State of Vermont
Division of Vocational Rehabilitation
State Rehabilitation Council
Gifford Memorial Hospital
Randolph, Vermont
September 2, 2004
Present:
Hugh Bradshaw, Sue Peck, Abryana Wood, Beth Diederich, John Alexander,
Kim Towle, Diane Dalmasse, Rita Phelps, Sue Powers, Phil Wolf, Michelle Hubert,
Tom Pombar, Jonathan Provencher, Harriet Hall, Addy Smith-Reiman, Peter
Grassadonia, Francis Grassadonia, Brian Robertson, and Glen McClintock.
Sue
Peck called the meeting to order at 10:03 am and reviewed the Ground Rules.
The
following corrections were made to the minutes of the June 3, 2004 quarterly
meeting before they were approved on a motion by Hall/Alexander:
1.
Add Jim
Moulton to those who were present;
2.
Olga
Pschorr is a “general” instead of a “transition counselor” as noted in
the last paragraph on page 1;
3.
Under the
Employment Trends committee report on page 5, the “woodworking business”
should be identified as “Island Pond Woodworkers.”
Committee
Reports:
Addy
made a plea for members to volunteer for the Policy & Procedures Committee.
That committee is working on a needs assessment focusing on the
employment needs of people with disabilities.
Erica Garfin and Judy Dickinson have been hired to conduct 6 focus forums
and a public hearing. The public
hearing is scheduled for October 12 using five (5) Interactive Television sites
(Lyndon, Randolph, Brattleboro, Williston and Rutland).
Hugh volunteered to host the Williston site, Kim will be in Randolph,
Harriet in Lyndon, and Rita Phelps will cover the Rutland site. A volunteer is needed for the Brattleboro site.
Addy
noted that she has been visiting the various VR regional staff meetings to
present the consolidated handbook with the incorporated fact sheet information.
This has been well received by VR staff.
Employment
Trends:
The
Committee has been working on a training program to present in the Northeast
Kingdom. It will be working with
the Island Pond Woodworkers to develop a series of local breakfasts that will
include a short presentation and a survey on training needs.
The Committee is trying to schedule breakfasts in Hardwick, Lyndon,
Newport and St. Johnsbury. The
training focus will be on general employment practices with the intent of
hitting on disability specific issues within that framework.
Consideration is being given to replicating this effort annually on a
statewide basis with a focus on rural areas.
The Business Leadership Network will sponsor the breakfast.
Kim Towle offered to approach a group of bankers that meet regularly to
schedule a presentation.
Consumer
Satisfaction Survey:
Brian
Robertson from Market Decisions in South Portland, Maine, gave a presentation on
the recently completed customer quality assurance (consumer satisfaction)
survey. This was the first regional
satisfaction survey ever conducted and included all the New England states.
It was funded by the Rehabilitation Services Administration as a pilot
program. Representatives from all
the New England states worked with Market Decisions to develop a set of 27 core
questions to be asked of everyone. In
addition, each state could develop 5 questions specific to their residents.
This
telephone survey included 571 Vermont Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (VR)
customers and another 95 completed the survey in written forum.
(Only 4% of those contacted refused to participate in the survey.)
The sample included between 145-148 respondents for each of our four
service regions plus 80 Farm Family customers.
The
overall satisfaction numbers were very good with responses to various questions
having satisfactory levels ranging from the mid-80’s to low 90% level.
There was no statistically significant differences between the results
when comparing regions although Farm Family generally rated higher.
The ratings were particularly high when customers rated the accessibility
of the VR offices and the dignity and respect they received from VR staff.
Only
18% of the respondents noted any problems with the services they received and no
systemic problems were identified unless you count the need for more financial
resources to serve people.
In
looking at what VR could do to improve the quality of services, the focus should
be on improving customer-counselor communications.
This includes everything from making sure the customer has realistic
expectations of the services available to counselors returning phone calls in a
timely manner.
This
pilot project should be considered a success because it provided appropriate
data for in-state analysis and for cross-state comparisons.
It was also cost effective as it showed a regional survey could save each
state from 1/3 to ½ what they normally spend on these surveys.
Director’s
Report
Diane
presented the Director’s report and noted that it will be another tight budget
year. Job clubs are starting up in
various regions and they seem to be effective.
VR is revising its self-employment policy and working with the Small
Business Development Center on more comprehensive feasibility assessments for
self-employment that will lead to self-sufficiency.
VR
has applied for a 4-year renewal of the Medicaid Infrastructure Grant that
supports our research and evaluation staff.
We should know by the end of October if funding is approved.
Proposals for the Career Start projects were just evaluated and these
were very excellent proposals. Hopefully,
Governor Douglas will announce the awards later this month.
We are not going to be able to keep the anticipated carryover from year 1
so we will not be able to fund as much as anticipated.
It is hoped that there will be enough funds to support at least part of
each proposal and sponsor an annual conference to share what has been learned.
There
continues to be a great need for targeted case management services for people
who don’t meet the eligibility requirements for the various department
programs VR is applying for grant funds to hire two post employment specialists
for pilot projects in two areas of the State.
Current
funding for the benefits counselors ends June 30, 2005.
A budget priority for next year will be to find funds to continue their
positions.
October
is National Diversity Month as well as Disability Awareness Month.
VR and other are working on a Governor’s proclamation for an October 14
press conference. It is expected that Martin Geary of the Social Security
Administration will participate in the press conference.
Budget
Tom
reviewed the final expenditure report for SFY04. The SFY05 budget is the same with addition of $20,000 to
cover work on the Needs Assessment.
Addy
distributed her work plan that was developed with Hugh and Sue Peck.
She will try to attend each VR regional office staff meeting at least
twice a year in addition to her work with the various SRC committees.
Addy will also coordinate a workgroup to develop a competition for the
cover art for the next SRC Annual Report. (Michele
and Abryana will assist in this effort.)
VCDR
has been asked to participate in a healthcare initiative sponsored by the VT
Business Roundtable. Called
Coalition 21, the group will be chaired by Senator Leedy. VCDR needs to provide financial support to the Coalition and
was asking its member organizations for $100 payments for this purpose.
On a motion by Alexander/Grassadonia the Council authorized the payment
of $100 to VCDR for the healthcare initiative.
VR
is working with the Department of Aging and Independent Living and the Agency of
Human Services to include funding for benefits counselors in the
Administration’s budget. VCDR
will be asked to support this budget item.
Grassadonia/Peck moved that the Council empower the Steering Committee to
make the final decision on supporting funding for the benefits counselors in the
State budget. The motion passed on
a unanimous vote.
Hugh’s
term as Co-Chair ends in December and there will be an election to fill that
position. Members wishing to
nominate themselves or others should contact Addy before the end of October.
There
will be a Disability Mentoring Day in October.
SRC members interested in participating should contact Addy.
Addy will be sending more information to members soon.
Harriet
reported that Vermont and New Hampshire Associations of the Blind are sponsoring
a technology fair at the VA hospital in White River Junction on September 27,
10:00 am – 2:00 pm.
Also,
RCT, the public transit provider in the Northeast corner of the state, has
extended bus service in Newport to cover a couple of trailer parks where a lot
of retired people live. Changes
were in response to community surveys.
A
group called Northeast Kingdom Independence Made Easy has materials at the
printer which will be ready for distribution soon. Their goal is to help provide more support services.
Harriet and Jonathan will make a presentation at the December SRC
meeting.
Tom
noted that the meeting with the Legislative committee on Administrative Rules to
discuss the proposed VR regulation was cancelled. We have run into some red tape issues which need to be
resolved before we can take the final step to implement new regulations.
The
Rehabilitation Services Administration will have a team in Vermont the last week
in September to do the Annual 107 Review. In
addition to reviewing case records, the team will be reviewing our written
policies (our Policy & Procedures manual) and our “homemaker” closures.
The SRC Co-Chairs will be interviewed by the team.
Sue
Powers and Peter Grassadonia were recognized for their service to the Council.
This was Sue’s last Council meeting but she will be completing some committee
work. Peter steps down as past-President after the elections in December.
He will continue on the VCDR Legislative Committee.
Michelle
Hubert noted that her school is currently undergoing a federal monitoring visit.
Her school, Lake Region, still doesn’t have a transition counselor.
Newport staff make visits, but their current caseloads don’t leave
enough time for all the students who need services. Phil Wolf from Farm Family (and Sue Powers replacement on the
SRC) covers the Canaan school but only gets up there about once a month.
Both Michelle and Phil think a transition counselor should be assigned to
their corner of the State. The
criteria for assigning transition counselors is being looked at by the
Transition Committee. Abryana
invited Michelle and/or Phil to attend a transition counselors’ meeting to
discuss this issue.
Abryana
Wood said the Transition Committee is thinking about developing a manual on best
practices, resources, etc. It was
noted that an organization in Vermont (United Way?) has a small program with
dedicated staff to provide information and referral information.
Eventually this information will become the 211 telephone contact.
More information will be distributed to SRC members as it becomes
available.
Glen
McClintock, VR’s Supported Employment Coordinator, distributed information on
the various supported employment programs which involve a variety of populations
including people with development disabilities, significant mental illness, and
TBI. There are significant monetary
and community benefits to these programs. VR pays for the short-term services (up to 18 months) and
then Developmental or Mental Health Services picks up ongoing supports under a
Medicaid waiver program.
The
focus in the program is on competitive employment and we are close to the top,
if not number 1, in providing employment for people with developmental
disabilities. Technical assistance
to all programs is provided through a grant with UVM. Vermont has also worked closely with Dartmouth Hitchcock to
implement evaluations for people with mental illness using evidence-based
practices.
The
Supported Employment program is trying to move its focus from just trying to
provide employment to looking at career goals.
In the mental health field, employment has been integrated into
treatment. Employment is now being
placed at the top of treatment plans instead of being considered only when
treatment is nearly over.
The
JOBS (Jump on Board for Success) programs focus on wrap around services for
youth with emotional/behavioral disabilities.
There are currently 8 JOBS programs with 2 more sites (Brattleboro and
Springfield) scheduled to become operational this year.
These programs have been instrumental in reducing participants
involvement with Corrections and intensive mental health services.
They have also reduced homelessness.
About 60% of drop-outs in the programs have completed their GEDs.
Vermont
has about 40 supported employment projects.
Recently, collaboration with the Corrections system has improved.
We need to do better assessments in order to meet the needs of those
transitioning from Corrections to the community.
We are starting a pilot program with VABIR where we will hire an
Employment Training Specialist to work with offenders reentering the community
through the Community Justice Centers.
The
meeting was adjourned at 3:09 pm.