Florida Alliance for Assistive Services & Technology, Inc. Public Policy and Advocacy Committee Draft Teleconference Minutes February 6, 2015

Transcription

1 Florida Alliance for Assistive Services & Technology, Inc. Public Policy and Advocacy Committee Draft Teleconference Minutes February 6, 2015 Members Present: Staff Present: Karen Clay, Chairperson Gary J Stein Enrique Escallon, Ex-Officio Tom Nurse (absent-excused) Amy Sequenzia (absent) Susan Gold (absent-excused) RDC Representative: Carol Zangari Kelli Bloom (absent) Vicki Ahern Thomas DeLilla Advocate: Joe McCann (absent-excused) The teleconference recording began prior to the meeting. The meeting was called to order at approximately 3:02 PM. A quorum was present. Chair Clay asked for a review of the minutes from She had found one spelling error. Vicki Ahern moved to have the minutes approved as revised. Tom DeLilla seconded, and the motion passed. Vicki Ahern asked to have the agenda item regarding her request for a time change of scheduled meetings to be deleted from the agenda. There were no other changes requested. Chair Clay moved to the next item, the State Legislative Agenda and requested a report on the Rescue Device Bill from the Director of Public Policy, Mr. Stein. Mr. Stein reported that the bill had gone to its first committee on Feb. 3. On that same day, an amendment had been filed that struck out the last 3 paragraphs, which essentially gutted the program aspects of the bill, leaving only changes in definitions of missing endangered persons with special needs and removing DCF and APD s actions and FDLE training.. The legislator who filed the bill, HB069, Rep. Liz Portor(R- Lake City) presented the original bill. Executive director Mr. Daniels had testified to request that the dialogue continue regarding the rescue device program. Margaret Hooper(FDDC) had also testified to that request. After Representative Portor waved comment in support of the amended bill, the bill passed the Criminal Justice Committee unanimously as amended and moves on to the Children, Families & Seniors Subcommittee (not yet on agenda). The companion bill by Sen. Charlie Dean(R-Inverness) remains intact as is awaits its first committee hearing. FAAST will work on and recommend language to fix the problems noted in the Staff Analysis that led to the amendment.

2 In the meantime, at the request of the PPAC, Mr. Stein sent out Public Information requests to all 67 school districts for data on the number of wanderings. Many districts had responded, saying that the DOE does not require the school districts to compile that data in the SESIR(School Environment Safety Incident Report), so that cannot respond to our requests without pulling all IEP(Individual Educational Program) reports of all ESE students, which are confidential. A Public Information request dos not require that any new data be compiled for the request, so they do not have to develop an aggregate number if they so choose. A few small districts report one to none incidents, based on anecdotal information from the ESE departments, but that was all that was accomplished. Mr. Stein still questions that data received, since it is not official. Mr. Stein has contacted the DOE to request that their SESIR category III data (majorother cause, with police engagement) include incidents of wandering, even though no disciplinary action is required. It will be taken under advisement. Therefore the only workable data so far has been form Hillsborough County, which was requested by School Board member April Griffin of the superintendent s office after several lethal incidents. Chair Clay had recommended that we contact the School Boards in each county. She also noted that the lack of cooperation from the school districts is telling of the districts unwillingness to work with local law enforcement. Vicki Ahern noted that she went to her school district had received no answer. She expressed concern that we need more information as to who is drawing down Byrne- JAG funds. Mr. Stein noted that he had already contacted Broward County, and have not received a final answer, and that we know that no county in Florida is using these funds for this purpose. He also reiterated own knowledge of programs in New York and New Jersey being stalled, as well. Chair Clay mentioned that she contacted Elisa Fox at the USF CARD (Center for Autism and Related Disorders), and they would be good to partner in this endeavor, since they do training as part of their mission and could train Law Enforcement, and could possibly help us with data collection. Dr. Zangari noted that her working with CARD let her know that they have no authority regarding data collection. She also noted the statistic from the 2012 study 49% of kids with autism wander and 1 of 68 people have autism, so the math proves they there are a large number of kids at risk. Chair Clay stated that Mr. Stein had captured that data in his talking points memo, but that the memo needs to be honed down to one page with larger print. Dr. Zangari concurred that CARD has done work with law enforcement. Chair Clay reiterated that school policies and procedures are a large part of the

3 problem and need to be addressed. She noted that Sen. Legg had mentioned in talks with Mr. Daniels, Mr. Stein and Mr. McCann that he would not support any legislation that has a mandate for the schools, but she feels that ringing these kids home alive and safe should be a mandate. She also noted that Legislators in Tallahassee are concerned over the use of federal funds. She stated that Mr. Daniels Mr. Stein, Mr. McCann and herself know what to say to legislators and that is why the talking points are so important when Board members talk with legislators in their districts and especially when we have our Legislative Work Day (LWD) on March 5. She knows that, with her conversations with Colonel Brown that we will have their support. Chair Clay mentioned that she had done a presentation to the DD Council last week and they approved supporting our efforts. She admitted that the current iteration as amended needs to be worked, but that we will share all iterations with the PPAC and our program partners as it moves forward. Mr. Stein also noted that, on the same day as HB069 was in committee, a bill regarding tracking devices was approved, and it stated that parents and guardians have the right to uses these devices for the safety of their children, so this will help moving forward. Chair Clay reiterated that we emphasize rescue devices, not tracking and the voluntary nature of the program and that this program saves lives and potentially large amounts of Law Enforcement and volunteer resources. The cost of litigation of lethal outcomes is also noted. Enrique Escallon joined the call and added that the cost of prevention compared with the cost of search and rescue, regardless of outcome, makes this easy to justify. She noted that the $459 is the average cost per individual. The fact that this bill went into its first committee before session is very encouraging. Mr. Stein discussed the next agenda item, the separation of the Board and Advisory council. Mr. Daniels worked on the language change in the Statute, and Mr. Stein wrote a White Paper pending approval by Mr. McCann that will be brought to Sen. Detert for inclusion in SB7002, which reopens the statute for changes. He added that we may need to add more agencies to the Advisory council, such as FDLE for the Rescue device bill, which will bring them to the table on that issue. Chair Clay moved to the next item, the funding increase. Mr. Escallon will work on it after Board member orientation and meet with Sen. Flores. The next agenda item was regarding the ABLE act, and Mr. Stein had sent out a flyer created by the ARC of Florida on the national bill, which sets up 529 accounts, a tax free vehicle that could be used for people with disabilities. He also noted that states would have to set up their own implementation of the bill, and Sen. Benequisto had already filed SB642 to create the state ABLE program. Mr. Stein asked for a vote of endorsement for the state bill for the federal law. A discussion ensued regarding the difference between endorsement and support. Chair Clay noted that she had not yet read SB642, but read the information from the ARC sheet on the federal law. Mr. Escallon and Chair Clay gave a brief discussion on the PSLA accounts and noted that litigation may still be pending, but they are separate from the potential ABLE

4 accounts. Mr. Stein also noted that the governor has requested an addition $5M for the PSLA accounts. He also noted that 1200 of the 1800 possible PSLA s had already been awarded in the first 6 months of offering, but that most of them occurred in the first months. Mr. Stein asked for a vote of endorsement for the state bill for the federal law. A discussion ensued regarding the difference between endorsement and support. Mr. Escallon motioned to endorse, seconded by Vicki Ahern and the motion passed. The next topic was the DD day and the LWD. It was noted that it will be an all-day event and we need to know who is coming so Mr. Stein can set up meetings with legislators based on constituencies first, followed by current and potential champions of our legislative agenda, and talking points will be made available on all of our priorities. Chair Clay noted that it can sometimes be a hit-or-miss situation in meeting with legislators, but Mr. Escallon noted that anyone who does not have an appointment with their Representative or Senator can walk with other board members during that time period. Chair Clay noted that staff and Mr. McCann will be there as guides and the day prior to the event we will go over everything the members need to know. Mr. Escallon asked if we are following HB577 regarding continuing training for government employees. Mr. Stein was not familiar with the bill and offered to investigate and report back. Action Step: Mr. Stein will investigate HB577 for potential support. Mr Stein noted that the FDDC has still not ranked the various legislative priorities to establish a Statewide Legislative Platform to support, although there once interest in supporting the ARC Dental program and transportation issues, which the FDDC is working on with DOT. Action Item: Mr. Stein will post information to the group on the FDDC/DOT transportation voucher RFP. Chair Clay noted that Mr. Stein needs to follow up with Mr. Daniels on contacting Lori Fahey and Margaret Hooper regarding meeting conflicts with Family Café and FDDC calls. She also asked that we contact FLSAND to support our legislative priorities. Action item: Mr. Stein needs to follow up with Mr. Daniels on contacting Lori Fahey and Margaret Hooper regarding meeting conflicts with Family Café and FDDC calls. Action Item: Mr. Stein will contact FLSAND for support of our legislative priorities. Action Item: Chair Clay asked if the article from FDDC on How to do your own

5 DD Day be put on the next 411! Mr. Escallon motioned to adjourn, Mr. DeLilla seconded and the motion passed. The meeting adjourned at 3:49 PM. Minutes prepared by Gary J Stein pending approval by the Public Policy & Advocacy Committee. Date: February 16, 2015.