Florida Rehabilitation Council Minutes

Approved October 18, 2008

Florida Rehabilitation Council for the Blind
Quarterly Meeting Minutes

July 17 and 18, 2008

Hilton Garden Inn
3333 Thomasville Road
Tallahassee, FL 32311

Thursday, 17th

Jesus Garcia, Chair called the meeting to order at 8:30 AM.

Council members present:
Jesus Garcia, Craig Kiser, Michael Taylor, Brian Johnson, Jay Naiman, Rufus Brown, Ted Hull, Joyce Hildreth, Sue Townsend, Kathy Davis, Dawn Saunders, Robert Kelly, Henry Alexander, Dwight Sayer and Steve Ritacco, Director of DBS.

Council members absent: Marilyn Palmer and Sheryl Brown

Council Staff: Phyllis Dill

DBS Staff: Michael Elliott, Sam Atwood, Ana Saint-Fort

Audience:
Patty Sayer, Bob Hildreth, Lucien Casimir, Barbara Ross,

District Administrator Report

Ana Saint-Fort, District Administrator (DA) gave the following District Two update:

District Two serves 11 counties: Franklin, Gadsden, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lafayette, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Suwannee, Taylor, and Wakulla Counties
The office is fully staffed except for one position (blind babies)
The 13 staff include: 1 DA, 1 VR Supervisor, 2 Voc Rehab Counselor (VRC), 1 Independent Living Adult Program (ILAP), 2 VR Techs
Goals have been exceeded in VR. (87 successful with 48 being legally blind.
ILAP did not meet goals.
District Two conducted a compliance review of the local Community Rehabilitation Program (CRP).
Staff meets with the CRP facility every other month.
214 clients in ILAP Program
60 clients in the Children’s Program (Blind Babies)
360 clients in the General VR Program.
DBS does not have a campus office at FSU (Florida State University) any longer.
A Counselor goes to FSU twice a week, and once a month to TCC (Tallahassee Community College)
There are 62 college students overall which some attend FSU, FAMU and TCC.
The local CRP handles intake with clients going to them and when client is seeking services they are referred to DBS.

Craig commended Ana on accommodating the local Florida Council o/t Blind (FCB) chapter.

DBS Policy Changes

Michael went over the 7 policy changes e-mailed to the Council earlier for review. Staff is aware of changes but they have not been implemented. Michael stated that most changes were for clarification.

Brian is concerned with the new policy 2.18 and the 3 month time frame given to reopening a previously closed “failure to cooperate” client.

After discussion, Steve indicated that they would rewrite the policy and staff it back out for review.

Michael informed the Council that successful closed cases in the Business Enterprise Program can be opened in Post Employment within a year after closing, but after a year the Counselor must do a full evaluation of the work site and then reopen as a new case.

Michael informed the Council that the DBS Low Vision Policy now requires three vendors be contacted. He also mentioned that DELL computers are recommended to clients because Gregg Luther can supply the support, but the client is allowed to choose the computer they prefer.

Client choice is also allowed for other adaptive equipment. After three years the client owns the equipment. An addition to the Equipment Policy states that if the equipment needs to be updated then DBS has the right to retain the equipment for the Children’s Program.

Steve explained the issue the Internal Auditor General (IG) had with Maintenance Checks. The IG’s recommendation was that DBS clarify what maintenance was and how the regulation of the law is applied.

Michael informed the Council that DBS was not currently working with inmates in the prison system.

Craig would like for DBS to look into contacting those inmates that were within 3 months of being released and lining up the possibility of them having a job to go to.

DBS Client Advocate

Sam Atwood explained what his position entailed and the procedures involved.

The Council was informed that the new DBS newsletter will be a more internal newsletter than the last newsletter, Eye on DBS.

Craig was concerned that clients were not getting materials in the format needed.

Steve informed the Council that DBS was in the process of obtaining new Braillers for the districts.

BREAK

Client Satisfaction Survey

Dr. Mary Stutzman informed the Council that even though she had the closed cases data she was unable to begin the survey until she received a purchase order in April.

Copies of the Survey were made available in print and CD.
DBS closures have the least refusal of all surveys she conducts.
Survey still has a 36% response rate.
Open ended comments were not included. She will include them with the June data which will be completed and added to the current survey. She will give the final report at the October meeting.

Kathy moved that open cases be included with the Survey as well as obtaining the cost involved for consideration.
Motion received a second.

After discussion motion passed.

Council Planning and Goals

State Rehabilitation Council (SRC) Web based training
Final modules were made available July 15, 2008.
Training will take a total of 6 hrs, but can be spread out.
It’s best to access it through Broadband and use Windows XP or VISTA with the latest internet explorer or Fire fox, and with the latest version of Window Eyes or later.
Joyce found it to be very beneficial and will probably go through it again.
The site is: Erehab.com
Dwight informed Council to log on to the National site first because the State site does not let you access the survey.

Jesus stated that he would like to have a run through on the whole Web site, if possible, at the October meeting. He also believes it would be good to include it on the agenda at least once a year.

State Plan Committee

Jesus appointed Craig to Chair the Committee.

Joyce and Dwight agreed to serve on the Committee and Jesus will also.

Meeting Adjourned at 1:25 PM

Friday, July 18th

Jesus Garcia, Chair called the meeting to order at 8:35 AM.

Council members absent: Sheryl Brown

Council Staff: Phyllis Dill

DBS Staff: Michael Elliott, Kurt Ponchak, Larry Batterton

Audience: Bob Seemer, Patty Sayer, Bob Hildreth, Barbara Ross, Deborah Waters, Kurt Waters, Lucian Casmir

Approval of Minutes

Kathy moved to accept the April minutes.
Motion received a second. All minutes approved unanimously.

Director’s Report

Steve sent out his report last week. He gave a brief summary and answered questions.

A work group including the DBS state office, DA’s and providers will try and come up with a methodology to allocate the dollars to the providers.

DBS has submitted 110 Social Security reimbursement claims from January 1st thru July 15th for a total dollar amount of $2.34 Million. Cash received so far is $800,000 with 50 claims still pending.

The DBS leadership staff recommended discontinuing the application for the Baldrige Award.

Jay requested a break-down of the number of closures – Total Blind, legally blind, etc.

Steve informed the Council that 63% of the total closures are successful closures. (731 successful closures)

Dwight is concerned with the methodology used for developing funds for the CRPs and believes the numbers game may be a deterrent to quality services by the CRPs. He would like for DBS to be careful in how it crafts the methodology and include folks from all parts of the state.

Steve informed the Council that the IG auditors will return in 6 months to make sure the corrective actions indicated in the management responses have been done.

Craig gave the Council a synopsis of why the division pursued the Sterling Award.

There are rumors that the Sterling Award cost $300,000. The Council would like the correct amount.

Joyce proposed that Council representation be included in developing the Policy of Order of Selection.

Jesus suggested that 2 weeks prior to any meeting the Council be informed via a teleconference.

Steve informed the Council that DBS owns the software for the Social Security data.

DBS Financial Status Update

Kurt Ponchak reported the following:

He will analyze the actual cost of the Sterling Award and report back to the Council.
DBS met deadline for the Budget Request for 2009/2010.
Moved General Revenue (GR) dollars left over and moved $596,000 of SS reimbursement expenditures to GR which freed up that much cash to be used this fiscal year.
Will hold it for match for the 2009 grants.
DBS met its Match requirement for June 30, 2008.
7.1 Million dollars is the target for Match.
Blind Babies received a $300,000 cut for 2007/2008, but is still above the 2006 cut.
Children’s program received about a $500,000 cut.
Independent Living Program (ILP) received about a $400,000 cut.
ILP is using SS reimbursement dollars.
DBS has $840,000 cash on hand and expects about $31,000.
DBS has 2 years to spend SS reimbursements once received.
The recent State Board Administration investment report on the Gifts and Donations (G&D) showed a loss of $121,000. The G&D fund has $2.3 million.
Kurt has proposed that some of the G&D funds be used for the Children’s Program and the Library.
Must have budget authority to spend funds out of grants.
DBS has lost 3 positions. $180,519 in general revenue.
Will change the funding for some positions in the IL Program from the part B dollars.
DBS is starting everyone in the VR program with what they spent last year.
Does not believe clients will go unserved.
Kurt would like to match as they go.
Overall DBS lost $1.3 Million in general revenue this year from last year.

Kurt’s office number is 850-245-0352 and his cell number 850-345-9124.

Transportation Disadvantaged

JR Harding, Ed. D., Chairman of the Florida Commission for the Disadvantaged addressed the Council on the information provided via an earlier e-mail.

Contact information is: JR Harding, Ed. D., Chairman, Commission for the Transportation Disadvantaged, 605 Suwannee Street, MS 49, Tallahassee, FL 32399-0450 (850) 410-5711, Fax (850) 410-5752 Toll Free TD Helpline (800) 983-2435 Web site: www.dot.state.fl.us/ctd

Lisa Bacot will send Phyllis an application for serving on the CTD with a summary of who is allowed to serve. Appointments are made by the Governor.

Mr. Harding informed the Council the 2008 Annual Conference will be held in Orlando, August 26 – 28. He encouraged all Council members to attend.

An Evaluation Form was given out for the Council to provide feedback on his presentation. Phyllis will collect the forms and forward them to Mr. Harding.

Vision Caucus

Representative Kurt Kelly addressed the Council:

Rep. Kelly is a newly elected Representative from Ocala.
Dennis Baxley was the previous Representative.
Rep. Kelly’s sister, Charlene is a counselor with a non profit agency serving the blind.
Lorraine Ausley was past Chair of Vision Caucus.
Rep Kelly wants to bring an education first to the governing body.
The Legislators are required to follow the prescriptions of the law of the constitution to balance the budget. (the economy caused)
Must have clear and present articulation and building allies through the legislative process, whether in the House or Senate.
There has to be a true vision of where headed with the issue.
He believes its imperative to find one centralized issue that can get the legislature to buy in to. (both the House and Senate)
By the time he is finished he would like to have a Vision Caucus with 120 active members of the House. (and 40 Senate members)
Once the members are on your side and inside the family, funding issues begin to become front and center.
He strongly encourages working of the halls and the building of the relationship of the districts throughout the state.
Instead of whining, be articulate mature advocates to the political process.
Make sure to educate a centralized issue at the district level, the district staff and advertising, etc.
Need to divorce from the politics and the government side.
Rep. Kelly is willing to look at issues and let the Council know if it has “legs”, or not.
After the November election and swearing in they will have a special session on the budget and then get into the policy stuff.
The Council should present Rep. Kelly with an agenda (long term).
Rep. Kelly plans to go around the state and visit agencies and organizations that are dealing with the issue.
He wants to put together a leadership team.
His focus is on children and family issues.
Rep. Kelly asked the Council to help him be a part of the solution long term.

Rep. Kelly gave the Council the following charge:

Decide where the Council wants to go.
Decide issues that need to be on the agenda over the next couple of years.
Suggestions on internal government and public communications.

Bill Hebrock also suggested going to Tallahassee the week of the organization session in November.

Issues the Council deems are important:

Transportation
Blind Babies Program
Blind pedestrians being hit by cars because of the right turn on red.
Making DBS an independent commission for the blind.
The “quiet car”

Kathy believes the importance of encouraging more of the legislators of becoming a part of the Vision Caucus.

LUNCH BREAK

Meeting resumed at 1:10 PM

Strategic Plan

Bob Seemer went over the Sterling Award, Strategic Plan Goals, and the EZ-Self Help System. His talking points were e-mailed to the Council earlier. He informed the Council that he was unable to give a report on the Florida Outreach Center f/t Blind because they have not asked for his assistance.

He gave the Council a break down of the cost when a consultant is used to facilitate writing the application (50 pages) for the Sterling Award.

Consultants pure cost was $25,000 (DBS spent $30,000)
Additional cost, application fees, expenses for examiners on site audit and including consultant fee was $65,000
The most valuable part of the process is the external feedback report provided by the examiners. (9 examiners spending a week in organization) was $110,000 minus $115,000.

Bob informed the Council that the EZ-Self Help System was a system he used to support the Whole Child Project. The Project was created by Rhea Childs. It’s a system based on the holistic needs of a person. The system tracks the responsiveness of the providers and the satisfaction of the customers.

The EZ-Self Help System will be piloted for seniors in DBS and will directly impact the Independent Living Program. It will not be just focused on seniors with a visual impairment, but any senior living in the piloted district can complete the survey. He expects to have the pilot ready to begin in the next 15 to 30 days.

Those involved are: Steve Ritacco, Alex McGlaughlin, Mike Watson, Suzy Hipple, Jamie Smith, and Andrew Limburg.

The purpose of the System is designed to be a risk prevention and self discovery before becoming a crisis. (211 is after there is a crisis)

Providers are evaluated before they go into the System and produce management reports often.

Maintenance on the System will come from the Direct Service Organization (DSO – the Blind Services Foundation) in the future. Bob has agreed to implement the System without any posting or support cost in the first year. The total cost of the Pilot in the 4 counties is $57,600.

Bob ask the Council to keep an open mind and see how the System progresses in Daytona and he will give an update on the Pilot at the next meeting.

Local CRP –Florida Institute of Rehabilitation Education (FIRE)

Barbara Ross, Executive Director

FIRE is changing its name and it will be announced at the “Dining in the Dark” fund raiser.
Have four contracts: Independent Living (IL), Vocational Rehabilitation (VR), Transition and Blind Babies.
Fiscal year with DBS runs October 1st to September 30th.
IL contract with DBS - $233,000
November goal is $132,000
In FY 06/07 saw 170 IL clients.
From October 1, 2007 to date have seen 159 clients.
VR contract with DBS is $221,000.
60 VR clients – 12 are new clients.
In FY 06/07 saw 79 VR clients.
From October 1, 2007 to date have seen 87.
Transition contract with DBS - $135,000.
14 Transition clients.
In FY 06/07 saw 14 Transition clients.
From October 1, 2007 to date have seen 13.
Blind Babies contract runs from July 1st to June 30th.
Last year was the first contract between FIRE and DBS - $70,000.
This year it was reduced to $55,000
In FY 06/07 saw 29 with a deliverable of 28.
This year the deliverable was reduced to 22. Currently have 24.
FIRE has a full staff of 12 positions.
3.5 IL Specialist (also serve VR clients that need IL skills)
One VR Specialist
One O&M Specialist
One Assistant Technology Specialist
One full time Transition CVI teacher.
Also split between Transition and Blind Babies. Provides O&M for Transition and everything with the Babies.
One dedicated staff, CVI, for Babies.
FIRE is non-profit and governed by a Board of Directors.
13 members and 51% must be consumers.
DBS was well prepared for the first monitoring and it went very well.
Gave FIRE enough timeframe to be prepared and know what to expect.
FIRE serves 11 counties.

The Council agreed to have a tour of the facility at the next meeting in Tallahassee in January.

Career in Hospitality Training Program

Joyce spoke to the Council about the pilot program between DBS, the Lighthouse of Central Florida and the National Statler Center for Careers in Hospitality Service. (See attached overview)

A ten week class will be held in Orlando, September 10th through November 20th.

Curriculum includes:

Applied Business Math
Written and Oral Communication
Computer Training
Hospitality
Externship
Friday Presenters

Have received 14 initial referrals from the local office.
Nine of the 14 have been considered very good candidates.
Statler won’t decide until after the next round of referrals.

BREAK

Agenda Items for October – Key West

New Director
Commissioner Smith
Order of Selection
Budget Follow-up
Client Satisfaction Survey
SRC Training Discussion
EZ-Self Help System
District Administrator Report
Key West VRC Counselor
Representative Reports

Location of July 2009 Meeting

Craig moved to have the July 2009 meeting in Daytona.
Motion received a second and passed.

Dates of meeting will be July 16, 17 & 18, 2009.

Representative Reports (Detail of reports)

NFB (National Federation of the Blind) – Dwight (NFB report attached)

Dwight demonstrated the KNFB Reader.

FCB (Florida Council of the Blind) – Jesus (FCB report attached)

Voting issue still not resolved.
FCB will allow 4 more years to be corrected and then will go to court if not.

CAP (Client Assistance Program) – Brian

CAP and the Hyatt in Tampa are currently working together on a training program, “Hands on Education”. Clients are learning to become Sushi Chefs.
Also working on an education video for employers to teach them about using assistive technology in the work place and the advantages of hiring an individual with a disability.
CAP is working with the Orientation and Adjustment Center on re-drafting the Handbook to be a little ore consumer friendly.

BVA (Blinded Veterans Association) – Mike (BVA report attached)

Mike informed the Council that any person who served in the military and developed blindness later is eligible for benefits.
Mike thanked Phyllis, members of the Council and DBS staff for the kindness shown him during his time on the Council.

FFCVI (Florida Families of Children with Visual Impairments) – Sue

Currently the Board consists of older adults and their children are getting college age. They are recruiting younger parents with younger children.
FFCVI has been working with the National Association of Families web site.

LIONS – Marilyn (LIONS report attached)

Marilyn also thanked the Council and staff and stated that she had learned a great deal the past six years serving on the Council.

IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Agency) – Dawn (IDEA) report attached)

CRP (Community Rehabilitation Program) – Robert (report attached)

CRP and FAASB will be participating with DBS in an early intervention process.
State of Vision license plate sales are going well. 120 were sold the month of June and total sales are over the 2,000 mark.

Meeting adjourned at 4:05 PM