May 12, 2010
Hilton Towers, Harrisburg, PA
Mr. Joe Kraher convened the meeting at 9:45 a.m. Mr. Kraher thanked outgoing members Dr. Kate Seelman, Ms. Linda Loar and Ms. Mary Ann Alexander for their service while on the Council. Staff will send a certificate of appreciation to them. Mr. Kraher reminded members that the next meeting will be held at the Crowne Plaza on August 11th. At that meeting, Ms. Diane Cashman, from DWP will be the guest speaker on the Medicaid Infrastructure Grant (MIG). Also, OVR staff will present on the "Ticket to Work" program in the afternoon portion of the meeting.
Ms. Terry Roth from the Disability Budget Coalition will be presenting today at 1:15p.m. instead of 2:15p.m. Mr. Kraher encouraged everyone to stay for this presentation.
No report given. Ms. Williams stated that since Dr. Seelman is now off the Council, a new chairperson is needed for this committee.
Ms. Leslie Kelly stated there is not much to report at this time. Ms. Jamie Ray from the Client Assistance Program is interested in closed cases and people that are ineligible for services. Mr. Kraher reminded members to distribute the customer satisfaction survey poster with the tear offs at the bottom when attending meetings.
Mr. William Murphy reported as far as the committee, not much has been happening. In the last six months, the Department of Education has been working on a mapping strategy to transition children into adulthood. There is not enough manpower and more funding is needed.
The discussion in the Legislative Committee is how the Council can support ancillary services. Many delivery services are being cut and people are going without basic services. Mr. William Gannon, Executive Director, OVR stated that when the members of the Legislative Committee meet with the federal legislators on May 25th members need to tell the legislators that the disability community is willing to pay only their share of the burden. The disability community should not have to take the bulk of the cuts. Mr. Kraher stated that when the members do the visits on the 25th, the main topics should be funding for OVR, advocating for people with disabilities to become employed so there is a return on the dollars spent, transportation and living in the community instead of nursing homes. Ms. Emily Scott thanked the staff for the work they did in preparing the visits to Washington.
Mr. Larry Kauffman reminded members that attended the public meetings to send in the survey that he composed to see how the meetings went.
Mr. Kraher stated the main focus of the Council now is recruitment. The committee is now reviewing 5 or 6 applications. As of now, there are only 15 members.
Mr. Adamus made a motion for Mr. Larry Kauffman to take the responsibilities of the Nomination Committee. Dr. Seelman seconded the motion. Mr. Kauffman accepted the nomination and all were in favor.
Mr. Charles Giambrone reported that the total year to date spent is $11,053.78. The balance as of March 31st is $82,446.22 out of the $93,500 yearly budget.
Mr. Kauffman stated there is very little talk of people with disabilities at the WIB meetings he attends. It is also very hard to find out when the meetings are held because they are not updated on the websites. Mr. Gannon suggested Mr. Kauffman contact Mr. Bob Garrety, Director of the WIB and let him know the meetings are not published. Mr. Kraher suggested one of the committees should discuss the WIB's on their conference calls. Ms. Linda Williams stated that would fit into the CareerLink Committee. Mr. Gannon stated OVR partners with workforce investment are meeting the needs of Pennsylvania. It is important for the local WIBs to hear from people and that they have a responsibility to the disabled community that goes beyond their partnership with OVR. There are many people with disabilities in Pennsylvania that do not qualify for vocational rehabilitation. It's important that those people have access to the workforce entry points as do OVR clients. Ms. Marji Beyer, OVR reminded members that Mr. Kenn Tuckey is a Council member who represents the State Workforce Investment Board. He should be a resource for you if you can't find a listing for a meeting. Mr. Donald Zeigler stated that in the Reading area it is recommended that consumers attend the WIB meetings for more involvement.
Mr. Kraher asked if any member had attended the OVR public meeting in their area. Ms. Emily Scott stated she attended the Philadelphia public meeting. Ms. Rose Higby, District Administrator, was very welcoming. Ms. Higby showed a power point presentation and even had the Council included in the presentation. Ms. Scott works with children transitioning from school to college. She, along with Ms. Higby spoke with the special education liaison of the public schools. In Philadelphia, schools are getting on board with helping students transition. Ms. Scott also went to all of the CareerLinks in the Philadelphia area to help them work with people with severe mental illness. Mr. Lee Lippi stated he attended the public meeting in the Harrisburg BVRS office. There were only 6 other people there; 4 were OVR counselors, one interpreter, the district administrator and himself. Mr. Giambrone stated the Erie BBVS public meeting was well represented. If we could model what BBVS is doing, maybe we would get a better turn out at the other public meetings. Mr. Gannon stated attendance is a perennial problem. Mr. Kraher stated that he attended the Norristown meeting. Usually it is well attended. This year there was not one consumer, just vendors thinking they may get a little stimulus money that's available. The BBVS meeting had two separate meetings. At the one there were just two consumers.
Ms. Pam Brauchli, OVR was present to talk about the OVR state plan hearings. The first meeting was held on March 23rd and the last one was on April 8th. Mass mailings were sent out to community partners, legislators and others. Attendance is always a concern. Each counselor identified ten consumers and sent a letter to them and followed up with a reminder. There was a high of 46 and a low of 2 consumers. Five offices had no consumers, just providers and vendors. There was a suggestion to have BVRS and BBVS host the meetings together. It was also suggested having electronic or teleconference meetings because of transportation issues. There were 124 written comments sent in. Most were very positive. This year we sent out a FAQ sheet to enable the district offices to provide more information to the attendees and to keep comments specific to the state plan attachments. Three categories kept surfacing. One was with people experiencing vision loss. Transportation in rural areas was the second concern. The third category was transitional youth, especially those not going on to secondary school. Other concerns were supported employment, specific training for counselors to work with autism spectrum disorders, traumatic brain injury and acquired brain injury and the economy.
Ms. Norene Price stated there will be a Disability Plus Expo at the Monroeville Convention Center, October 8-10, 2010. It would be a good time to set up a booth to promote the Pennsylvania Rehabilitation Council. There may be well over 1,000 people in attendance. There will be a fashion show, karaoke, talent show and senior idol competition. Ms. Price showed the attendees at the meeting a product that is made for people with a mobility disability. It is called a grip pad. It sits on your lap and you can place drinks, books or other things on it and they will not slide off. They are made by people with disabilities.
Mr. Larry Kauffman made a motion to approve the consent agenda. Mr. Lee Lippi seconded the motion. All were in favor.
Mr. Tom Washic reported that he brought flyers to hand out called "Connecting the Dots", Literacy to Employment Blindness Awareness Expo 2009. Mr. Washic stated the flyers are from Mr. David DeNotaris, Director of the Blind and Visual Services. This year the event will be held on June 9th in the Capitol Building and the Keystone Building in Harrisburg.
Mr. William Gannon, Executive Director, OVR, stated that he and a staff person attended the CSAVR/CSNVB meeting in Bethesda MD which also involved some visits to Capitol Hill. Commissioner Lynnae Ruttledge presented at a morning session. Ms. Ruttledge has a strong focus on the interests of VR and is interested in knowing the regions and the people she serves. Mr. Gannon touched on some difficulties the CSAVR is having and hopes that it will be resolved soon. There is still no news on the Reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act. The state dollars will be enough to match federal funds because there is no cost of living index this year.
The state budget looks like it did last year with the election process ongoing. Mr. Gannon recommended the Council advocate for the programs that are in jeopardy like the Office of Deaf and Hard of Hearing. As of now, there is no mention of furloughs at the office but that may change without some kind of enhanced revenue. Mr. Zeigler asked if the proposed budget is to transfer Independent Living (IL) funds from the federal funds to the states and how would that affect Pennsylvania? Mr. Gannon stated it would affect independent living everywhere.
The last proposal Mr. Gannon saw would transfer the funds through the state system as a direct allocation to the state designated unit and OVR would then decide the distribution of funds. Mr. Kauffman asked Mr. Gannon if OVR would get any of the federal money for innovation projects and for transitioning youth. Mr. Gannon stated Pennsylvania's OVR program is noted as one of the leaders in the nation with transition programming. OVR currently has special grants on transition and what form those funds will be distributed will determine what OVR will do with it. If it's direct distribution in terms of base allocation, it would be contingent on our ability to draw down additional resources.
On innovation grants, OVR has a major package of stimulus grants that is a follow-up of our original advertised plan that has gone to the Secretary of Labor and Industry. OVR staff is now working with the press on the release of funds for innovation grants. Whether it is the additional money that you speak of or whether it is the innovation grants that we are advertising as a result of stimulus dollars, there is going to be a lot of money floating around Pennsylvania in the next couple of months for innovative programs.
Mr. Lee Lippi stated CAP is now on Facebook. A group called the Legal Eagles discuss veteran's and social security issues. Mr. Lippi stated he and Mr. Steve Pennington will be presenting at the PA Partners 26th annual employment and training conference on May 20th at the Hershey Lodge. We will be doing a workshop on navigating the mine fields, benefits, vocational rehabilitation and other services for veterans with disabilities. Mr. Lippi reported that the CAP office will be moving June 1st to the Center for Independent Living in Camp Hill.
Mr. Charles Giambrone stated he gave most of his comments during the other committee reports.
Mr. William Murphy stated he would like to reiterate what Mr. Gannon said about the budget. There is no revenue coming in and the debt keeps going up. He stated that if we have to give something back, that it be done equally so the disabled, and OVR are not held hostage. The Department of Education will be having three conferences coming up. One is the PA Transition Conference July 21-23, 2010. The second one is the National Autism Conference on August 2-6, 2010. Both of these will be held at the Penn Stater in State College. The third one is the Low Incidence Conference, August 2-6, 2010 at the Nittany Lion in State College. Mr. Giambrone asked Mr. Murphy what his thoughts were on Vo-Tech and the focus on transition. Some areas are excelling and others are struggling. Mr. Murphy stated every Vo-Tech varies because of local culture but that it has come a long way over the years. People with disabilities have more equal access now then they had before. Until the Bureau of Special Education writes a memorandum of understanding of what the expectations are for children with disabilities are across tech schools, we will not be in a time where children will have good skill development.
There was no report from PEN, due to Ms. Linda Loar's resignation.
Ms. Edie Schramm was not present at the meeting but did send her report to the office to be distributed prior to the meeting.
Ms. Melissa DiSanto stated the State Plan for Independent Living will begin their hearings on October 1, 2010. The SILC is also educating legislators about home and community based services. The SILC housing papers are now on line for review.
Mr. Tuckey was not present to give a report.
Ms. Terry Roth from the Disability Budget Coalition stated the coalition started during the Casey administration. A representative from Westmoreland County, who was interested in disability programs, decided he was going to convince the Governor to make that the year of the human services budget. He asked friends in various movements what they would like to see in the budget, taking on a pro active approach. Today, 80 groups from around the state are part of the coalition. This is an all volunteer group with no office, budget or staff. One thing we do is, as the budget passes in the summer, we are preparing our requests for the following year. Then we go to the Secretary of Labor and Industry and say what we would like to see in the budget for next year. The main thing we focus on is physical disabilities. Different organizations submit different pieces which I put together into one document. Right now I am trying to finalize the agenda for 2010/2011, so it can be delivered to the members of the General Assembly.
The budget is always changing. In order to be successful in any budget advocacy you have to work the whole process, that is one of the strengths of the Budget Coalition. The Budget Secretary would not have time to meet with each group but meeting with the Disability Budget Coalition they know they are getting a broad view.
We have also established partnerships with people within the government. That is the key to our success. Ms. Roth stated there are a number of pots of money within the federal healthcare reform legislation that can bring some funds into the state for home and community based services. We are facing a tremendous pension crisis that's going to be a real burden on the budget. We have to acknowledge that the financial situation is really bad and go to the government and ask to hold us at level funding. There is a group called the PA Budget and Policy Center, its website is www.pennbpc.org. They have very good information about tax alternatives. They are advocating taking a balanced approach by not just talking about cuts or tax increases but by finding revenue generating alternatives.
The government is looking for places to cut the budget so they look at programs that got an increase like the attendant care program and several home and community based waivers and the aging waiver. They got enough to cover their projected need for next year. A budget person looking for places to cut would look at these programs.
Ms. Roth stated that people who work with intellectual disabilities are concerned about the budget because there is a smaller waiting list initiative. In addition to that, the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) budget also includes a 1% reduction in provider rates which is also significant.
Mental health has taken continuing cuts; each version of the budget has reduced mental health this year because of something that they are juggling in terms of federal money that was leftover. The reduction is not expected to affect services. The Department of Public Welfare budget for people on Social Security Insurance has been reduced this year.
In Labor and Industry, the state match level funded the Center for Independent Living (CIL) supported employment and assistive technology at the current year's level, which was reduced. The Governor's budget that saw increases was education; however special education is not increased in this budget, it is level-funded The community and economic development line item home modifications are reduced, that is a major barrier for people.
Mr. Giambrone asked about transition funds for employment, summer programs and transition from the intermediate units. Ms. Roth stated that in terms of arguing those points, when meeting with the Governor's budget staff we thanked them for continuing to expand these essential programs because they really do save money down the road in returns.
Mr. Kauffman asked how the coalition delivers their proposal. Ms. Roth stated that this year June 1st to the 4th, legislators will be in their home district offices and we are going to hand deliver them. Face to face meetings with your own legislator is the best way to advocate.
None given
The next Full Council meeting will be on Wednesday, August 11, 2010 at the Crowne Plaza in Harrisburg, PA.
The meeting adjourned at 2:34 p.m.
Pennsylvania Rehabilitation Council
1902 Market Street Camp Hill, PA 17011
voice:717-975-2004
toll free:888-250-5175
fax: 888-524-9282
tty: 888-559-2658
email: racucpca@parac.org