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HomeMy WebLinkAbout201003_DDAB MinutesJEFFERSON COUNTY PUBLIC HEALTH 615 Sheridan Street  Port Townsend  Washington  98368 www.jeffersoncountypublichealth.org Developmental Disabilities (DD) Advisory Board M I N U T E S March 23, 2010 Board Attendees: Carl Hanson (Co-chair), Lesly Sheinbaum (Co-chair), John Austin, Carla Meyer, Catharine Robinson Board Absentees: none Guests: Kim Rafferty, Tobias Clawson, Kelly Matlock, Janie Nelson-Clark, Lisa Falcone, Patty Perry, Jenell DeMatteo, Joseph Criswell, Larry John Christiansen, Kristen Bryant Staff: Anna McEnery, Donna Marvin (Recorder) Call to Order Meeting called to order by Co-Chair Carl Hanson at 3:27 pm. All members were in attendance. Approval of Agenda Member Austin moved to approve the agenda as amended. Motion seconded by Member Sheinbaum. Motion carried unanimously. Approval of Minutes from January 26, 2010 Member Austin moved to approve the minutes as written. Motion seconded by Member Robinson. Motion carried unanimously. Introductions Those in attendance were introduced and a sign-in sheet was circulated. Public Comments Kim Rafferty expressed concerns that the Food Bank has a new policy that people with developmental disabilities will no longer be accepted as volunteers. Anna will follow up with the Food Bank to find out what is behind this decision. New Business and Presentations: Update from the Project SEARCH Transition Students and Advocacy Day in Olympia Kristen Bryant, Project SEARCH Coordinator gave an overview of the program which has been in place now for 7 months. The students in the program are Joey Criswell, Larry John Christiansen, Kurtis Kench and Marjorie Mougel. They have all completed their second full rotation (work site). The work sites are dietary (kitchen), laundry, environmental services (housekeeping) and human resources. They are now currently in the prep week where they plan for the final rotation which will begin on Monday, March 29. Two of the students will be graduating on June 15th and the hospital will be hosting a graduation party at 10:00 a.m. Joey and Larry John talked about the Project Search program, their duties and positive work experiences on their first two rotations. They have also have classroom time where they have work on budgets, portfolios and video resumes. Developmental Disability Advisory Board - Minutes 03/23/10 Page 2 of 4 Anna has set up a day for the Advisory Board to tour Project Search on April 27th, 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. All are welcome to attend. Kristen talked about the field trip to Olympia on February 24th for Advocacy Day/Independent Living Rally. The group went as part of People First from Jefferson. Joey Criswell and Larry John Christiansen both shared what a great experience it was for them to take the trip to Olympia and talk to Rep. Lynn Kessler during the budget talks. Joey spoke to her about closing down the institutions and Larry spoke to her about not cutting employment services. Anna explained that every Wednesday during the legislative session is Advocacy Day. Each Wednesday has a different theme and you can attend a morning briefing on all active Bills associated with Developmental Disabilities. Then meet with your Legislators in the afternoon. Advocacy Day was created quite a few years back. It’s a great format and other agencies have used it because it is so effective. Update on the 2010 Legislative Session & the Orchid Program Jenell DeMatteo talked about the Orchid Program which is an all women’s group that she will be facilitating starting in April. The group is for women 18 years and older with developmental disabilities and she is accepting registrations at this time. The program will promote inclusion rather than isolation; emphasize choice and relationship with self and others in the community. They will be learning, exploring, doing hands-on activities, having guest speakers, experiential education and will also do some celebration through art and various experiences. Jenell did this last year in Kitsap County and they had a great time, so the DD Program wanted to see if she could get a group going in Jefferson County for this quarter. She distributed a handout. Jenell is doing a parent workshop on the importance of inclusion of people with developmental disabilities. She will be showing the video “Including Samuel”. She distributed a flier. Jenell will be running a resident camp program for adults with developmental disabilities August 19-22, 2010 for four days. It is a Kitsap, Jefferson and Clallam County resident camp. She currently has 35 people registered. Jenell reported that the 2010 Legislative session (not officially over yet) is still in budget. The legislative priorities for the statewide Coalition are Protect essential services Support the findings of the RHC Study (transitioning RHCs to regional crisis centers) to create/sustain and increase access to community resources – eventually downsizing and eliminating the institutions in the state. Support increasing revenue by moving people onto the Medicaid waiver and also request a dedicated funding source for services for people with developmental disabilities. Jenell explained which Bills have gone through, but most of our Bills did not get out of committee. She talked about the critical Bills that did pass including the Respectful Language, the Vulnerable Adults and the Infant Toddler Early Intervention Program. We are waiting for the budget to come out and then we will know what services will have been saved or cut from the disability budget. Three examples of budget money they are hoping to get restored is the Parent-to-Parent Program statewide ($100,000); restore self-advocacy funding ($100,000); and funding parent support to work with school districts who have difficulty serving children with challenging behaviors ($100,000). There are several more. She distributed and explained the 2010 Revenue Proposal Comparison Chart. She noted that it was a quick and stressful session and everyone has been working hard to maintain services. Developmental Disability Advisory Board - Minutes 03/23/10 Page 3 of 4 Update on Skookum’s Employment Programs Lisa Falcone distributed a brochure that was designed to give to businesses. She explained about services available through Skookum’s employment services. They offer employment services that lead to integrated employment in the community. They work with about 20 individuals between their Person-to-Person services and Individual Supported Employment services. About half are in the preparation process of getting job-ready by working with a job coach on employment skills, interviewing skills, hygiene, etc. (Person-to- Person). The other individuals are already employed in the community (at Subway, Safeway, Badd Habit, Uptown Nutrition, etc.). A job coach accompanies them for their support needs and to maintain their employment. Six out of seven individuals who had been working at Jumprope remained with Skookum as their employment provider and continue to work on the various stages of their employment plan process. One individual went to Concerned Citizens. Skookum recently placed one of the six individuals in the community, working at Jordini’s for four hours/week. In the last couple of weeks it appears that job development is picking up and they are starting to find some new opportunities for the clients who worked at Jumprope. Presentation on the future of Coordinated Transportation in Jefferson County Patty Perry, Jefferson Transit Mobility Coordinator (she started in December, 2009) opened her presentation by sharing her background. She noted that she enjoys her job and working with people with developmental disabilities, as well as with the senior population. She strives to solve the transportation problems by using her imagination and creativity. It often involves a lot of phone calls, a lot of outreach to gather resources & working with people as a team. Carla Meyer talked about the upcoming services changes at Jefferson Transit. She stated that she would like to see this Mobility Coordinator position become the central hub to manage the coordinated transportation system. It’s a matter of getting the word out there, but it takes time. She talked about Google-Transit (www.transit.google.com) which is a transit website that gives you step-by-step instructions about what transits to use. It resembles Google-Maps and is a very helpful program. Discussion on Our Kids-Our Business (OKOB) & the Posters & Coasters Campaign Kelly Matlock talked about the 3rd Annual Our Kids-Our Business (OKOB) campaign, a social awareness and prevention campaign around the issue of child abuse prevention. April is Child Abuse Prevention & Sexual Assault Awareness Month and both Jefferson County and the City issued Proclamations in support of the OKOB program. Our campaign was modeled after a Spokane campaign and the emphasis is on the prevention of child abuse. There have been three articles in the magazine “Living on the Peninsula” about what communities can do to support kids and families, about the campaign, and about the call to action and the pledge. Community members are asked to do at least one thing in the next year to make Jefferson County a safer and more nurturing place for kids. Anna talked about the Posters & Coasters Campaign which encourages pregnant women and their partners to not smoke, drink or do drugs. Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders is the #1 preventable Developmental Disability in this country. One tragic statistic believes that 25% of people with developmental disabilities could have been prevented if their mother had not ingested alcohol during pregnancy. She distributed CDC information with statistics about how many women 18-44 drink alcohol. The poster campaign group will meet at the Health Department, March 30, noon – 1:00 and receive the posters and coasters and develop a plan for their distribution. There was further discussion and questions. Developmental Disability Advisory Board - Minutes 03/23/10 Page 4 of 4 Old Business & Informational Items: Tour of Project SEARCH at the Hospital: Anna will email the confirmed time (probably from 10:00 – 11:00). JLARC Survey: Anna gave an update on the Joint Legislative Audit & Review Committee, (JLARC). The survey involves seven sections and is going on weekly (currently on section 4). There are about 2 more weeks remaining. She is happy to share the information with anyone who is interested Update – DD Program Budget for 2009-2010 (Handout): Anna noted that she went over this budget 2 months ago, but this version has been updated. The most challenging piece of budgeting for the DD Program is reconciling the fiscal year budget from DDD with the County’s budget that is based on the calendar year. Anna will bring requested updates on the DD budget quarterly. She pointed out that in this fiscal year we are going to have to move some money from Training & Community Information into Direct Service because we have some waivered Clients that are using more direct services hours than we initially budgeted. FLASH (Family Life & Sexual Health) Classes (Handout): A reminder about the classes – based on the FLASH curriculum for special education in high school transition programs. Kelly Matlock will be teaching these classes and Anna will be there to support her. Kelly would like RSVPs. The first series of five classes will begin May 4th and the next five will be scheduled in September. SEPAC Meetings (Handout): Anna distributed a new brochure. The next meeting is Tuesday, April 27th and the group will be discussing a grab bag of school items, IEPs, positive behavior instruction, grading, comments on report cards for WASL, Transition and their presentation to the school board. If anyone is interested in attending or being on the email list please see the contact info on the brochure. Update on Jefferson County DD Program’s Poster Session for National Public Health Conference: Anna distributed a reduced size copy of the poster displayed and the National Public Health Conference. She related experiences from the conference. RFP for Recycling Center and MRW Risk Management: Anna has asked Public Works department if Al Cairns would come and speak to our Board about the Recycling RFP. The RFP should be coming out in May or June and hopefully a decision will be made by July or August. Resource Guides: Anna just got more Resource Guides printed and they are available at her office. Public Comments There were no public comments. Next meeting: Tuesday, May 25, 2010 Meeting was adjourned at 4:53 p.m.