January 28, 2004 Work Group Meeting Minutes
The William S. Cohen Community Center, Hallowell, Maine

Present:  Christine Bartlett (chair), Nat Hussey, Stephanie Wolfstone-Francis (by phone), John Baillargeon, Deb Parker Wolfenden , Shirley Bastien, Danny Westcott (Muskie), Helen Bailey, Kathryn Kazenski, Chris Zukas Lessard, Linda Huff, Marcia Cooper, Debbie Williams, and Bill Maxwell (facilitator) 

The meeting began at 1:00 p.m. Christine Bartlett chaired the meeting.

1. Check-In and Roll Call
Christine invited participants to introduce themselves.  Danny introduced Bill Maxwell as the new facilitator from IPSI, replacing Stirling Kendall.

2. Mission Statement and Vision Statement
Christine read the Work Group’s revised vision statement: “All of us together, in community with equality in rights and dignity, in pursuit of happiness and fulfillment.”

3. Meeting Minutes
The Work Group approved the minutes of the July 23 and October 22, 2003 meetings as written.  Before doing so, Helen commented that she did not think the Commissioners endorsed as strongly as written the principles and actions in item # 7 of the October 22, 2003 meeting minutes.

4.  Review of the Agenda
Christine reviewed the agenda and meeting materials.

5.  Ground Rules
Bill Maxwell handed out the “Ground Rules” developed by the Work Group in its formative stage and invited Work Group members to discuss and make revisions, if needed.

6. Future Role for the Work Group
The Work Group’s goals for this meeting were (1) to review, and if possible reach agreement on, revisions to the Work Group’s purpose, scope, functions, and structure, and (2) to discuss activities going forward in the context of: 

• the Commissioners’ charge to the Work Group in October to develop community integration guidelines for departmental planning and assessment;
• possibly handing over to the Work Group responsibility for the sustainability or further development of Quality Choices I products; and
• new projects under Quality Choices II (Systems Change initiative) awarded to DHS and BDS by CMS in October.

After a general discussion of its future role, the Work Group agreed to accept the following activities as the core of its future responsibilities: promoting the Roadmap; monitoring implementation of Roadmap recommendations; developing community integration guidelines; and evaluating success in achieving systems change.  Lacking the specific expertise and experience to develop assessment tools and performance indicators, the Work Group will enlist qualified staff and recognized experts to develop detailed reports for review and reaction.

As a second agenda item, the Work Group reviewed a draft of a document describing its future purpose, scope, structure and functions, offering many additions, corrections and suggestions for change.  Danny agreed to incorporate these suggestions in a revised draft for the next meeting.

7. Sustaining the AccessMaine.org Website
The Work Group discussed where and how best to sustain the www.AccessMaine.org website. This website contains disability-related information and is a product of the Access to Information project under Quality Choice I.   The Work Group decided to formally request commissioner support for having the State take possession of and maintain AccessMaine.org on the State’s website, www.Maine.gov.  The Work Group further agreed to request that all disability-related information be placed on a link on the homepage of www.Maine.gov.  Catherine Ormond will draft a letter on behalf of the Work Group for the Commissioners’ consideration.

8.  Next Meeting
The Work Group decided to meet both in March and in April.  The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday March 24, 2004, 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in Conference Room 1-A at the Department of Human Services, 442 Civic Center Drive, Augusta.  The April meeting will be held on April 28, 2004 from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Cohen Center. Linda Huff has agreed to chair the March  meeting.