Minutes for August 14, 2003

Meeting Location:  Four Points Midway Sheraton, St. Paul

Present:  Lois Johnson, Karen Larson, Mark Eggen, Janiece Duffy, RoseAnn Faber, David Hancox, Bryan Jensen, Sharon Johnson, Mary Pennington, Ann Zick, Linda Lingen, William Bauer, Bradley Westerlund.

Absent:  Phyllis Coppess (excused), Clarence Jones.

Guests: Lance Hegland, Alan Augustin.

Call to Order:  The August 14, 2003 meeting of the Statewide Independent Living Council (SILC) was called to order at 9:00 a.m. by Lois Johnson, chairperson. Introductions of council members and guest followed.

Approval of June Minutes and August Agenda:  There was a misspelling of a name in the June minutes. Sharon moved, Mark seconded, that the June minutes be approved as revised. The motion carried. Time was requested for a presentation by Alan Augustin, and the request was granted by the chair. Mark moved, Sharon seconded, that the agenda be approved as revised. The motion carried.

State Rehabilitation Council Update:   Lois Johnson reported that she was unable to attend the last SRC meeting. Once she receives the minutes from the SRC meeting, she will update the council.

State Rehabilitation Council for the Blind Update:  RoseAnn Faber reported that the last meeting of the SRCB was August seventh. The SRCB is also awaiting the 03 appointments. It is planned that new SRCB members will include representatives from several advocacy organizations. Chuk Hamilton continues to serve as acting director of State Services for the Blind (SSB). During the August meeting, information was distributed advising members on which committees they will be serving. The next meeting of the SRCB is October first.

Developmental Disabilities Council Update:  Ann Zick reported that the DD Council met on August sixth, 2003 and reaffirmed the five year plan's goals and objectives. The DD Council also allocated funding for grants and contracts to fulfill the five year plan.
Jody Hauer of the Office of the Legislative Auditor presented a study design of the management of the home and community based waiver. If anyone has a comment or concern about the waiver, Jody is willing to take your comments. She can be reached at jody.hauer@state.mn.us, or you can call (651) 296-8501.

The program portion of the August meeting was a presentation by Peter Zenner who is the designer of the online learning courses. Peter's team has developed a 6 hour self-contained module on how to get employment from the viewpoint of a person with a disability and/or the family. Beta testing will occur in the next several weeks and then the product will be released.

A survey has just been completed of all Partners programs and there are now over 10,000 graduates. New programs will be starting in New Zealand, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland this fall.

MACIL Update:  David Hancox yielded his time to Alan Augustin, SMILES executive director, who was present to deliver a request from the Minnesota Association of Centers for Independent Living.

In brief, MACIL requested an amendment to the FFY 2002-2004 SPIL regarding the distribution of State IL dollars that are to be restored during state fiscal years 06-07 ($150,000 annually). The issue being that these restored dollars should not be treated as "new" State dollars and distributed in accordance with the SPIL.

William Bauer advised Mr. Augustin that the SILC has no authority over State IL dollars in accordance with the Rehabilitation Act, and that the sections of the SPIL concerning state IL dollars are designed and written solely by the DSU. He stated that he understood the Centers' concerns, and that it was his plan to include language in the 05-07 SPIL ensuring that the restored State IL dollars are distributed in accordance with the amount lost in 04 by each Center, and that these restored dollars would not be viewed as "new" dollars. He stated that he would include language to that effect in the SPIL for FFY 2005-2007. Discussion followed, and the question was raised as to whether this restoration of lost State funds was to occur during fiscal years 05-06, or 06-07. The matter was tabled while David Hancox returned to his office to obtain a copy of the legislative language.

IL Needs Survey Report:  Steve Scholl reported that the statewide IL needs survey was completed in June. The survey took somewhat longer to complete than anticipated due to the number of cold calls that had to be placed to interview the required number of participants. See the attached preliminary findings report for information concerning this survey. Upon reviewing this attachment, council members and CIL directors are asked to e-mail or phone William Bauer regarding survey areas on which they would like additional information.

Continuation of Discussion Regarding the Restoration of State IL dollars:  It was confirmed that the restoration of $300,000 of State IL funds will not begin until fiscal year 2006. David moved, Karen seconded, that language be included in the FFY 2005-2007 SPIL returning these "restored" dollars in proportion to the amount lost by each Center in fiscal year 04. There was no further discussion and the motion carried with one abstention.

ACT Grant Report:  Mary Kay Kennedy and Rick Cardenas, co-directors of Advocating for Change Together, provided a report on the "Youth Leadership" grant. Three school districts; Brooklyn Center, St. Paul and Fridley; are participating. ACT has been working closely with these schools to determine what is important to them to better facilitate youth participation in the program.

It was reported that the accessibility and cultural groups sections of the curriculum are not completed. The parts of the curriculum that are complete are, "I Know Myself" which assists children and youth with disabilities in learning about themselves and instills an element of disability pride without stating as much. Section two is, "I Possess What it Takes to be a Leader," with the goal of establishing self-esteem under differing qualifiers. This section also discusses Ed Roberts. Section three of the curriculum is, "I Know about the Laws that Effect Me." Laws such as IDEA and the ADA are explained at the grassroots level. It was reported that this was the most difficult section to write because these complex laws have to be explained at a ten-year-old's level of comprehension. Section four is, "I am Assertive," which introduces youth to three styles of communication and demonstrates assertive, aggressive and passive behaviors. Section five, "I have Feelings," addresses emotions and acknowledgement of these emotions. Section six, "I can Make Decisions," identifies a decision that each participant will make in the future and utilizes a "decision tree" in making the decision. Section seven is titled, "I can Work with Others," which teaches how to be cooperative and the results of cooperation. Teamwork is stressed under this section. Section eight, "I can get the Help I Need," identifies people who can assist participants to get needed help. Section nine, "I can Set a Goal for Myself," requires a student to set a goal that he/she can attain in two months and the steps necessary to attain the goal. The final section is a celebration of goal attainment.

The curriculum is designed to fit into regular school sessions in fifty minute classes for ten weeks. Teachers, not ACT, provide the instruction, and all that a teacher requires is a copy machine. ACT staff can provide assistance to the teachers, but the preference is for faculty members to teach these classes. David Hancox complimented ACT's work on this program, and commented that this was a polished version of MCIL's curriculum. Mary Kay Kennedy stated that the entire curriculum will be completed next week, but has not yet been piloted. The curriculum will be available for the upcoming school year. The curriculum may be adapted for adults or other groups. Copies of the curriculum will be sent to the eight Centers. David Hancox applauded the SILC for funding this sort of systems change project. It was noted that the Brooklyn Center school will be applying the curriculum as a social studies course.

Visitors' Comments: Lance Hegland thanked the council for having him as a guest. He stated that he became interested in IL while residing in a nursing home and attempting to find resources to return to community living.

SILC Election of Officers:  Lois Johnson reminded the SILC that nominations and elections of officers is scheduled for September; however, due to the delay in the 2003 appointments to the council, she stated that she would entertain a motion to delay the elections. Sharon Johnson moved, David Hancox seconded, that the 2003 election of officers be postponed until the governor's new appointments are made and the membership is stabilized. There was no discussion and the motion carried. Lois Johnson asked the current executive committee members; Janiece Duffy, Karen Larson, Mark Eggen; to continue to hold their offices until the next elections. All agreed to do so. Lois Johnson will continue to serve as the SILC's chairperson.

Committee Reports: The SPIL Committee had no report.

Sharon Johnson reported for the Education and Advocacy Committee. The committee will be seeking someone from the Quality Assurances Commission for a future training. The committee will contact Carol Turner for a September training on Senior Friends of Duluth. The committee will be reviewing education and advocacy goals and objectives for the new SPIL in September. David Hancox asked if waiver services would be a future training topic, and recommended that Tom Brick be contacted to speak to the council.

Janiece reported on the Finance Committee's activities. All fiscal year 03 grant funds were spent. Several of the 04 applications are in; applications must be postmarked by August 16, 2003. A new financial spreadsheet will be developed for the Finance Committee for FFY 04.

Issues, Correspondence, Announcements:  William Bauer reminded everyone of the SILC's formatting by-law; specifically, no print materials shall be distributed during any SILC meeting that have not first been formatted and submitted to blind council members prior to the meeting. Sharon Johnson volunteered to develop a "to do" list for speakers and presenters.

Bryan Jensen commented on the "dollars follow the person" issue.

David Hancox announced that ILICIL will be conducting its annual meeting on August 26. Contact Cara Ruff if you're interested in attending.

Lois Johnson commented on the upbeat attitudes she's encountered during the Center monitorings and on-site reviews.

Lois Johnson also announced that she will be unable to attend the September 11 meeting; thus, Karen Larson will serve as chair for the next meeting.

Next Meeting, Adjournment:  The next meeting of the SILC will be September 11, 2003 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Four Points Midway Sheraton, St. Paul. The August meeting adjourned at 2:50 p.m.