February 27, 2002 Work Group Meeting Minutes
The William S. Cohen Community Center, Hallowell, Maine

MORNING SESSION

Services Sub-Group 

Present:  Deb Parker-Wolfenden, Kathryn Kazenski, Myra Champagne, Shirley Bastien, Eileen Griffin (Muskie staff).   

The Services Sub-Group completed the final edits on the two remaining drafts: “Flexible Funding” and “Making Sure Services are Funded” and agreed that the three drafts were ready for consideration by the full Work Group at the March 27^th meeting.

Coordination Sub-Group

Present:  John Baillargeon, Linda Jariz, Stephanie Crystal, Stuart Bratesman (Muskie staff), Danny Westcott (Muskie staff), Nat Hussey, Chris Zukas-Lessard, and Drew Bolduc.

At a very productive meeting, the Coordination of Services Sub-Group made numerous  suggestions for changes in organization and content of the plan, including a need for an introduction and further clarification of the targeted case management services funded by MaineCare.  Eileen will present a revised draft at the next Sub-Group meeting on March 27.

AFTERNOON SESSION

Present:  Stuart Bratesman (Muskie staff), Danny Westcott (Muskie staff), Stirling Kendall (Muskie staff), Myra Champagne, Kathryn Kazenski, Drew Bolduc, Alice Conway, John Baillargeon, Linda Jariz, Chris Zukas-Lessard, Deb Parker-Wolfenden, Stephanie Crystal, Jonathan Connick, Chandra Murphy, Dixie Leavitt, Shirley Bastien, Helen Bailey, Lora Perry, Peter Driscoll, Nat Hussey, John Shattuck, Eileen Griffin (Muskie staff), Lisa Marie Lindenschmidt (Muskie staff), and Joannie Connor.

Not Present:  Christine Bartlett, Cary Gifford, Tom Bancroft, Ron Welch, Tonya Labbe, Cynthia Sudheimer, Jane Gallivan.

In Christine Bartlett’s absence, Deb Parker-Wolfenden and Helen Bailey acted as chairs. Stirling Kendall facilitated.

1.  Check-in and Roll Call
Joannie Connor of BMS and Lisa Marie Lindenschmidt of Muskie were introduced and welcomed to the meeting; they were invited to observe the proceedings and to meet Work Group members.  Lisa Marie makes all the special arrangements for Work Group meetings, including accommodations for sound, sign language interpretation, CART services, and food.  Joannie now handles all of the mailings to Work Group members. 

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 Work Group approved the January 23 meeting minutes with minor revisions.

4.  Reports from Sub-Groups

Public Communications Team (PCT).  Deb Parker-Wolfenden gave the report to the Work Group. The Public Communications Team met on February 12 and discussed revisions to the brochure, targeted meetings, and the Olmstead fact sheet.

• Brochure:  PCT reported that there were three objectives for the design and layout of the brochure: ensuring visual appeal and readability for people with low vision; clearly informing the public of the Work Group’s purpose in asking for help; and providing sufficient room for people to respond in writing.  PCT said that members liked the look of the newly designed brochure, especially the paper selection, text, and framing colors, and thought that the brochure should be enlarged to 8" x 14" to allow space for describing Olmstead and for inserting a full-size response sheet. 

• Small targeted meetings: The goal is to be invited to speak at the meetings of organizations PCT specifically targets.  PCT recommended that we begin by focusing on the organizations represented by Work Group members, and then select other groups, including providers, as needed to ensure broad participation. 

• Short video: To ensure consistency in presentation, PCT recommends we produce and show a 5 to 10 minute video at the start of each meeting.  PCT thinks that a well-produced video, featuring a known and respected spokesperson like Libby Mitchell or Bill Schneider, would grab people’s attention so that our message is conveyed. 
  
  Jonathan encouraged Group members to do outreach by going to the targeted events. He said that he and the Maine Association for the Deaf are happy to help on that, to gather data and to do surveys.  He recommends that the video be captioned and that cart and interpreter services be available.

• Olmstead Fact Sheet:  PCT reported that it approved the Olmstead Fact Sheet for distribution to the press and other media outlets.

Drafting Sub-Group.  The Drafting Sub-Group met on January 30^th to review the “Where We Are Now” portion of the roadmap. Eileen reported the group edited the first 20 pages. She wants to find a way to pick up the pace to finish the edits as soon as possible and will propose a plan for doing so at the next drafting group meeting scheduled for March 6^th. 

Steering Committee.  The Steering Committee, at its meeting on January 30, discussed the Quality Choices project and the public communications strategy.  Eileen reported that each project under the four Quality Choices TAGs was reviewed so Steering Committee members would know whom, among state staff, to recommend for participation.  For the public communications strategy, the Steering Committee considered ways to disseminate information and to receive public comment by using teleconferencing technology and web-based formats to augment or replace face-to-face meetings when necessary.

CHCS Activities.  No report.

Quality Choices Grant.  Danny reported that the first Technical Advisory Group (TAG) organizational meetings for project staff and Work Group members were held for Person-centered Services and Access on February 5, 2002 and for Quality and Data Integration on February 12, 2002.  Danny introduced the Quality Choices grant and staff described each of the 12 proposed projects. Staff and Work Group members also talked about how Technical Advisory Groups would function and discussed strategies for recruiting new members. 

Recruitment is underway. Danny invited Work Group members to nominate additional TAG members, preferably before the first full TAG meetings scheduled for:

a. Access: March 19, 9:00 am to noon;

b. Person-centered Services: March 19, 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm;

c. Data Integration: April 2, 10:00 am to noon;

d. Quality: April 2, 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm.

At this meeting, project staff will present updates on the proposed projects and ask for guidance from TAG members.

5.  Connection Between the Work Group’s Mission and Olmstead
The Work Group talked about Eileen’s January 16 memo that describes the Olmstead decision and lists the elements that need to be addressed in order for the Work Group’s roadmap to respond to the ‘meat and potatoes” of the Olmstead decision. The discussion centered on ways to build in flexibility and breadth in interpreting the Olmstead decision, for example, by expanding the definition of treating professional to include providers other than the state and by providing for second opinions on placement decisions.  In a discussion of the list of “Olmstead elements”, the Work Group suggested some changes in wording and expressed a general concern about difficulty in implementation.  The memo will be used to guide the drafting for the description sections of the plan still to be completed.

6.  Data
With reference to the table of information collected by the state’s departments, the Work Group discussed what information will be needed in the final roadmap, the problems of duplication in the State’s data and the need for data integration to improve community-based services for people with disabilities. Based on this discussion, the Steering Committee will work to get the relevant information from the state.

7.  Transportation
Stuart Bratesman reported that the latest draft includes the change from “Medicaid” to MaineCare, as Chris Zukas-Lessard had requested. Then the draft describing transportation services in Maine was approved by the Work Group with the proviso that the final document includes information about transportation in the evening and for recreation and social activities. Stuart also reported that the Department of Transportation wants to use a portion of the final document for its website.

8.  Employment
Eileen invited comments on the draft describing employment services available in Maine. Linda reported that BDS is still reviewing the draft.  Eileen requested that additional comments be sent to her in time for inclusion in a revised draft for the March 27 Work Group meeting. 

9.  Announcements
Eileen noted that the Drafting Sub-Group will meet on March 6.  Eileen mentioned that the Services Sub-Group had discussed the idea of approaching the Disability Rights Center (DRC) about using PAIR funding to train consumers about their housing rights.  Sub-Group members had discussed that this seemed to be consistent with the intended use of the PAIR funding and responded to some of the recommendations identified in the Services Sub-Group report.  Helen Bailey announced that the Disability Rights Center identifies priorities for how to spend PAIR funds,  that the DRC is interested in input about how to prioritize, and educating consumers on their housing rights could fall within the DRC’S priorities.  Helen said she would report back to the Work Group on how DRC planned to spend its PAIR funds

10.  Next Meeting
The March meeting, at the Cohen Center, is scheduled for Wednesday, March 27 from 9:30 am to noon for the Coordination of Services Sub-Group and from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm for the full Work Group.  Helen Bailey is the chair of this meeting.