Minutes for June 10, 2004

Meeting Location: Four Points Sheraton Midway, St. Paul

Present:  Lois Johnson, Karen Larson, Roseann Faber, David Hancox, Linda Lingen, William Bauer, Bradley Westerlund.

Absent: Sharon Johnson (excused), Ann Zick (excused), Mary Pennington (excused), Bryan Jensen (excused), Mark Eggen, Phyllis Coppess.

Guests: Steve Scholl.

Call to order: The June 10, 2004 meeting of the Statewide Independent Living Council (SILC) was called to order at 9:00 a.m. by Lois Johnson, SILC chairperson. Introductions followed.

Approval of May 13-14 Minutes and June 10 Agenda: Lois Johnson called for revisions to the May minutes. There were none, and the minutes were approved as written. As to additions to the June agenda, Linda Lingen requested time to conduct a brainstorming session for FFY 2005 training topics. Lois Johnson added this to the agenda after visitor comments. There were no further requests for revisions, and the June 10 agenda was approved as revised by consensus.

State Rehabilitation Council for the Blind Report:  Roseann Faber reported that the SRCB met last Thursday (June 3). Several SRCB committees are up, running and doing what they're supposed to do. One issue is what will be included in blindness training for newly hired counselors. A sub committee wrote a response to the training policy. There is concern that there is presently no training for working with people who are deaf-blind. The subcommittee is also recommending training at two different agencies; specifically, BLIND, Inc., and Vision Loss Resources, or Lighthouse for those counselors in the northern parts of the state. Subcommittee members also advised that some people have guide dogs and there is a protocol that must be recognized before working with those consumers.

Roseann Faber, Linda Lingen and William Bauer discussed some of the unique aspects of blindness.

CIL Report: David Hancox announced that the Paul and Sheila Wellstone Foundation named Cara Ruff, ILICIL executive director, as the recipient of the foundation's 2004 "Social Justice" award. SILC members extended their congratulations to Cara Ruff for being nominated and selected as the winner of this prestigious award.

The FFY 2004 DEED contracts with the eight Centers were amended (see chart following this report) and include payments of $10,000 per Center under the MOU. Mr. Hancox expressed his appreciation for this unique effort, and stated that this first MOU payment reflects the high level of cooperation between the DSU and the Centers.

David Hancox provided a brief review of the CMS grant to facilitate moving people with disabilities from nursing homes/institutions and into the community. To date under this grant, MCIL has assisted eight people with disabilities to relocate. Also under this grant, over 200 trainings on relocating into community living have been conducted with nursing home residents. The survey on affordable, accessible housing is now in its second round.

The Center directors will be conducting a retreat in July to determine a cost-savings amount from moving people out of nursing or other institutions, and preventing people from entering institutions. A cohesive definition of "prevented from entering" is required, and will be discussed during this retreat. William Bauer stated that this must be a definition that is set by all three partners; i.e., the SILC, DSU and the Centers. He added that a standard definition of "unserved and underserved" is necessary, and must also be determined by all three partners. David Hancox agreed and will bring these two matters to the attention of the other directors. William Bauer will contact Region V RSA to determine whether there are Federal parameters for establishing definitions of "prevented from entering" and "unserved/underserved."

CIL Contract Amendments: CIL amended contracts, which are effective July 1 through September 30, include State general operating funds and Part C dollars. Grant amounts per Center under these contract amendments are as follows:

Freedom State Operations $17,962 MOU $10,000 Part C $30,557 Total: $58,519

ILICIL State operations $35,560 MOU $10,000 Part C $30,556 Total: $76,116

Metro CIL State Operations $65,982 MOU $10,000 Part C 30,556 Total: $106,538

CILNM State Operations $35,560 MOU $10,000 Part C $30,556 Total: $76,116

Options State Operations $50,789 MOU $10,000 Part C $30,556 Total: $91,345

SWCIL State Operations $49,170 MOU $10,000 Part C $30,556 Total: $89,726

SMILES State Operations $27,057 MOU $10,000 Part C $30,557 Total: $67,614

SEMCIL State Operations $49,170 MOU $10,000 Part C $30,556 Total: $89,726

State Rehabilitation Council Report: Lois Johnson announced that Governor Pawlenty released the names of the 2003 and 2004 SRC appointments, which Ms. Johnson read to SILC members. The 2003-2004 SILC appointments are also expected to be announced this month.

The SRC has mailed its annual report to other councils and stakeholders. Bradley Westerlund provided print and formatted copies of this report to council members at the beginning of this June 10 SILC meeting. Lois Johnson commented that the one point on which all SRC members are in full agreement is that CIL services are critical to the attainment of vocational goals. She also commented that the SRC has added education/training as an agenda item -- something that the SILC has been doing for years.

The SRC discussed adding "visitors comments" to the agenda during regular meetings. This discussion resulted from a consumer's issues with a VR counselor. As the SILC does not get involved in the day-to-day operations of Centers, the SRC must maintain a "hands-off" approach as to the day-to-day decisions of counselors. During this meeting, a speaker from the Office of the Attorney General provided training on open meetings.

Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities Report: Due to Ann Zick's scheduled absence for a training, Colleen Wieck, DD Council executive director, submitted the following written report:

The Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities met on June 2, 2004.

William Bauer, IL Director and DEED-SILC liaison, attended the Public Policy Committee meeting and discussed the State Plan for Independent Living. The DD Council fully supports the top priority of Olmstead planning and implementation and will submit comments to Mr. Bauer.

Senator Dave Durenberger was our guest speaker and the DD Council invited

several guests to attend his presentation. Senator Durenberger presented the findings of the Minnesota Citizens Forum on Health Care Costs. He did an outstanding job in making the issues understandable and encouraged everyone to become involved in the discussion of health care issues especially for the 2005 Legislature.

The Council presented Senator Durenberger an original painting created by

an artist with a developmental disability. The painting of a loon will hang in Senator Durenberger's new office at the University of St. Thomas.

Statewide IL Needs Survey Final Report: As an introduction to the final written IL needs survey report, Dr. Steve Scholl discussed the survey sample which was a legitimate representation of the state. He explained the metro/non metro comparisons made in the final report and the validity of these comparisons.

Dr. Scholl discussed the conclusions reached in the final report. Questions and answers followed.

For a print, disc, or electronic copy of the 2003 MN IL Needs Survey Report, telephone William Bauer at (651) 296-5085, or (800) 328-9095, or e-mail your request to: william.bauer@state.mn.us

Visitor Comments: There were no visitor comments.

Group Committee Meeting: In that the SPIL Committee will be required to monitor and evaluate the FFY 2005-2007 SPIL's attainment of goals and objectives, Karen Larson recommended that the "action report" form be revised to clearly reflect those objectives in progress, and those attained. Bradley Westerlund and Karen Larson will work on this task.

Linda Lingen advised William Bauer to bring the FFY 2005-2007 SPIL to SSB on June 16 for signing. William Bauer stated that he received an excellent recommendation from the DD Council regarding the addition of "community integration activities" to goal one's objectives. There was a brief discussion in support of this revision, and the SILC concurred with this addition. Bauer reported that the FFY 2005-2007 SPIL public hearing was conducted on June 3, and that DEED's Commissioner Matt Kramer reviewed and approved the plan as written.

At this point, Lois Johnson announced that she would entertain a motion for her to sign the FFY 2005-2007 SPIL. Karen Larson so moved, and Roseann Faber seconded. There was no further discussion, and the motion carried unanimously.

As to SILC training topics for FFY 2005, the Education and Advocacy committee members in attendance suggested that a review of the Olmstead case is appropriate at some point early in FFY 2005. William Bauer agreed to conduct this review, and suggested that David Hancox be asked to provide the "nuts and bolts" of all that is involved in moving someone out of an institution and into the community.

William Bauer recommended that the SILC maintain its current orientation training agenda and, if the new members are appointed, that this training be offered in October on the Wednesday evening prior to the SILC's regular meeting. The Education and Advocacy Committee members agreed with this recommendation.

Karen Larson recommended that waivers again be a training topic in FFY 2005. She suggested that consumers may be appropriate trainers for this topic. She added that there are four waivers; thus, four consumer trainers could be recruited to discuss how they received their waivers, how well they are or are not working, and where would these consumers be without these waiver services.

Linda Lingen recommended that at least one SILC training on cultural diversity be offered during the upcoming Federal Fiscal Year; specifically, Hmong culture and how Hmong people view disability.

Roseann Faber suggested that past SILC trainings be reviewed to determine whether there are any topics that should be repeated.

SILC members were reminded that the Region Ten Quality Assurance program will be the training topic for the September meeting.

Announcements, Issues, Correspondence: Karen Larson stated that the new SPIL's goals and objectives will require careful monitoring, and she provided some examples of how the various activities could be broken down. She commented that the revision of the action minutes will decidedly assist the SILC to ensure that all objectives are progressing as planned.

William Bauer reported that he received a highly positive support letter from Colleen Wieck, executive director of the DD Council, regarding the FFY 2005-2007 SPIL. The letter ensured the DD Council's full support, assistance and willingness to collaborate with the SILC in all efforts to attain the plan's Olmstead objectives.

It was asked whether a response had been received to the SILC's April 2004 letter to the general manager of the Four Points Sheraton Midway. William Bauer reported that nothing had been received to date, and that he would follow-up on this letter. There was a brief discussion on what other hotels in St. Paul could be used for regular SILC meetings.

Karen Larson announced that the ARC state convention will be held on October 7 in Walker. In addition, the "People First" state convention will be held in St. Cloud on August 27. She also reported that the National Down Syndrome Congress will meet on August 20. Finally, she reported that her organization's "Reinventing Quality Conference" will be held in Philadelphia on August 8-10. She will be presenting Region Ten's Quality Assurance program at the conference.

Karen Larson stated that the SILC's acronym list displays "Arc" as the "Association for Retarded Citizens." She asked Sharon Johnson to revise this listing because the organization is simply known as "The Arc," and is no longer an acronym. It was also asked that SRCB (State Rehabilitation Council for the Blind) be added to the acronym list. Once these revisions are completed, the acronym list will be added to the SILC's web-site.

Next Meeting, Adjournment: The next SILC meeting will be held on September 9, 2004 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Four Points Sheraton Midway. The June 10 meeting adjourned at 2:10 p.m.