August 10, 2011
Hilton Towers, Harrisburg, PA
Mr. Joseph Kraher convened the meeting at 9:30 a.m. and read the mission statement.
There were no additions to the agenda.
Ms. Emily Scott stated that more people are disclosing their disability at CareerLinks. Ms. Scott stated any member, new or old members, who would like to join the CareerLink committee, would be more than welcome.
Ms. Leslie Kelly reported that Ms. Nancy Massey, the web master sent in the third quarter report of the customer satisfaction survey. There were eight more responses for a total of 31 in the three quarters. The committee decided to lower the budget to $9,000.00. The goals and new budget were approved and sent to the Executive Committee.
Mr. William Murphy stated the committee met on July 20th and approved the goals and budget for the coming year. Mr. Murphy is looking forward to meeting with the new director of OVR and discussing what is good for the youth entering the adult system and OVR.
Mr. Lee Lippi stated the last committee call was on July 11th. Members did not go to Washington this year because of the budget issues. Several members visited their legislators when they were in their home offices. On August 9th three members went to the state capitol and dropped off information to about 30 legislator's offices, since the members were not in session. Mr. Kraher stated he talked to one receptionist whose son was in an accident and was not aware of OVR and the services provided. Mr. Don Zeigler also stated that people he talked to had never heard about OVR.
Mr. Larry Kauffman stated he is now reviewing the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) monitoring report, the customer satisfaction survey results and focus group meetings. From the results of these, the committee will start working on the state plan attachment for the coming year.
Mr. Joe Kraher stated the committee has had several calls and talked about member participation and recruitment. The Executive Committee participated in the federal monitoring program with OVR. One call was directly with the Council to get our input, thoughts, opinions and suggestions concerning OVR.
On Friday, September 30th there is a strategic planning meeting at the OVR central office with members of the Council and the Technical Assistance and Continuing Education (TACE). The meeting starts at 9:30 am and should be over by 3:00 pm.
Today, members will be voting in the new officers of the Council for the coming year. Mr. Kraher reminded members to try to attend the focus group in their area and to take some of the PaRC information to hand out to anyone interested. The final version of the RSA monitoring report is now available online. At the last OVR Board meeting, Mr. Kraher met the new Secretary of Labor and Industry, Ms. Julia Hearthway and stated she was very involved at the meeting.
Mr. Steve Pennington, Client Assistance Program (CAP), suggested to the OVR Board that a Veterans workgroup be started. Sec. Hearthway suggested the Council take over this area, since the Council has already been doing some of this work.
Mr. Kraher informed the members that Ms. Noreen Price resigned from the Council due to conflicts with her business.
Mr. Donald Zeigler reported that in May the Council spent $2,690.20 and in June $2,058.43 was spent. As of the end of June, the Council's expenses were $18,912.13 leaving a balance of $74,587.87.
Mr. Donald Zeigler previously had contacted all members of the Council to see who would like to run for an office. Mr. Anthony Williams stated he would like to run for vice chair. Mr. Williams name was added to the ballot.
Mr. Kraher made a motion to accept the ballot with the addition of Mr. Williams added to the vice chair category. Mr. Lee Lippi seconded the motion. All were in favor.
General directions were given for the voting process. Staff passed out the ballots, collected them and Mr. Zeigler counted the votes. For Chair, Mr. Charles Giambrone ran unopposed. For Vice Chair, Ms. Emily Scott won and for Member at Large, Mr. Larry Kauffman also ran unopposed.
Ms. Leslie Kelly made a motion to accept the officers for next year. Mr. Lee Lippi seconded the motion. All were in favor.
Mr. Kraher pointed out that with the limited number of members at this time. Several committees will be losing their chairpersons. Mr. Williams stated he would be willing to chair the CareerLink committee since Ms. Scott can no longer chair the committee.
No one attended their local WIB meetings since the last meeting. Mr. Kauffman suggested staff send each member their local WIB meeting information. Ms. Linda Williams, project director, stated she will do the research and send members their WIB meeting information.
Ms. Scott stated she and Mr. Zeigler attended the Pennsylvania Community on Transition conference in June. Ms. Scott stated it was a good balance between things directed for the youth and what they could do in their process of transition. There were OVR counselors there along with CAP representative and Council member Lee Lippi.
Ms. Josie Badger stated the conference was a huge success with about 800 people in attendance. There were 83 young adults ages 14 to 21 who attended transition session break out times. Ms. Badger stated that she has helped develop 12 white papers on employment and education related to youth with disabilities and will share them with the Council members.
Mr. Bill Chrisner from the Disability Rights Network stated Senate Bill 200 and Senate Bill 458 both passed the legislature and are now in the House. Federally, the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) is being rewritten. They are making some significant changes with a lot of emphasis on transitioning. On September 21st, the National Council on Independent Living and ADAPT are calling for all people with disabilities to travel to Washington D.C. to fight for our rights and make sure services are not cut.
Ms. Nesta Livingston wanted to let members know that OVR can not fund travel to the rally because it relates to independent living. RSA informed OVR that we cannot use 110 or VR money to support even staff doing things related to independent living. Mr. Chrisner brought up the concern that OVR in Pittsburgh has decided it is no longer going to share the costs of interpreters for students attending Allegheny Community College.
Ms. Linda Williams reported that the dates for next year's meetings are February 8th, May 2nd, August 29th and October 31st, all at the Hilton & Towers in Harrisburg.
Ms. Williams asked everyone to meet in the lobby after the break to have a group picture taken for the annual report cover.
Ms. Nesta Livingston, OVR, stated they have not heard anything yet as to who will be the new executive director of OVR. The Commonwealth changed its policies on printing the annual report. A pilot post card will be handed out at various locations to let people know to go online to view the annual report. Hiram G. Andrews Center will still print a few that are required by the Rehabilitation Act to give to certain people in paper form.
OVR is in the fourth quarter of the federal fiscal year and the first quarter of the state fiscal year. That is important because that is the Councils match money, as well as OVR's match money for services and administrative support.
The RSA monitoring report is now on the website. There is a big section of recommendations and findings on the fiscal operation of the agency. One is how staff time is charged against various awards. RSA selected three of our areas as exemplary programs, CWDS, transition work done with Project Promoting Academic Success (Project Pas) and the summer academy for the blind. Now OVR must develop a corrective action plan for findings that require correction. This will be done with RSA and the George Washington TACE team with regards to technical assistance OVR will need. OVR will keep the Council informed on this at their quarterly meetings.
As far as the state plan, RSA found a few areas that they wanted technical corrections made. They would like us to reformat the chart we use for people who are most significantly disabled, significantly disabled and not significantly disabled. There was a section in the comprehensive system of personnel development attachment, through oversight we left out the part that talks about the caseload of counselors; so that paragraph must be added.
Another thing that needs done before the state plan can be signed off on is that appointments will be made to the PaRC and the OVR Board. The other area is agreements with the institutions of higher education. The Rehab Act requires us to have agreements with the institutions of higher education that also receive public funding. OVR has successfully negotiated those agreements with the entire state system of higher education and the entire group of community colleges. Now OVR will be having an exit conference on the RSA report.
Ms. Lori Jenkins stated they have been working on the needs assessment since October. The surveys went out during the months of April and May. The surveys focused on advocates, customers, public sector, private sector and employers. The focus groups started on August 3rd in Harrisburg. A list of the focus groups and their locations was sent out to all council members with the hopes that members will attend the one closest to their area. The focus groups are being populated by an invitation from OVR to selected persons. If Council members have a person they think would bring value to the group, please send their name to Ms. Jenkins at OVR. The Office of Strategic Services has been a big help with the monitoring process. When the focus groups are all done, they will come out with a preliminary report. The Council should have a report by the end of September. The complete needs assessment process will be done by the middle of January, so that it can be submitted with the state plan. Ms. Livingston clarified the difference between a public meeting and a focus group meeting, since there had been some confusion. A public meeting is open to everyone, however, at focus group meetings participants are invited by specific demographics.
Mr. Lee Lippi reported that CAP has done a lot of outreach over the past several months, including a CAP training held in Baltimore in early June. CAP is also actively involved with PA Cares . PA Cares is a group of people that are working with veterans. Mr. Lippi attended a blind awareness event held in Johnstown and handed out information about the CAP. From earlier talk about veterans and CareerLinks, when a veteran goes into a CareerLink and does their initial intake, they are directed to a disabled veteran outreach coordinator also, Mr. Lippi stated he did a presentation at the Lancaster CIL disability empowerment center.
Mr. Giambrone stated many committees around the state have been consolidated or eliminated. GCACPD has been consolidated down to 31 members. The committee is working with Secretary Alexander to see what he wants the group to focus on, which we feel will be employment and adult protective services.
Mr. Bill Murphy stated service dogs have more access to public schools now than in past years. As far as education, times are tough economically. Mr. Ron Tomalis leads the administrative team in south central Pennsylvania. Ms. Amy Morton is the Deputy Secretary and a former superintendent in Central Dauphin School District. She is also the president of Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA). Schools of Choice is a major priority for the Governor but the legislature is split about how it is going to be funded. Teacher based performance is being rolled out in September. It is a great accountability piece to tie student growth to teacher leadership.
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Mr. Kraher thanked all outgoing officers for their service this past year. The next Full Council meeting will be on Wednesday, November 9, 2011 at the Hilton & Towers in Harrisburg, PA, starting at 9:30 a.m.
The meeting adjourned at 11:45 a.m.
Council Members Present (P)
Pennsylvania Rehabilitation Council
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