Developmental Disabilities Council

Developmental Disabilities Council Meeting Minutes Wednesday, November 13, 2013 Margaret M. O’Neill Building, Dover, DE A.I. DuPont Hospital, Wilmington, DE 6:00 p.m.

Members Present: Diann Jones (Chairperson), Mary Anderson, Vince Boehm, Mark DeVore, Terri Hancharick, Brian Hartman, Debra McCann, Elizabeth McLaughlin, Karen McGloughlin, Katie Macklin, Barbara Monoghan, Steve Tull, Steven Yeatman

Members Absent: Carol Barnett, Eric Fontanez-Baez, Gregory Gouge, Larry Henderson, Marcy Kempner, Rick Kosmalski, Robert Mebane, Beth Mineo, Tracy Neugenbeur, Sue Ellen Powell, Steve Slotkin, Heather Statler, Ed Tos

Staff: Pat Maichle, Al Rose, Stefanie Lancaster, Cindi Wood

Guests: Carrie Melchisky, Gary Mears, Bill Monoghan, Sean Matthews, Shawn Rohe, Nicole Hosler, Frann Anderson, Victor Orija

I. Call to Order – The meeting was called to order at 6:06 p.m.

II. Approval of Minutes – Terri made the motion to approve the minutes as submitted and Elizabeth McLaughlin seconded the motion. The minutes approved as submitted.

III. Approval of Agenda – Mary Anderson made a motion to approve the agenda as submitted. Terri Hancharick seconded that motion. The Agenda was approved as submitted.

IV. 5 Minute Public Comment Period – Liz McGlaughlin shared some information she had on Brandywine Special Needs PTA – The Only One In The State. In the summer of 2004, a group of parents recognized the necessity for parents of children with special needs to have a forum for sharing information and support. This PTA group was formed that fall, the only one of its kind in Delaware. Membership in the BSNPTA is open to all parents, guardians, grandparents, educators, therapists and anyone interested in the education of children with special needs. For more information, please visit http://bsnpta.org. Liz also presented information about Reading guides for elementary, middle and high schools. For more information on this, please visit www.brandywineschools.org.

V. Chair’s Report – Diann reported on the following:  On October 19th, the DDC hosted the 20th Anniversary of Partners in Policymaking Retreat in Dover at the Duncan Center. This was a great experience for all who attended and was very nice to see both past Partners and Junior Partners graduates. Some of those who attended shared their stories and goals going forward with having their voices heard.  On November 6th, the DDC hosted a Victims Rights Task Force Retreat at Del Tech in Dover. A panel of people was present to share their stories of how they were able to survive and speak out against crimes against persons with disabilities. Diann’s daughter was not able to attend but Diann read her daughter’s testimony. All of these stories were very moving. At this event, ideas were given on areas that the VRTF Committee should work towards in the upcoming year. A revised Action Plan will be shared with the Council once it becomes available.  NAMI has a new director, Joshua Thomas-Hacker. His background is in mental health field as well as law enforcement. It appears as though he will bring a positive change to the disability community.  As you all know, we are still working towards getting the pay raise for Pat. We may now be working with the General Assembly to help get this taken care of.

VI. Staff Report - Pat reported the following:  The Annual LIFE Conference will be held on January 16th at the Dover Downs in Dover. If you are interested in attending, the Council will cover your registration cost. Please forward your request to register to Stefanie.  Pat recently was at a meeting with AARP where she was asked to be part of National teleconference where Chained CPI was one of the topics that were discussed. Pat was able to ask the question on how changes would affect people with disabilities. Pat will continue to have these discussions and share more information as it becomes available.  University of Delaware recently held their Disability Disclosure Conference that was well attended. The DDC helped to sponsor this event.  The DD Council survey results are in your handouts. The results look very good. It appears as though most of the members are happy as to how the Council functions. This will give us something to compare to in future. If you have any questions or concerns, please let Council staff know.  The DDC has been asked to provide a curriculum for CIP training. Al went to Memphis several years ago to help develop a method model of CIP. The State is going to institute this program soon in Delaware. There will be specialists on hand to interact with people with disabilities. This will involve a five-day Certification training. We have a half day to discuss any intellectual disability topics. They will also work on Trauma Informed Care, Mental Illness, and negotiating with people during a Crisis Situation. It will begin in March or April. More information will be shared with Council as it becomes available.  Pat reported Al was the recipient of the Custie Award at the SCPD Annual luncheon in October. Please join us in congratulating him.  The Calendar of 2014 Meeting dates is in your handouts. Please mark these dates on your calendars and plan to attend.  Al stated the DDC has received an unsolicited proposal from Independent Resources on coaching people with disabilities on being Self-Employed. It will come to Council at January meeting with more information.

VII. Financial Report – Diann reports that we are still waiting on final numbers on the amount of administrative funds that were remaining and then transferred into project funds for the total of FY13 remaining funds. We are also waiting on final notification of what we will be receiving for FY14 so the amounts listed on the financial report are still estimates. These may change some by the January meeting.

VIII. Current Business 1. Legislative Update – Pat states most recent legislative document of bills that the DDC has been tracking is in the handouts provided to you. You will also find a copy of the 2013-2014 Legislative Agenda that is being developed. Some of the ideas suggested are the following: Family Support Waiver, Dental Care Insurance, Accessible Transportation, Transition Coordinator, PAS Funding, Source of Income Discrimination, Funding for Disabilities Law Program, Building Infrastructure and Supports Needed to Phase Out the Issuance of Subminimum Wage Certificates, Money Follows the Person and Community First Choice Option. Once a final list is developed, Pat will share with the Council. 2. Self-Advocacy Organization Update – In packets, the Power Up Training report from the Delaware People First project. They have provided a final report and recommendations for the next steps to take. This year’s self- advocacy project will take the next steps in their recommendations. 3. Transportation – Deb McCann reports she has gathered a lot of information on laws on the ADA and other information as it relates to transportation for persons with disabilities. She attended two of the recent DART meetings to share her concerns. Deb said a lot of information that DART was portraying was false. The proposed changes will force people to pay $6 rather than $1. Deb has spoken with her legislator as well as members of the Joint Finance Committee. Her legislator has asked her to meet with Representative Carson to discuss this and explain the information she has gathered.

IX. Committee Reports 1. Membership – Karen McGloughlin welcomed Katie Macklin to the Council. She is the Director of the Alzheimer’s Association.

2. Children & Families a. Disability Sensitivity Training for Dentists – Al reported that this is the next step after the current Nurses training project the Council is doing. The Division of Public Health has a grant to work on this type of training. Therefore, the DDC will collaborate with them to accomplish this. b. Needs Assessment Final Report – Al reported that the Galaxy Group did a great job on this project. From the report that they submitted, the State Transition Task Force is now working on the next steps with this. 4. Adult Issues a. Conference on Emergency Preparedness Specifically to People with Disabilities – Terri reported that Al has drafted a RFP for this. They are looking for a panel of people to present on lessons learned in recent emergency or disaster situations. Gary Mears will be helping with this. Al also reported that EPIC (Endless Possibilities in Community) is looking for people in sheltered workshops to help them look for employment volunteer opportunities. 5. Partners Oversight a. Partners 2014 – Diann reports that we will have an update from Contractor soon. The application deadline is December 19th. Additional information can be found on the DDC website. Please spread the word. Limited spaces are available. b. Partners Retreat – Update – At the Partners Retreat, information was gathered from the graduates to help develop an Action Plan to move forward with. More information will be forthcoming as this develops. 6. Consumer Caucus – Pat reported that the Consumer Caucus Committee met on November 2nd. They discussed several topics including the Power Up information recently sent by the Arc of Delaware, transportation issues, and budget hearings. The next meeting is scheduled for the first Saturday in February.

X. New Business 1. Future Speakers for Council – Diann recommended that we have someone from DHCC come to discuss the Affordable Care Act. If anyone else has any ideas, please send them to Pat. 2. Discussion with State Ombudsman, Victor Orija – Victor Orija from DSHS came to explain the State’s Ombudsman program. An ombudsman is a specially trained advocate who are given authority under federal and state law to investigate and resolve complaints made by or on behalf of consumes. Services of the ombudsman are free of charge. Some roles of the Ombudsman are to act as an advisor, advocate, catalyst and mediator for those people who are not able to advocate for themselves. Ombudsman serve all residents of long-term care facilities and clients who receive Home and Community Based Services. Ombudsman must have the essential characteristics: independence, impartiality in conducting inquiries and investigations, and confidentiality. Several spreadsheets were presented to show the number of cases and types of cases that Delaware Ombudsman deal with. Copies of the presentation he presented were given to each Council member. 3. Discussion with DDDS staff, Frann Anderson – Frann Anderson from DDDS came to discuss the new Electronic Case Management System. The purpose of this new system it to: become a comprehensive service record, provide consistent/standardized recording of information, become the primary source of data and provide dependable data/reporting. Frann also presented some information regarding National Core Indicators “NCI”. NCI is a voluntary effort by public developmental disabilities agencies to measure and track systemic performance. The goals of the NCI is to establish a nationally recognized set of performance and outcome indicators for DD service systems, develop and maintain reliable data collection methods and tools, and report state comparisons and national benchmarks of the system-level performance. Delaware stopped participating in this several years ago but has recently now become web based. Pat said this is wonderful and will help with the DDC’s overall reporting to AIDD. Additional information on both topics can be found within the handouts given. 4. Council Logo – The Council Staff has gathered some information regarding options available to develop a new DDC logo and a copy of this can be found within your handouts. Pat stated we have spoken with Lisa Bartoli, the Executive Director of Art Therapy Express, and Jennifer Gunther, the Executive Director of VSA Delaware. Pat has also spoken to Phyllis Guinivan who provided us with information on a National website that Family Shade used to gather entries for their new logo. Please check out the website for more information, www.Crowdspring.com. Pat needs to look into whether or not the DDC can per federal guidelines give a cash award from Council funds for the winning entry. Mark Devore puts a motion to go for Silver option. If approved by Council, this would be paid from Executive Committee project funds. At this time, this item is tabled. Staff can provide more options and present at the next meeting.

XI. Other Council Business – No other Council business reported.

XII. Adjournment – The meeting adjourned at 8:37 p.m.