Minutes for April 8/9, 2004

Meeting Location:  Four Points Midway Sheraton, St. Paul

Present:  Lois Johnson, Karen Larson, Sharon Johnson, Ann Zick, Linda Lingen, Bryan Jensen, Phyllis Coppess, Roseann Faber, William Bauer, Bradley Westerlund, Mary Pennington, David Hancox.

Absent:  Mark Eggen (excused).

April 8 Planning Meeting

Call to order, Introductions: The April 8, 2004 SPIL planning meeting of the Statewide Independent Living Council (SILC) was called to order at 9:00 a.m. by Lois Johnson, chairperson. Introductions followed.

Approval of February 2004 Minutes and April 8 Agenda: Lois Johnson called for revisions to the February 12, 2004 minutes. There were no requests for amendments, and the minutes were approved as written. The chairperson called for additions to the April 8 agenda. There were no requests and the agenda was approved as written.

Letter to Four Points Sheraton:  Lois Johnson reviewed a letter to the general manager of the Four Points Midway Sheraton requesting the addition of braille labels and raised numbers on the doors of the guest rooms. Karen Larson moved, Sharon Johnson seconded, that the letter be mailed as written. There was no discussion and the motion carried.

2003-2004 SILC Appointments: William Bauer reported that he received copies of twelve SILC applications for the 2003 and 2004 appointments. Coincidentally, there are twelve vacancies. He reported to the council that Governor Pawlenty's appointment secretary advised him that the 2003-2004 SILC appointments can be expected around the end of April.

Review of Draft FFY 2005-2007 SPIL: The remainder of the April 8 meeting was spent reviewing the draft of the new SPIL's attachment one. There were recommendations for revisions, but no substantial changes to the draft. The recommended revisions will be made, and this final draft will be submitted to all SILC and DSU members.

David Hancox expressed his displeasure with the $500,000 State IL and Title VII Part C base funding limit for Centers under the "Expansion of the IL Network" section of the 2005-2007 SPIL. William Bauer commented that states having established base funding levels have not exceeded $250,000. Mr. Bauer questioned Minnesota's ability to ever open new Centers should the base funding level be raised with each new SPIL. Mr. Bauer concluded that the established $500,000 base did not include other public and private funds that Centers may secure, nor the Federal dollars to be generated for the Centers under the RSB memorandum of understanding.

Adjournment:  The April 8 meeting adjourned at 2:30 p.m.

April 9 Business Meeting

Present: Lois Johnson, Karen Larson, Mary Pennington, David Hancox, William Bauer, Bradley Westerlund, Phyllis Coppess, Roseann Faber, Bryan Jensen, Sharon Johnson, Ann Zick.

Absent: Linda Lingen (excused), Mark Eggen (excused).

Call to order: Lois Johnson called the April 9 business meeting of the SILC to order at 9:00 a.m. Introductions followed.

Revisions to the April 9 Agenda:  Bryan Jensen asked that the tabled matter concerning overnight accommodations be added to the agenda. There were no further additions, and the agenda was approved as revised.

State Rehabilitation Council Report: Lois Johnson reported that the RSB-IL bill is receiving strong support from the legislature and Governor Pawlenty. She announced that there is no new State funds budgeted for VR at this time. It appears that no one will be going off the VR waiting list this fiscal year. There are about 4000 people at this time awaiting VR services. There is a hiring freeze in place and a downsizing is anticipated for the Workforce Centers. VR presently has 290 field workers and 180 counselors. A "hay study" is in the works, which reviews job descriptions to determine accuracy and whether the pay scale is appropriate.

Bryan Jensen asked if the SRC minutes are on the web. William Bauer stated it was his belief that the SRC minutes are on the branch's internal web-site.

State Rehabilitation Council for the Blind Report: Roseann Faber announced that the April 1 meeting of the SRCB included eight committee reports, several annual reports as well as her own annual report on senior services. She reported that with SSB's moved to the "tier" approach to services, data are not collected as they once were, which makes it difficult to determine whether consumers received all of the services needed. In that the median age of senior services consumers is eighty-five, the question is whether it is necessary to continually survey and gather data on these consumers.

As to upcoming activities, the SRCB will be studying how SSB is providing technology and the requisite training for consumers. Also under consideration is under which circumstances will assistance be provided for those consumers who are starting their own small businesses.

Ms. Faber commented that there were few people in the audience for the April 1 SRCB meeting due to the bus strike. The SRCB will be sending a letter encouraging both sides to return to the bargaining table. The next meeting of the SRCB is June 3.

Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities Report: Ann Zick reported that The DD Council met on Wednesday, April 7, 2004.

The Office of the Legislative Auditor presented their findings and recommendations from the Home and Community Based Waiver program evaluation to the Public Policy Committee. The Committee also received a state legislative update from Anne Henry and Steve Larson.

The Grant Review Committee awarded several grants for training conferences, local self advocacy, and a statewide coordinating effort.

Vivian Jenkins-Nelsen from Inter-Race ( Augsburg College), Pastor La from Jordan New Life Community, and several guests reviewed the findings from Vivian's work in the Jordan neighborhood (north Minneapolis). Vivian conducted focus groups and several interviews as part of a one year planning grant funded by the Administration on Developmental Disabilities. The planning grant is to create a one-stop center for Family Support in the most unserved and underserved area in Minnesota. Everyone who participated shared what could be offered to the Jordan neighborhood in terms of resources and expertise.

Overnight Accommodations:  The chairperson read aloud the February minutes on the matter of overnight accommodations for SILC members with disabilities who reside within fifty miles of a meeting location. In the past, the practice has been to provide overnight accommodations for such members when transportation was the issue, or when inclement weather made travel hazardous. Discussion followed, and the consensus was that hotel rooms under those circumstances were reasonable accommodations. Karen Larson moved, Phyllis Coppess seconded, that SILC members would abide by the by-laws, but if disability-related circumstances prevailed, SILC members were to contact William Bauer to determine if the request for an overnight stay was reasonable; Mr. Bauer will contact the SILC's Executive Committee at his discretion. There was no discussion and the motion carried unanimously.

Review and Discussion of the 2004 MACIL Proposal: Lois Johnson stated that everyone on the council received a copy of this proposal which requested $40,000 in Part B funds for the Minnesota Association of Centers for Independent Living to hire an executive director. David Hancox explained that the role of this executive director would be to serve as the eyes and ears at meetings such as the CCD. Questions were raised as to why an additional person was required when IL generally had one or more Center representatives at such meetings. Mr. Hancox answered that many organizations and associations had one person speaking on behalf of the entire group. The chairperson stated that the SILC's Part B dollars are going to Olmstead implementation for Federal Fiscal Years 2005-2007. Karen Larson moved, Sharon Johnson seconded, that the MACIL proposal be denied due to lack of funding. A discussion followed which concluded that the SILC made no promise to review and consider a similar proposal at some future date. The motion carried with David Hancox abstaining.

FFY 2005-2007 SPIL Review:  Karen Larson read aloud the proposed Attachment Two line-item figures for the SILC's FFY 2005-2007 budget. There were no disputes on either the SILC's operating budget or the training and evaluation budgets, and Attachment Two was approved by consensus.

CIL Report: David Hancox reported that both the House and Senate have heard testimony on the IL legislation which uses State IL dollars for Title I matching. These additional Federal dollars will be divided fifty-fifty between the VR and the eight Centers. This arrangement has been positively received by the State Legislature and the Governor. It has been reported that this bill will have no problems getting through.

Both the Kiscaden and the Abler reports were submitted. The Kiscaden report identified the DEED Mou. The Abler report provided some valuable information, and displayed the diversity among the participating organizations, and why co-location was not feasible.

William Bauer reported on Joan Wislshire's and David Schwartzkopf's appointments as executive director and president, respectively, of the State Council on Disability.

Announcements, Issues, Correspondence: Bryan Jensen announced that he would be attending the NCIL Conference at his own expense; i.e., he will not be representing the MN SILC. MiCASSA is the primary topic of this year's NCIL Conference.

Next Meeting, Adjournment: The next SILC meeting will be May 13-14 at the Best Western Hotel, Marshall. The first day is training, and the second is a business meeting. Lois Johnson reminded all SILC members to advise Brad Westerlund ASAP when they would be arriving and whether they'd be in attendance both days. The April 9 meeting adjourned at 11:30 a.m.