Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Harrisburg, PA
Mr. Micki Greenstein called the meeting to order at 9:50 a.m. and read the mission statement. Mr. Greenstein stated that Ms. Jill Kovalcik-Weaver would be taking pictures during the meeting for the annual report. Mr. Greenstein asked members present, and all guests to introduce themselves. He also noted that Ms. Arlene Solomon was resigning from the council and that today would be her last meeting. Mr. Greenstein thanked Ms. Solomon for her years of service.
There were no additions or changes to the agenda.
Ms. Leslie Kelly reported that the Customer Satisfaction Committee handed out their survey at the Public Hearings. Attendance was low and only a few surveys were returned. Ms. Carolyn Vidt stated the committee may want to try something else to generate interest and reach customers.
Mr. Michael Adamus stated that at the Erie hearings, turn out was not bad due to out reach to the Centers for Independent Living. Mr. William Gannon stated the leaders of the disability community need to be brought together and make sure that the next time there are planned hearings, those people are at the table.
Ms. Barbara Orstein made a motion to explore ways to have more outreach in order to maximize participation by OVR customers on the next customer satisfaction survey. Ms. Jamie Ray seconded the motion. All were in favor.
Ms. Lucinda Crissman stated the next Disability Agenda conference call is scheduled for May 15, 2007 at 11:00 a.m.
Mr. Michael Adamus stated the state plan attachment was approved at the February meeting. The committee will have a conference call later in the month to review the committee goals and budget.
Ms. Passle Helminski reported that on March 11, 2007, Michael Adamus, Jamie Ray, Matthew Seeley, Donald Zeigler and herself, attended the National Rehabilitation conference in Alexandria, Virginia. The theme was Alliance, Advocacy and Action. Ms. Helminski stated that she and Jamie were asked to do a brief presentation. It was mentioned that Pennsylvania is a leader in the nation for VR advocacy. On Tuesday, March 13th, the members traveled to Capital Hill to visit the legislators. In all 16 legislators or staff were visited with six drop offs. Thank you notes were sent to all legislators offices by the PaRC staff. On April 2nd, the Legislative Committee held a conference call and reviewed the goals set for 2007. These goals will be approved at the August Full Council meeting. Ms. Helminski stated that on May 8th, Mr. Adamus, Mr. Kraher, Mr. Seeley, Mr. Zeigler, Ms. Judy Jobes, OVR Board and herself were in Harrisburg visiting the state legislators. The groups visited 24 legislators' offices and dropped off four more packets of information. Ms. Helminski and Ms. Jobes also visited Lieutenant Governor Catherine Baker Knoll's office and the Governor's Office of Legislative Affairs and talked to their staff.
Mr. Adamus made a motion to request a meeting with the Governor to discuss issues of funding for vocational rehabilitation (VR). Ms. Ray amended the motion, adding that the Executive Committee takes on this responsibility. Ms. Vidt seconded the motion. All were in favor.
Mr. Micki Greenstein stated the Executive Committee has been working on recruitment of new members. The committee had requested staff to send another letter to the governor's office asking for an explanation of the appointment process and where Lynn Heitz's application is at in this process. The committee also started a mentoring program for new members. Mr. Greenstein thanked all of the Council members who attended the OVR public hearings and handed out the customer satisfaction survey.
Mr. Matthew Seeley reported the Council started the year with $112,500.00. Total year to date expenses as of the end of March are $26,593.67, leaving a balance of $85,906.33 in the Council budget.
Ms. Carolyn Vidt stated the committee has had a hard time making quorum on its calls due to everyone's work schedules. The committee is looking at the CareerLink web sites and how to make them more user friendly. The committee is also looking into the requirements for local Workforce Investment Board (WIB) membership. This is to generate interest in the disability community to request a position on their local WIB. We are also looking at how older workers are using CareerLink sites. The WIB calendar has been updated in the system now with the dates and locations of meetings in 2007.
In response to Ms. Vidt's concerns with conference call costs and poor participation, Mr. Donald Zeigler suggested having members call in to the conference company in order to save money.
Ms. Helminski made a motion to change the procedure for conference calls by having members dial in instead of the conference company calling members. Mr. Greenstein seconded the motion. All were in favor.
Ms. Lisa Case stated that Ms. Passle Helminski is heading the nomination committee, along with Mr. Joseph Kraher and Dr. Kate Seelman. Mr. Adamus and Ms. Vidt stated they would be interested in running for chair of the Council. Mr. Seeley and Mr. Zeigler are interested in the member at large position. No one expressed interest in the vice chair position. Voting for new officers will be held at the August 2007 meeting.
Ms. Case made a motion to approve members seeking reappointment for a second term on the Council. Those members are Michael Adamus, Margaret Buckley, Micki Greenstein, Leslie Kelly, Barbara Orstein, Carolyn Vidt and Donald Zeigler. Ms. Helminski seconded the motion. All were in favor.
Ms. Case stated the positions that still need representation on the Council are business, labor and industry, young adult, mental retardation and mental illness. Geographically, the Council needs people from the northeast and north central part of the state as well as minorities to apply. The committee will review all applications on the next conference call.
None given.
Mr. Donald Zeigler gave his report from the CSAVR conference he attended in November of 2006. A copy of this report will be filed in the office.
Ms. Vidt reported that the GCEPD has been restructured under the guidance of the chair, Mr. Michael Fiore. New officers were elected. The executive order was read and goals and timelines were established. There are still some vacant seats and recruitment efforts have been initiated. There will not be a GCEPD conference in 2007 but the committee will establish an employer award, both at the local and statewide level. Meetings will now be scheduled for two full days twice a year.
Mr. Michael Adamus made a motion to accept the consent agenda. Ms. Carolyn Vidt seconded the motion. All were in favor. The motion carried.
Mr. William Gannon, OVR Executive Director stated that Congress did not pass a budget this year and there may not be a budget until well into July. The state budget again presented flat funding for vocational rehabilitation. It is not anticipated that there will be a Reauthorization of the Work force Investment Act in this session of congress.
Mr. Gannon thanked members of the Council for their visits to the state and federal legislators. He noted that when the members educate the legislators on what OVR does, they are more likely to provide funding for services to more people. CSAVR is becoming more engaged as a federal monitoring structure to help assist state government in addressing its responsibilities through its councils and independent living structures.
Mr. Terry Martin from the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) is our representative in Pennsylvania. Mr. Martin is doing a great job facilitating communication between us as entities. OVR is moving ahead with the interview process for a new director for the Bureau of Blind and Visual Services. There was a nationwide search and interviews are now being scheduled. Hopefully there will be someone on board sometime in July. There are a significant number of people retiring this year in all of our bureaus. OVR is in the process of filling these openings.
Ms. Linda Rusinko, Mr. John Tague, Mr. Tom Coffield and Mr. Michael Keel have been appointed to the OVR Board. Mr. Gannon introduced Mr. Ryan Hyde from OVR, who gave a description of the Comprehensive Workforce Development System. The first phase of this implementation will start this year with training in the fall. This is not only a tool for OVR, but would be used by the Bureau of Workforce Development, employment training and the Department of Public Welfare. Once fully developed, this will be an internet-based instrument that consumers will be able to track their own process of services through the state government independently and not be reliant on somebody else to manage their case for them. Employers will also be able to log into the system to look for people with disabilities as potential employees.
Mr. Roger Barton, OVR explained changes to the college policy that PaRC members were to approve at this meeting. Basically, OVR customers who have an expected family contribution will no longer receive room and board compensation from OVR. The SSI/SSDI payment will cover their college room and board.
Ms. Helminski made a motion that, due to the members not having enough time to review this policy change, the Council will not vote to approve it at this meeting. Ms. Ray seconded the motion. All were in favor.
Ms. Pam Shaw, of Workforce Development reported that Pennsylvania has just been awarded a $1.2 million grant for participation in the Disability Program Navigator Initiative. This program is designed to ensure that people with disabilities are able to access the entire workforce system.
Ms. Judy Jobes stated that the Pittsburgh OVR office is in the process of relocating. The Bureau of Blindness and Visual Services (BBVS) and OVR will now be located in the same building. Members mentioned there had been concerns with building accessibility and safety. Mr. Gannon stated there were meetings with labor representation in Pittsburgh to review issues raised by the community about the accessibility and safety of the new building. The inside of the building has been demolished and will be rebuilt, accessible to all. Curb cuts were made in the side walks and there are three ways to exit the building. A security guard will also be hired to watch the building and alley way.
Ms. Vidt made a motion to have the Executive Committee and other interested parties, along with OVR schedule a conference call to discuss the building issue. Mr. Seeley seconded the motion.
Mr. Gannon stated the office relocation was a done deal and that OVR is just the occupant of the building. The Department of General Services (DGS) was the department that leased the building.
Mr. Adamus amended the motion to have a meeting to discuss concerns and see what can be done to rectify any problems with the building. All were in favor.
Mr. Matthew Seeley reported the SILC held their state plan hearings and they were well attended. The SILC has also been visiting legislators talking about the budget for the Centers for Independent Living. The SILC is now sending out two new documents by email to anyone interested. One is a legislative watch that outlines bills of interest. The other is a daily clip of newspaper articles dealing with people with disabilities.
Ms. Jamie Ray reported that CAP did a special project with their intern, Ms. Nicolle Tremitiere that tells a story of people with disabilities in Pennsylvania, who have successfully used both CAP and OVR services. The project was presented at the last OVR Board meeting and was well received by the OVR Board and others from OVR who were at the meeting. This story will be sent to the PaRC office, so it can be sent to members of the Council.
Ms. Ray also stated that the CAP advocate from the Harrisburg and Philadelphia offices are in Somerset today at an employment fair that is being partially sponsored by Alco Nursing and the local multiple sclerosis chapter.
Mr. Steve Pennington added that Mr. Tom Coffield has been appointed to the board at the Hiram G. Andrews Center and will be dealing with veteran's issues. This summer CAP will have University of Pennsylvania students interning. These interns will be focusing on veteran's issues. There is a real role for OVR relating to injured soldiers returning from the war in the Middle East. CAP is also looking at ways to reach out to people in the communities.
This summer, an intern will be looking at the demographic characteristics that exist in Pennsylvania's 67 counties. They will be looking at general numbers, social characteristics, how many people with disabilities reside in the county and what the employment rate currently is in each county.
Mr. Kenn Tuckey stated that understanding what a State Board does, what the local Workforce Investment Boards do and what the CareerLinks do is fundamental to understanding how we can achieve success in the tasks we undertake. A local WIB is governed by the state and works within certain limits and programs. A state WIB has certain conditions of chartering and performance measures.
A CareerLink is a consortium of partners that determine day to day operational procedures. Local WIBs mandate that 51% of the members be from private enterprise. This brings private and public enterprise together.
Mr. Tuckey stated that Dr. Robert Garrity has been appointed as the new executive director of the south central WIB. Dr. Garrity stated he would like to attend a Council meeting and give his views on the state WIBs. Mr. Tuckey explained there are 23 local WIBs and all have a different appointment process. There are eight counties in the south central WIB. Their constitution states there must be a representative from each county in the private enterprise section. These appointments come through recommendations from county government. If a member would like to be appointed to a WIB, they should go to a meeting, make the contact, get involved in a committee and get to know the people on the board. Dr. Kate Seelman stated that the Council should request for the next meeting, information on the number of people with disabilities that are on the state and local WIBs, the process for appointing a member to the WIBs and a description of the appointment policy.
Ms. Margaret Buckley stated that most of what she is currently doing is giving parents information about Individualized Education Plans (IEP). She averages about 200 calls a month. Student's postsecondary goals and plans are being reviewed and how their educational program is progressing. Brochures are sent out showing students how to write their IEP. Several calls were received from seniors who will be graduating in June and are just now starting to think about transition. Ms. Buckley noted that students by at least 14 years of age should be thinking about transition plans.
Ms. Arlene Solomon reported that the Careerlink Accessibility Advisory Committee in Philadelphia is offering two half day training sessions in September, for 40 staff persons, each day from all the Careerlinks in Philadelphia. The staff has requested training specifically around working with people who have psychiatric disabilities. Horizon House is designing and implementing the training which will be used as a pilot for training Careerlinks around the state.
Mr. Greenstein read the Mission Statement and explained the Standards of Expectations.
Ms. Pam Shaw did a presentation on Workforce Investment 101. (Ms. Shaw will send her report to the office to be sent out to the members)
The chairperson of each committee gave a brief overview of their committee.
Due to the time, the remainder of the orientation was postponed.
The next Full Council meeting will be August 8, 2007 at the Hilton Towers in Harrisburg, PA.
The meeting adjourned at 3:10 p.m.
Pennsylvania Rehabilitation Council
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