July 25, 2001 Work Group Meeting Minutes
The William S. Cohen Community Center, Hallowell, Maine

Present: Christine Bartlett, Linda Jariz, Cary Gifford, Cynthia Sudheimer, Stuart Bratesman (Muskie staff), Deb Parker Wolfenden, Tom Bancroft, Tonya Labbe, Alice Conway, Chandra Murphy, Drew Bolduc, Lora Perry, Stephanie Crystal, Margaret Forbes, Marcia Cooper (observing), Jonathan Connick, John Baillargeon, Eileen Griffin (Muskie staff), Mark Richards (Muskie staff), Catherine Ormond (Muskie staff), Erika Ziller (Muskie staff), Peter Driscoll, Donna Lerman (Muskie staff)

Not present:  Nat Hussey, Kathryn Kazenski, John Shattuck, Tracy Piantoni, Jane Gallivan, Chris Zukas-Lessard, Ron Welch, Helen Bailey, Dixie Leavitt

Drew Bolduc chaired the meeting.

1. Check-in and Roll Call
Today was the first meeting for Linda Jariz, who will be taking Susan Wygal’s place on behalf of the Department of Behavioral and Developmental Services.  Also, Marcia Cooper came to observe the Work Group’s meeting as an interested party.

2. Vision Statement
The Work Group read its vision statement:  “Together in community with equality in rights and dignity, in pursuit of happiness and fulfillment.”

3. Meeting Minutes
The June 27 meeting minutes were approved with revisions.

4.  Focus Group Report
Catherine Ormond, Mark Richards and Erika Ziller reported their findings from the 12 focus groups that were conducted to support the Work Group’s planning effort.  Funding for the focus groups came from a grant from the Center for Health Care Strategies to the Department of Human Services.  The focus groups were conducted by the Muskie School, with direction from the Work Group and the “Focus Group Advisory Committee” (Helen Bailey, Alice Conway, Stephanie Crystal, Jane O’Loughlin French, Kathryn Kazenski, Chandra Murphy, and Paula Moore).  There were nine “community” focus groups:  three each (one for parents of children with special needs, one for adults with disabilities, and one for providers) conducted in three communities (Portland, Rumford and Machias).  In addition, there were three other focus groups conducted for people living in three segregated settings:  Bangor Mental Health Institute, a boarding home, and a third for parents of children in the Maine Youth Center. 

Mark Richards reported on the recruitment methodology, which required over 300 contacts with providers.  Erika Ziller and Catherine Ormond reported on the findings.  The focus groups identified a series of concerns. It is hoped that the full report will be available on the Work Group’s website. 

Work Group members made several comments on the report.  Margaret Forbes noted that community housing should not mean segregation into ghettos.  In response to the focus group finding that consumers like consumer control and direction, Peter Driscoll commented that if consumers were in charge of agencies and were making decisions about staff, etc., there would be a profound change in how much control consumers had over the services they receive.  Drew Bolduc commented that the Work Group should make sure its efforts are coordinated with similar efforts undertaken by the family support grants, the Quality Improvement Councils, etc. 

The Work Group also discussed the case study and key informant interview reports which are currently underway.

5.  Sub-Group Activities

a.  Services Sub-Group. (Members present:  Margaret Forbes, Chandra Murphy, Alice Conway, Deb Parker Wolfenden.  Staff: Eileen Griffin)

The Services Sub-Group discussed the role of the consumer in quality management.  Deb and Margaret agreed to forward to Eileen within the next week quality improvement information that set some guidelines specific to Maine.  This information would be shared with the other members of the Sub-Group.  The Sub-Group agreed to adopt a set of guiding principles, with revisions, that have been used by licensing program in Minnesota.  The Sub-Group discussed again the transition/adult services piece.  It was agreed that Eileen would consult with Ron and Helen to get their input on how to proceed with that set of recommendations. 

b.  Workforce Sub-Group.  (Members present: Cynthia Sudheimer, Cary Gifford, Lora Perry.  Staff: Stuart Bratesman)

The Workforce Sub-Group agreed to be ready to present their draft section of the Working Plan to the full Work Group at the August meeting.  Lora Perry agreed to make the presentation.  The Sub-Group discussed some of the unfinished sections of the draft during the Work Group meeting and will continue to work on the draft via e-mail.

c.  Coordination Sub-Group.  (Members present:  John Baillargeon, Tom Bancroft, Christine Bartlett, Drew Bolduc, Jonathan Connick, Stephanie Crystal, Linda Jariz (replacing Susan Wygal), Tonya Labbe.  Absent: Peter Driscoll, Nat Hussey, John Shattuck, Chris Zukas-Lessard)

1. Jonathan discussed the Governor Baxter School for the Deaf, noting that it has been improperly labeled as an "institution" within the Olmstead context.  This school provides a service to the deaf community.  It provides an environment in which instruction, language, and cultural opportunities, that are not otherwise available in the state, can be provided to children.  It should continue to be available as a choice to deaf consumers.  He said it should be considered a boarding school, rather than an institution.  He further noted that deaf children do not receive a proper education in local, community-based schools due to the lack of qualified interpreters and that the Department of Education has not been responsive to this need.  Interpreters in the local schools fall into the category of "Ed. Tech;" this position is poorly compensated and it is not surprising that qualified interpreters with 4-8 years of training do not take such positions.  He also noted that the ADA requires that all community-based services provide interpreters for deaf consumers, but that many providers simply do not respond to this requirement.  Services for deaf consumers should be available wherever deaf consumers want to go.

Christine responded that there is a shortage of trained, certified interpreters, as well as speech and language pathologists, in the state.  The department of education is aware of the problem; however, the department does not set the pay scales - the local school districts set these rates.  She noted that all salaries in schools are low - classroom teachers, with four years of training, earn salaries of $19,000. 

2.  The group discussed Tom and Chris' draft plan for the Improving Access to Information.  After a brief discussion, the group suggested that the next draft should address: 1) community-based computer sites for consumers who do not have home computers or who do not have internet access, 2) how access to information from other departments (Education, Labor, etc.) will be improved, and 3) improved access to information for persons who do not use the computer at all (consumers who use the telephone or TTY to obtain information about eligibility, availability of providers, etc).  E.g., will state agency staff be trained to use the web-based services, or what other steps will be taken to improve their capacity to give correct, consistent information via telephone, or in person, to consumers?

3. The group began to discuss the Single Point of Entry draft plan developed by John, Tonya and Peter; however, time constraints prohibited a substantive discussion.

4.  Committee members should email their comments and suggestions on the plans to John Shattuck (Single Point of Entry) and to Tom Bancroft (Improving Access to Information) so that John and Tom can include their suggestions in the second drafts.  The second drafts of these two plan should be emailed to the entire subgroup before the next meeting on August 22^nd.

5. The two remaining plans will be discussed at the August 22nd meeting.  These drafts should be emailed to the entire group before the next meeting in order for subgroup members to review them in advance.  The plan for the Case Manager Review is being developed by John Baillargeon, Stephanie Crystal and Linda Jariz.  The plan for Assessing and Reviewing Effectiveness of Services is being developed by Nat Hussey, Christine Bartlett and Tonya Labbe.

6. The four plans will need to be finalized so that they can be shared with the full Work Group in September.  Subcommittee members working on the four Coordination plans can get together by email or phone to coordinate their work. 

In keeping with the Coordination subgroup's tradition of assigning tasks to members who are absent, Chris Zukas-Lessard was nominated, seconded, and unanimously appointed  to the position of reminding subcommittee members of their tasks and keeping them on schedule, since Catherine will no longer be working with the subgroup.

6. Drafting Meeting
A sign-up sheet was passed around for members to sign up for the drafting meeting scheduled for August 1, 1:00 to 3:00.

7. Other Business
Agenda items for the August 22 meeting include:  report from the Work Force Development Sub-Group, the public comment process and the Work Group’s timeline, waiting lists, sub-group activities.  The August meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, August 22 from 1:00-to-4:00pm at the Cohen Center.  Stephanie Crystal is the chair of this meeting.