlie Smith Award.

David also talked about the "Can Do" meetings that will be held across the state. (See attached bulletin) Gail Lundeen stated that information from these meetings could be used as part of a need assessment.

Discussion followed regarding reimbursement for SILC attendance at these meetings. Ann moved and Judy seconded, that the SILC reimburse for mileage to attend the meeting in your area. All were in favor.

Pathways to Employment is sponsoring a transportation & employment dialogue on November 7th at the Department of Health, 1645 Energy Park Drive from 9 to 3:30.

Next Meeting, Adjournment

The next meeting of the SILC will be November 8, 2007 from nine a.m. to three p.m. at the Four Points Sheraton Minneapolis. Judy moved to adjourn, Ann seconded. The meeting adjourned at 3:30 p.m.