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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20210525_DDAB MINUTES-MAY 25-2021-FINAL1 JEFFERSON COUNTY DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES ADVISORY BOARD MINUTES - FINAL Tuesday, May 25th, 2021 I. Introductions Board Attendees: Carl Hanson (Co-Chair), Kim Rafferty (Co-Chair), Owen Rowe, Kelly Matlock, Matlock, Heidi Eisenhour, Shelby MacMeekin Guests: Robin Burdick, Taylor Webster, Lara Radke, Krista Milhofer, Kimberly Adams, Tanya Barnett, Cherish Cronmiller, Nancy Villagran, Claudia Coppola, Melinda Miller, Catie Morton Staff: Anna Mc Enery Staff Mc Enery reported that Dale Wilson resigned from the DDAB and that she will be talking to interested individuals about joining the board. II. Approval of Agenda for the Meeting Member Rowe (M)/ Member Eisenhour (S) III. Approval of Minutes from following DDAB Meetings: November 24, 2020, as corrected Member Eisenhour (M)/Member Matlock (S). January 26, 2021, Member Matlock (M)/ Member Rafferty (S) March 23, 2021, I/DD Awareness Panel Member Rafferty (M)/Member Eisenhour (S) IV. Public Comments Member Rafferty reported that Olympic Neighbors would be starting their June Walkathon Fund Raiser soon. V. New Business/Presentations/Updates a. Presentation from the People First of Washington State Krista Milhofer shared information about their program. She reported that their purpose is to educate, advocate and celebrate people with disabilities all over the State of Washington. At one time there was a real presence in Jefferson and Clallam County, and they really hope to bring the Chapter back together in Jefferson County. Krista reported that People First of Washington has changed over the last few years. The former Program Administrator was with the organization for many years and when she retired, the Board hired Krista. Due to COVID, People First started working through Zoom; they have their own Zoom room with a Coordinator who can help people educate, celebrate and advocate online. Krista noted that there really is no getting around the fact that meeting in person is the preferred way for people to connect. In starting a new Chapter, Krista said they are looking for a new Advisor for the Chapter. This means reaching out to the members who were previously involved and explaining the role of a Chapter Advisor. Krista shared a video made by members explaining the Advisor role. 2 Krista invited Kimberly Adams, the Jefferson/Kitsap County P2P Coordinator and the Chapter Advisor for Kitsap County People First, to talk about her role there. Kimberly expressed her pleasure in helping the group to find their way, finding their sense of community, and developing what the group wants to focus on. Krista will be coming up to Jefferson County on June 10th-12th along with the State Board President, Michael Raymond, and Sam Greatwood, the Region 6 representative who oversees the whole Peninsula. They hope to meet with as many community members as possible to learn about the resources of Jefferson County. Guest, Taylor Webster asked if Krista could pass information along to potential participants who might be interested. Taylor said she would like to set up a greet and meeting at the Cascade Community Connections office, during the time they are in the area. Krista felt that would be a great way to proceed. Krista left her contact information for individuals to connect with her. b. Presentation from the YMCA/Navigator Tanya Barnett-Family Resource Navigator presented a slide show and explained the role of the Navigator and that it began during the Pandemic. The focus is to help families navigate and access services and programs. Tanya explained that the hope is not to “re-invent the wheel” but rather to amplify the programs and agencies that are already in place to help families. Her job’s emphasis in the program is to reach ALICE families – Asset Limited, Income Challenged, and Employed. Pre COVID in Jefferson County that population was about 38% of our population with 13% of those families in crisis and another 25% who were above that but not self-sufficient or thriving. Given COVID even some of the self-sufficient families are facing hardship. Tanya expressed gratitude for the funding of this position provided by CARES Act funding through the County. Tanya’s role is to be a centralized access point to help families’ access current and useful resources so that she may help coordinate working with agencies and organizations to access those resources for families throughout the County. Staff Mc Enery shared a success story about a family who needed assistance in filling out the paperwork for DDA. With Tanya’s support, it was much less overwhelming for them. Catie Morton shared appreciation for the support that Tanya’s assistance provides in working with DDA Case Resource Managers. They are coordinating with families trying to find services and programs for their children, as they age out of school. In her role, Tanya assists families to navigate DDA and other resources. c. Changes-In-Direct Funding of the ACAC Grant Co-Chair, Carl Hanson shared his concern about the changes being made in funding for the ACAC grants awarded through the State. Carl noted that the demand is high for the funds that are available. Recently, a change occurred to limit available funding by not providing funds for any indirect costs associated with projects. Carl explained that the majority of the ACAC grant funding has gone directly to each of the projects; yet the role that Anna Mc Enery has played this has been a significant one. She has been organizer and coordinator for the ACAC Committee. 3 Staff Mc Enery expressed her opinion that its short sighted of the Governor's Committee to think that the local government entities who receive grant funds are just going to somehow assimilate the administrative costs. Staff Mc Enery shared the different parts of administration she does when working with the ACAC grants: scheduling and facilitating meetings, creating agendas, cost for taking notes, emailing out the notice reminders, agendas, scheduling etc. In addition, she has oversight on the contract, any invoices for payment and the budget projections created via the monthly spreadsheet. Also, problem solving and technical assistance with any project, that needs it. Staff Mc Enery reported that in the past, her staffing time would average about 20 hours a month. This time, the Committee only requested funding for two ACAC Grant projects, so she only requested six hours a month of time for oversight. Additionally, Staff Mc Enery noted that Public Health usually asks for 33% when requesting administrative costs. However, they only asked for 15% from the ACAC grants. In talking with the Public Health Deputy Director, she has said that the County may not be able to staff ACAC in the future, if we no longer receive funding. Jefferson County has been able to support $160,000 worth of projects over the last six years. The ACAC has really done some good work in this community. Co-Chair, Kim Rafferty, suggested that the ACAC agree to put a letter together for the Governor’s Committee (with our comments) regarding their decision and then forward the letter to County Commissioners to inform them of these changes. Staff Mc Enery noted that the ACAC Committee will be meeting next week and could draft bullet points for a letter. She commented that it could be possible for the Governor’s Committee, to integrate 10-15% of the funding to cover the administration costs of these grants. d. DD County Millage Budget- 2021/2022 Staff Mc Enery shared that Millage basically means County property tax dollars. Mc Enery shared the budget spreadsheet, and the following are items were reviewed: 1. Family Resource Navigator: This is a contract is on the biennial year, beginning July 1, 2021. This contract will be in the amount of $5500, averaging $458 a month which will pay for almost two days a month for Tonya Barnett to reach out to help parents to sign up for DDA. 2. Job Foundations Reports: This year one is being paid for by the County, but next year DDA and OSPI will be paying for them. 3. People First: The County is going to put forward a $10,000 contract beginning July 1. It works out to about $833 a month – or between 24 and 27 hours a month. A portion of the funding will pay for a Chapter Advisor. Additionally, it can pay for registration and transportation, so individuals who experience intellectual disabilities cab participate in the annual convention. 4. Transition Service: This will pay for Person Centered plans for individuals who experience intellectual disabilities. The DD Coordinator for Thurston-Mason County, contracted with Wise to offer a two-day workshop in Person Centered planning, training. Jefferson County has four people registered; two from Skookum, one from Cascade, and one person from the YMCA. 4 After this training we will have certified Person Center Planners, so the County DD program can contract with a Planner. An individual who experiences intellectual/developmental disability will be able to choose their Planner and receive up to 10 hours of service. The caveat is that DDA has said that employment providers are not able to provide Person Centered Planning to their own clients, but they can provide them to clients they are not serving. The hope is that there could be some individuals in the schools that could use a Person-Centered plan as they are heading into the world of adulthood. 5. Wise Trainings and Community Support: Funding is always set aside for ongoing Wise trainings and for the Community Summit. Additionally, Staff Mc Enery reported that Kim Rafferty brought forward a need for our community. Kim suggested Sign Language Classes. This effort might encourage people who are nonverbal to develop better communication skills. 6. Future Projects: a. Birth to Three: infant and early childhood mental health training, b. Flash Trainings: family life and sexual health, and c. Social Media Safety VI. DD COORDINATOR INFO/UPDATES Some of the information for the DD Coordinator Report was shared under budget items, but there were a few items that Staff Mc Enery enlarged upon. People First: Anna Mc Enery reported that the People First contract will be in place July 1st. Krista, the State People First Coordinator, will be working with our community to recruit and acquire a local Chapter Advisor. Next, develop the Jefferson County People First group and locate members. The plan is to have at least one People First meeting per month and a one Program Officers meeting as well. Training will be provided for individuals in leadership positions, so that it becomes a self-governing group; providing leadership, skill development, training, and meeting management. There are plans to provide an informational public event in Jefferson County, to educate the community about the programs and to connect with local agencies such as the DD Advisory Board, school districts about other self-advocates. Wise Community Summit Workshop: Anna Mc Enery reported that Jefferson County will be co- sponsoring a Wise Community Summit workshop. This workshop is centered on social media safety. It will be looking at the world of internet relationships, and some of the risks, rewards, and dangers. The hope is that the training will help individuals support someone as they navigate the challenges, weigh the pros, the cons and consequences of online relationships, friendships, and dating. The hope is to building skills, safety net standards, and a team-based approach to supporting technology use. Staff Mc Enery reminded everyone that Jefferson County Employment Provider evaluations are happening soon. The Provider evaluations are going to be done virtually for agencies who have client files on online. 5 The Third intellectual Developmental Disability Awareness Panel: Staff Mc Enery reported that this Panel will be centered on Law and Justice. She has reached out to David Money about contacting the DDA individual who oversees community protection, and their DD mental health team, because she would like them to attend this panel. She will also be speaking with a Public Defender Nat Jacobs. He brought this forward to Kim Rafferty, as an issue our community should look at. ACAC Community Forum: Staff Mc Enery reported that the Forum was successful. The press release brought forward a new people and there were several who talked to her or sent emails afterwards about potential project ideas. Transition Network Job Foundations: Staff Mc Enery heard that Melanie Garrett, who had worked with the Olympic ESD 114 has found another position. Melanie had been facilitating and coordinating the Clallam County Transition Network. Staff Mc Enery reached out to Melanie and asked if they would be interested in facilitating the Jefferson County Transition Network, thinking that might create better continuity across the Olympic Peninsula, as well as with school districts. Melanie said, the OESD would be happy to facilitate the Jefferson County Network. Staff Mc Enery recently met with Melanie and suggested it might be time for the Jefferson Co. Transition Network to have another retreat. They spoke about having a regional meeting across all three Counties with the Center for Change and Transition. All Counties could learn about cutting edge transition services, what innovative practices are happening across our State and even our nation. Then following up with a retreat just for the Jefferson Co. Transition Network. Also, rather than having separate meetings, for Job Foundations, Staff Mc Enery reported that there it will be a standing agenda item at future Transition Network meetings. This is partly due to zoom fatigue, but also, there’s just not a lot to report on right now. She emphasized that it will be possible to restart a job foundations meeting, if needed in future. Transition Recovery Services: Staff Mc Enery reported that she has just learned that are additional transition services for students with IEP s that may have missed special education or related services due to COVID. At this point we are waiting to hear more, and it will be interesting to hear more what this service is going to look like, and how it will occur VII. Old Business-Informational Items & Future Meetings Informational Items: A. Update/Developmental Disabilities Administration/(DDA) Catie Morton reported that there has been an increase in Waiver availability, and all Case Managers have been working hard to get as many clients as they can on the Basic Plus Waiver, so individuals have access to additional services. The DDA budget is looking better than they thought it would last year during the pandemic. Catie said she thinks the word out is getting out about DDA in Jefferson County, especially with younger people. Many people have been approved and are just waiting to have a Case Manager assigned to them. DDA is fully staffed now, with two new Case Managers hired to work out of the Clallam office. Caseloads will be shifted around to create manageable numbers and so each CRM will be able to reach out to more people. 6 Catie also reported, that DDA just established a contract for Respite Care with Cascade Community Connections. Additionally, three people are contracted to provide Specialized Habilitation which Catie described at a prior meeting. This service can help individuals create healthy relationships, adapt to challenges, and improve the overall quality of their life. Catie reported the other new DDS service now available is called Peer Mentoring. Staff Mc Enery asked what Peer Mentoring service is? Taylor Webster of Cascade Community Connections explained that people can access their Waiver Services to accomplish a specific goal by working with a Peer Mentor instead of a paid Provider. Taylor went on to explain that the Peer Mentor Program can match up people who experience intellectual developmental disabilities with other people who experience intellectual developmental disabilities-(peers), but it is not limited to that. For example, a high school student who experiences an intellectual disability wants to go to the prom. This individual might partner with another peer, who may or may not have an intellectual disability, but they've had the experience of going to the prom and can help them through that process. B. Update/Division of Vocational Rehabilitation for Jefferson County Lara Radke reported that DVR now has an ATAP person who is willing to come to the Peninsula to support people who need technology assistance and accommodations. The ATAP person will evaluate their request. Also, a new Regional Transition Coordinator has been hired; so hopefully workshops will be back in place again starting next school year. C. Update on Olympic Neighbors/Hamilton House Claudia Coppola reported that they are returning to a more normal pace at Hamilton House. Residents are going back to the gym, volunteer sites and visiting with friends and family. Olympic Neighbors is in the process of hiring a full-time Supervisor to manage Hamilton house. They are also exploring the idea of providing new services. D. Continued Update about Jefferson County Housing/ New 1/10th of 1% Sales Tax/House Bill 1590-/Update on the Hendricks Housing Project /Other Housing Issues Cherish Cronmiller reported that housing continues to be a very big issue. • Bayside is working on another set of Tiny Homes that will be available in Port Townsend. • The County and the City are trying to work together to determine how best to utilize some Cares Funding for potential infrastructure, permanent placement for a better emergency shelter or permanent supportive housing in our community. Some people have been living at the emergency shelter for decades; that is not an emergency shelter situation. We need to have a place for these individuals to live. • For individuals that need supportive services, there is a lack of housing overall. The more that we can build up permanent supportive housing, the better it will be for our community. 7 • There is concern about the population currently served at the Fairgrounds and where they might go afterwards. Could the County and City consider investing in the type of mobile home park type setup where there would be RV hookups and space and land for people to land even if it is temporary or transition? • The 7th & Hendrix project is moving along well, there will be a groundbreaking ceremony set for July 22. Creating multi-unit housing complexes takes a lot of money, but there are so many long-term benefits. • OlyCAP has rent assistance available -- not only can residents apply, but so can landlords. When accessing rental assistance, there does need to be a nexus with COVID. (The family or household must have been impacted to some degree by COVID.) • The Housing Solutions Network, with Jefferson Community Foundation, is still doing great work in encouraging folks to think about adding an ADU to their property. VIII. Future Meetings/Events: DDAB Meetings-from 2:45pm to 4:30pm- Zoom Platform ➢ Tuesday, September 28, 2021-THIRD I/DD AWARENESS PANEL ➢ Tuesday, November 23, 2021