Developmental Disabilities Resource Board of St. Charles County Board Meeting Minutes May 21, 2015

Transcription

1 Developmental Disabilities Resource Board of St. Charles County Board Meeting Minutes May 21, 2015 The Board meeting was held at the DDRB Office, 1025 Country Club Road, St. Charles, MO Neil Whipple, DDRB President, called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. with a moment of silent reflection. Members Present: Jeff Blanton, Missy Fallert, Michael Mahoney, John Morse, Jim Rhodes, Carissa Rupp and Neil Whipple Members Absent: Dan Dozier and Margaret Kelpe Mission Moment: Project Search Michelle Cates, Project Search Transition Manager introduced the Board to Grayson and Mary Bourne. Grayson spoke to the Board about his experience with Project Search. Grayson enjoyed his experience with Project Search, he said it has changed him. His goal is to get hired part time at Embassy Suites. Mary, Grayson s mother, spoke to the Board about how much Project Search has allowed Grayson to grow as a person: helped his appearance, gave him a sense of responsibility, learn to control his situation, and learn to be dependable. St. Louis Life Andy Conover, Executive Director of St. Louis Life, gave a brief overview of St. Louis Life. St. Louis Life is a residential provider that opened their doors in They provide residential services that include employment, recreation and life skills development. Andy introduced Megan Layton, a resident at St. Louis Life. Megan has lived at St. Louis Life since She is a very active member of her community. Megan works two part time jobs, volunteers at St. Luke s Hospital, and is a Board member for the National Down Syndrome Association. Megan invited the Board to St. Louis Life for a tour, it looks like a Norman Rockwell painting. Wendy Ortwerth Recognition Neil Whipple presented Wendy Ortwerth with a plaque in recognition of her service to the Developmental Disabilities Resource Board of St. Charles County. Public Comments and Announcements: None Minutes of Board Meeting: Jim Rhodes motioned to approve the April 16, 2015 Board meeting minutes as presented. Missy Fallert seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously. Minutes of Agency Hearing: The May 4, 2015 and May 14, 2015 Agency Hearing minutes will come before the Board for approval at the June Board meeting.

2 P a g e 2 Finance Director s Report: John Thoelke s April 2015 Finance Report included the following: FY15 Revenue Taxes There is no change to the projected $10,800,000 in tax revenue to be received in FY15. The Finance Committee will be meeting on May 28 to review a final projection and look at available FY16 revenue. Case Management Billings The DDRB records billings on a cash basis throughout the year. Billings through March have been received and recorded. Rent Revenue is consistent with the budget. FY15 Operating Expenditures Agency Operations Agencies billings for FY15 are projected to come in at slightly less than the 9% lapse in the budget DMH Trust Fund Since the issues with the Targeted Case Management rate have been resolved, six months of Memorandum services have been paid. DMH bills are now paid on the same cycle as all other DDRB bills. DDRB Operations DDRB operations appear consistent with the budget. Jim Rhodes motioned to approve the April 2015 Finance Report as presented. Missy Fallert seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously. Executive Director Report Peg Capo s Executive Director Report included the following: Legislative Update Governor Nixon signed the DMH Budget approved by the Missouri Legislature. This includes $300,000 for FACT s Parent Partner Pilot Project. Denise Gould and Peg met with DMH Division of DD staff to discuss distribution of these funds. The final FY2016 state budget also includes Rate Rebasing and a January % COLA funded by Tax Amnesty funds. Since Tax Amnesty funds are one-time, this will create a budget challenge in FY2017. If funds are not identified to replace these one-time funds, provider rates could be reduced in FY2017. The Coalition of Service Providers also led the efforts to propose legislation to increase the asset limits for Medicaid eligibility. This would allow individuals and families to have higher emergency savings without affecting their Medicaid status. Congratulations to the Coalition Legislative Committee, chaired by Cathy Brown (Paraquad). Also, thanks go to the St. Charles County legislative delegation, who sponsored and supported these initiatives. Partnership for Hope Video Interviews The Partnership for Hope Research Team from UMKC will be visiting St. Charles County in mid-june to video Partnership For Hope participants and their families. They are creating a video archive of the impact this program has had on the lives of Missourians with developmental disabilities. While they are here, John and Peg will meet with them to discuss the possibility of utilizing their software program to project the economic impact of DDRB tax funds on the community.

3 P a g e 3 MACDDS Mid-Year Training Included in, the board packet was a flyer on a MACDDS training being held Thursday, May 28. This Governance & Compliance Workshop is led by an attorney and an HR Director who work for County DD Boards. This technical assistance is offered free to MACDDS Members and Boards. Human Resource Update Since last month, the DDRB received one resignation and one retirement notice. The DDRB also welcomed back Megan Wilbers as a Case Manager on May 19. Carol Brennaman, Case Manager, has resigned to accept a job with her previous employer. Mary Ann Mitchell, Accounting Specialist, has announced her retirement, effective September 4. Interviews for an additional case manager will begin immediately. The Accounting Specialist Position will be posted in late May and interviews will begin in June. Case Management Director Report Teresa Donovan gave the Case Management Director Report, which included the following: The case management program is now serving 1,083 customers. Unfortunately, one of our newer case managers will be leaving us. Carol Brennaman s last day will be May 27. She is leaving for a new opportunity with her previous employer. In addition, one of our case managers that recently left will be returning. Megan Wilbers will start back with the program on May 19. Megan is being hired as the replacement for Alisha who recently left. Case Management Leadership will begin scheduling interviews to hire another case manager as a replacement for Carol. It is time once again for our annual customer satisfaction survey. Surveys were sent to all of our customers. In the course of assigning customers to new case managers as staff have resigned, it was discovered that a small portion of these customers have had 3 case managers in the last year. It has always been the program s commitment to not change case managers unless absolutely necessary or if a request was made to change. In order to gain confidence that this situation is not typical for our program, Robyn included a letter with the surveys for those customers affected. Approximately 25 customers were affected by this issue. Community partner surveys will also be going out soon via survey monkey. Typically approximately 75 agencies receive this survey. Attached was the School Age Transition Plan Outcome Report that was recently shared with the Program Committee. Judy Naeger, DDRB School Age Transition Specialist and Robyn met to develop some outcomes based on experience to date. Outcomes will be revisited once the fall semester is complete in order to make any changes as needed. Coalition/Legislative Report Linda Taylor, Coalition President, reported on the following: Training Committee Update The committee hosted a training provided by AAIM on May 1. The topic was Your Role as a Supervisor. The training was well attended.

4 P a g e 4 The DSP Conference Committee will begin meeting to prepare for next year s conference on June 1. Kristen Wamsley, from Emmaus Homes will chair the committee. Legislative Committee Update The Legislative Committee met on May 18. Bill Gamble and Sarah Topp each joined the meeting via conference call. Mr. Gamble gave a brief summary of the legislative session. Mr. Gamble and Ms. Topp addressed the Coalition priorities. Overall, it was a successful legislative session. The committee agreed on the upcoming events and began the planning. The first event will be a thank you reception held at the Delta Center on June 23. Program Committee Update At the May meeting, Brittany McDonnell from the St. Louis Crisis Nursery shared information about the services they provided. The DSP award committee continues to meet. The committee is changing up the nomination form and the award process. Finance Committee Mike Mahoney reviewed the May 5, 2015 Finance Committee minutes. Human Resource Committee Peg Capo reviewed the May 13, 2015 Human Resource Committee minutes. Program Committee Kathy Williams reviewed the May 7, 2015 Program Committee minutes. Old Business None New Business 1. Emergency Housing Assistance Policy Change This policy change would include changing the annual maximum of $1,000 per year to $1,200 per year. It would also change the lifetime maximum from $3,000 to $3,600. There was a clerical correction on the Revision Effective date to July 1, Jim Rhodes motioned to approve the Emergency Housing Assistance Policy change as corrected. Mike Mahoney seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously. 2. DDRB Budget Request- Building Phase II John Thoelke presented the DDRB funding request for Phase II planning which includes up to $30,000 for architectural fees incurred during FY15 for the planning of the Phase II project. This allows any construction to start sooner in FY16. Jim Rhodes motioned to approve the DDRB request for up to $30,000 to begin planning for Phase II of the building. Missy Fallert seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously.

5 P a g e 5 3. The Center for Specialized Services Funding Transfer Request The Center for Specialized Services is requesting to transfer $34,860 from the Client Assistance budget of the Adaptive Equipment Program to the Assessment budget of the Adaptive Equipment Program. This would increase the amount of units by 430 at $81.07 per unit. This request is budget neutral. Jim Rhodes motioned to approve The Center for Specialized Services request to transfer $34,860 from Client Assistance to Assessment as presented. John Morse seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously. Adjournment Jim Rhodes motioned to adjourn. Missy Fallert seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously. Respectfully Submitted: Nikki Rogers