February 11, 2009
Hilton Towers, Harrisburg, PA
Mr. Michael Adamus called the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m. and read the mission statement. Mr. Adamus asked members present and all guests to introduce themselves. Mr. Adamus requested a moment of silence for Carolyn Vidt who passed away in January. Members of the Council were asked if they would like to make any comments.
Mr. Adamus stated that he admired Carolyn; she said what needed to be said. She was dedicated and had a passion for her cause and to her consumers. Mr. Bill Gannon, OVR Executive Director, stated that what we contribute in life publicly is a result of what we accomplish. Carolyn accomplished a lot. Pennsylvania is at a loss without her advocacy.
Under Carolyn's leadership, the Council became very focused on its legislative functions and its collaborative work with OVR in terms of meeting our joint agenda of service to the community that we both represent. Ms. Helminski stated she promised Carolyn that her advocacy would not die with this Council and that the Council would dig deep to make her previous work go on. Dr. Kate Seelman stated that Carolyn had a good sense of humor. Carolyn wanted the Council to get in shape and get the job done; also to get our reports in on time. Ms. Emily Scott stated she worked with Carolyn on Capitol Hill in DC and that she was a wonderful partner. She was a great advocate and found connections with all different types of people.
There were no changes to the agenda.
Dr. Kate Seelman reported that on February 5th the committee had a conference call. Ms. Edie Schramm submitted a report on outcomes and job retention. Ms. Crystal Adams, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) stated they will have a conference in April. Staff will send out more information as it becomes available. Dr. Seelman stated that the government will be keeping labor statistics on people with disabilities.
Ms. Leslie Kelly stated there were no conference calls since the last full council meeting. Ms. Kelly informed council members that the OVR public meeting schedule is now available and asked all members to sign up to attend the meeting in their area. Ms. Kelly asked Mr. Gannon if the committee could post a flyer in the OVR district offices stating that someone from the Council will be at the public hearings with our customer satisfaction survey to fill out.
Ms. Passle Helminski reported for Ms. Lucinda Crissman who could not be present at the meeting today. Ms. Helminski stated the last Disability Agenda call was on February 6th. The committee stated they wanted to use a collage of pictures on the cover of the annual report again this year. Ms. Helminski stated that while at the capitol on February 10th, a guard at the door stated he was a customer of OVR. Council members asked if they could take a picture of him to use on the annual report. A release was given and a picture was taken. Ms. Helminski encouraged all members to attend their local Workforce Investment Board (WIB) meetings. Ms. Helminski also stated the committee will have a new goal this year on transition from school to work.
Ms. Passle Helminski stated the last conference call was on January 12th. On February 10th, five members of the legislative committee visited legislators in Harrisburg. The visits were successful and Ms. Helminski asked all members of the council to get copies of the legislative position paper and visit their own legislators while they are in their home offices. Due to budget issues this year, members will not be attending the National Rehabilitation Association conference in Alexandria, VA. Members may still take a day trip to Washington to deliver their position papers. Mr. Lee Lippi read an addition to the federal position paper that was requested from the Client Assistance Program (CAP).
Ms. Passle made a motion to approve the additional CAP wording on the federal position paper. Mr. Lee Lippi seconded the motion. All were in favor.
Ms. Marji Beyer stated the committee is doing a great job advocating on behalf of OVR. Ms. Beyer stated she would like the committee to add to the position paper a part on the Office of Deaf and Hard of Hearing (ODHH). The ODHH is under general funds, not funded by OVR. Ms. Beyer will send the staff a statement to add to the state position paper on this issue.
Mr. Larry Kauffman stated the state plan attachment is completed and was reduced to a very meaningful group of points. The attachment will be approved today in the consent agenda. Mr. Kauffman stated that in the future, he would like to get input from the Consumer Advisory Committee (CAC) members across the state.
Mr. Adamus stated that due to budget issues, there will not be a joint retreat this year with OVR. The August council meeting will be held on the 12th at the Hilton Towers in Harrisburg. At the May 12th council meeting, there will be two speakers, Mr. William Murphy from the Department of Education and Ms. Eileen Oaken from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Mr. Adamus stated there is no word yet from the Governor on the five new members.
The Executive Committee had a conference call with OVR on January 26th to discuss attachment 4.11 regarding the state's goals. The Council's state plan attachment was approved on that call and will be approved by the Full Council today. Two letters were recently written from the PaRC. The first one was to OVR concerning out of state travel for members to attend the NRA conference and the second one was a letter concerning the suspension of Arts and Culture grants for people with disabilities. Mr. Adamus encouraged all council members to attend their local WIB meetings to be a resource for disability issues.
Mr. Adamus reminded all members to fill out the financial statement form with the State Ethics Commission. These forms must be filed by May 1st. Mr. Adamus also reminded members that there is a requirement for everyone on the Council to actively be on at least one committee.
Mr. Don Zeigler reported the operating expenses for November were $2,173.91 leaving a balance of $90,784.32. Expenses for December were $9,513.13 leaving a balance of $81,271.19.
Dr. Seelman stated she attended the Allegheny County WIB meeting and gave a presentation. Dr. Seelman also received some good information on the impact of the recession on employment.
Mr. Donald Zeigler suggested that local CAC members help spread the word about the state plan hearings. This was successfully done in the Reading area. Ms. Helminski stated it is still hard to relieve her service dog at the hotel. Staff will continue to work with the Hilton to get this issue resolved. Ms. Zainab Jama, Executive Director, Statewide Independent Living Council (SILC), stated the SILC conference will be held at the Hilton on April 2-4, 2009. There will be 25 workshops and a rally to the capitol along with a tour of the capitol. There is also a comedy show planned. Information can be found on the website at www.pasilc.org.
Ms. Passle Helminski motioned to approve the consent agenda, which included the agenda, minutes, committee briefings, state plan attachment and position papers. Mr. Larry Kauffman seconded the motion. All were in favor.
Mr. Bill Gannon, OVR Executive Director, encouraged everyone to attend the state plan hearings stating they are part of the critical process of consumer input. The economic stimulus package passed the Senate and will now go to the House. The package did include $500 million nationwide, $100 million for independent living. Hopefully that amount will remain in the House version. This will mean Pennsylvania will get roughly $25 million that would not require a match. It looks like 2009 will be a continuing resolution year.
In terms of the state, the governor asked all departments to cut budgets by 4.25 per cent. The stimulus money that was to pass through state governments was removed. In PA, that amounted to $450 million which was included as revenues in the projected budget for 2009-10. If the money is not restored, the Governor will have to come up with the $450 million from somewhere else. The Governor's proposed budget for 09 10 includes a sweeping of all vacant positions in most departments of state government. In vocational rehabilitation (VR), that will be 72 positions. VR may have to also furlough a number of people. The Governor stated there is still a $2.5 billion deficit from 2008-09 to deal with. If the Governor cannot get labor moving in PA the result may be 2500 to 3000 more furloughs.
In OVR, we provide services through counselors and support personnel. If we receive $20 million in the next 2 years from the stimulus bill and there are less counselors, OVR can't spend that money. Mr. Gannon encouraged members when meeting with their legislators to let them know that to take advantage of the stimulus package we have to be able to provide the people resources to make the stimulus work. Mr. Gannon thanked the Council for returning money to OVR. Mr. Gannon reported that soldiers with traumatic head injury are now enrolled at the Hiram G. Andrews Center (HGAC).
OVR has signed a contract with SILC Inc. which is the support group for the Statewide Independent Living Council. Mr. Gannon stated the Legislative Committee members that want to go to Washington to visit the legislators may do so but must stay in PA and travel to DC on the train. Members may stay in hotels on this side of the PA line. Ms. Helminski asked if the Council and the OVR Board could have a joint retreat at the Hilton in August as part of the PaRC meeting. Ms. Beyer will check with the OVR Board and let staff know their response.
Ms. Edie Schramm stated that on the last CareerLink Accessibility conference call she shared statistics for the labor exchange outcomes for the first quarter of 2008. These statistics were for people with disabilities. Ms. Schramm stated that she has just emailed the members a breakdown of the numbers by CareerLink site to review for the next call. Ms. Schramm reported the Bureau of Workforce Development will be adding 26 new CareerLink specialists to deal with re-employment services. Statewide 300 retired employees were also added to deal with all the unemployed coming to the CareerLink offices. As far as the Disability Navigator Program (DNP), Ms. Schramm read a statement that was issued stating that due to many obstacles, PA would not be able to use the funds that were awarded for this program, so the money will be redistributed to other states DNP's.
Mr. Kevin Hensil gave a report for Melissa Simmons who could not be present at the meeting. Mr. Hensil stated the SILC has been working with the National Council on Independent Living (CIL), sharing information on the federal stimulus plan. The Governor's budget proposed a cut of 4.27% or $97,000 for the CIL's. The third week of February, Labor and Industry Secretary Sandi Vito will hold a Senate budget hearing for Labor and Industry. Two weeks ago, the SILC legislative committee shared information with the legislators about the importance of hiring people with disabilities and the tax credits that are available through OVR. The employment committee will be working on an employment position paper. The housing committee already issued a visibility position paper that is posted on the website. On April 2-4, 2009, SILC will hold its annual conference at the Hilton. Mr. Hensel reminded everyone about the weekly emails that the SILC sends out.
Mr. Lee Lippi stated that CAP will be making two presentations at the SILC conference. One will be a road map for veterans with disabilities which will be presented by Mr. Steve Pennington and Mr. Lippi. The other will be the ADA act of 2008 also by Mr. Pennington and Ms. Jamie Ray. Mr. Lippi stated CAP has also been very busy with outreach to different areas of the state.
Mr. Kenn Tuckey was not present to give a report.
Mr. William Murphy stated that he will give an update on the Gaskin settlement agreement at the May council meeting. Mr. Murphy will give a historical perspective of what the Gaskin settlement is, where it is today, what's working and what is not. Mr. Murphy may bring representatives from a school district that started an inclusionary classroom for children. He may also bring several children to get their perspective on the inclusionary classroom. Mr. Murphy stated his dream is to go back to a single system where all children are under one roof.
Mr. Murphy handed out the newsletter, the Special Education Communicator. The closing of the Scranton School for the Deaf is a concern and hopefully the students will be accommodated in other schools in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Mr. Gannon stated the cost of students attending the Scranton school may not be cost effective. They must also look at the quality of services being provided in comparison to other schools. Mr. Gannon also discussed the pros and cons of consolidation of school districts in the state. There will probably be a commission to study consolidation of school districts.
Ms. Linda Loar stated that in the past, the Parent Education Network had passed out folders with information inside to parents of children in transition. This year the folder will have a disk in it with all the information on transition as well. People can request a hard copy of the information if needed. On March 3rd and the 24th there will be a webinar on transition. Information on this can be found on the PaTTAN website. Also on April 4th, there is a video conference planned. These will be in 12 different locations. After the video conference, staff will be at these sites to answer questions. The state leadership team in transition is doing the second of their in service trainings this year. The first one is on assistive technology and the next one is on self advocacy. That will be done on March 25th at 12 different sites and on April 14th in Harrisburg. The Pennsylvania Community on Transition Conference will be on July 22-24, 2009 at Penn State.
Ms. Kelly stated that she had nominated Carolyn Vidt for the Fallen Soldiers Award. The recipient will be chosen at the SILC conference in April.
The next Full Council meeting will be on Tuesday May 12, 2009 at the Hilton Towers in Harrisburg, PA.
The meeting adjourned at 12:00 p.m.
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