Brain and Spinal Injury Trust Fund Commission

Regular Commission Meeting

March 28, 2013

Minutes

Commissioners attending in person:

JD Frazier (JDF), Cheryl Harris (CH), Andrew Dennison (AD), Tim Wall (TW), Henry Craig (HC)

Commissioners attending via teleconference:

Jane Warnock (JW), Randy Owens (RO), Bob Bauer (BB), Gina Gelinas (GG), Lisa Dawson (LD),

Commissioners - Absent:

Barbara Richards,Hank Fielding, Brian Dowd (BD),

Staff:

Craig Young (CY) Executive Director, Leslie McNely (LPM), Jimmy Tseng, Dionne Braxton (DB), Ayanna Anderson (AA), Michelle Carter (MC), Kelley Mautz (KM), Tyimeka Brown.

Guests:

None

Chairman JD Frazier calls the meeting to order at 10:34 a.m.

JDF – A quorum is present. Approval of the minutes of the previous Commission meeting is first on the agenda.

A quorum of ten Commissioners is established.

1. Motion: Approve the minutes from the February 2013 Commission meeting.
Motion by: TW Second by: AD
Vote: Approved unanimously

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Advisory committee:

BB – met on March 11th and had good attendance and participation with new members. Discussion included methods to measure program effectiveness. KM – Pre and Post award surveys for applicants will be shared with Commissioners. AD – would like to take a look at this instrument. KM – several PhD’s on the committee including Dr. Seel from Shepherd Center.

Executive committee:

JDF – There were no Executive committee recommendations to the Commission. CY -The Shepherd Center Pilot program is proving to be a success – excellent cooperation from Shepherd Center and staff is also enjoying the experience of meeting applicants face to face. Your spreadsheet has the numbers for the first two weeks of intake. Staff was at Shepherd Center again yesterday and had one brand new applicant, one that had applied online dropped off materials and two were ineligible due to the type of medical condition they had. We have one applicant that was submitted on March 6 and is on this month’s grid – probably record time. For the month we have had thirteen valid submitted applicants. Next month staff will be at Shepherd Center the second and fourth Wednesdays from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Raymond Shields still working on database. We have some scope of work issues that we had not anticipated and will inform the executive committee and the Commission about the need to make revisions to the agreement next month.

DAR committee met and made their recommendations for the Commission. I have shared with the Executive committee and will send out to all Commission members next week for your review. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Do not forget to mark those calendars regarding our Strategic Planning & Commission meeting next month on April 25th from 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Lunch will be served.

Distribution committee:

Chairman Henry Craig – we have one please discuss – a split vote by the Distribution committee regarding Jone5563 TBI/SCI for a computer. The applicant is requesting a tablet; had been awarded a laptop in 2010 by the Commission. The applicant has limited use of/and pain in hands. The tablet will allow him ease of use with the touch screen and light weight. AD – this is an ecologically valid request plus there are many apps for individuals with disabilities that make it even more useful from an assistive technology perspective. GG – agree, use both a laptop and tablet and the tablet is appropriate. JT – older laptop batteries do not have a long shelf life.

HC – we will carve this applicant out of the grid and consider separately from the rest of the grid.

A quorum of ten Commissioners is established.

2. Motion: Approve Jone5563 for a tablet computer
Motion by: AD Second by: TW
Vote: Approved unanimously

A quorum of ten Commissioners is established. There are no further questions regarding the March grid.

3. Motion: Approve the distribution grid as amended.
Motion by: AD Second by: TW
Vote: Approved unanimously

Distribution and Application Revision (DAR) committee:

CY – DAR committee met and recommended raising lifetime caps; for modified van and personal support services caps an increase.

CY – the committee also looked at what constitutes an “operable” vehicle. Came to no decision. Recommend defining a household using the Medicaid definition.

DAR committee recommends language in policy for the Commission to fund or not fund a category of good or service depending on funding/budget constraints.

I will send out the DAR committee recommendations next week.

Henry Craig had an interesting point raised in the Executive committee meeting regarding the recreation category. HC – propose that purchase of recreational “things” causes issues. Funding services generally gets around those difficulties. With continued budget cuts we should be funding needs not wants. For those items that have merit there are other categories such as Medical Care and Health and Wellness categories. JW – we should not lose sight that some individuals cannot take advantage of services outside the home due to their injuries. They cannot take advantage of being included in their community and it is important that their needs not be overlooked.

Executive Director’s Report:

CY – The remarks under the Executive committee report have related everything in the ED’s report – HC – letter to the Attorney General did not generate support for our position on the surcharge priority list. CY – our fund disposition, in the AG’s review, is currently being properly interpreted and administered by all parties under the statute. The Commission should seek other ways to augment its revenue.

Finance/Budget:

LPM – collections up this month, $130,000+ for March collected with one day to go.

Public Policy:

CY – Concussion legislation, HB284 was approved by the General Assembly, interlock ignition devices approved by the General Assembly – good law but we will likely see some decline in surcharges as a result.

A quorum of nine Commissioners is present.

4. Motion: Adopt Public Policy committee recommendations for legislative session as denoted by the January 29, 2013 meeting (e.g. HB’s 31, 67 & 284).
Motion by: Public Policy committee Second by: Lisa Dawson
Vote: Passes unanimously

State Action Plan:

KM – many meetings, GCC was prominent in getting the Concussion bill passed.

JDF - Thanks to Dr’s Ken Mautner, David Wright, Julie Krupa, Stephanie Lotti and Kelley Mautz.

Stewardship Program:

AA – Met with Our Neighbor in Gainesville that provides disability housing including those with TBI. Will generate four new applications. RO – that is the organization that my mother and I founded, I am still on the board. CY – they are doing great work, congratulations.

CY – Ayanna has informed me that she will be leaving the Trust Fund at the end of April. I want to thank Ayanna for being a wonderful voice and face of the Trust Fund in the community. We have all enjoyed working with you. JDF – thank you Ayanna for your service to the Commission.

New business:

JDF - recommend the Commission send a letter of appreciation to Rep. Jimmy Pruiett for sponsoring HB284 from the executive committee, Jane Warnock to deliver

4. Motion: Letter of Appreciation to Rep. Jimmy Pruiett from the Commission
Motion by: HC Second by: BB
Vote: Passes unanimously
4. Motion to adjourn meeting by: AD
Second by: JDF
Vote: without objection the meeting is adjourned at 11:53 a.m.

Next meeting will be on Thursday April 25, 2013 at 9:00 a.m. at the Commission offices – 2 Peachtree St NW Ste 26-121 Atlanta, GA 30303

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Minutes taken by: CY

Minutes approved on: 4/25/13