COCA National TeleconferenceThursday, September 20, 2007

MINUTES

Participant nameStateUCEDD Name

Bethany StarkCaliforniaUCLATarjanCenter

Peter MendozaCaliforniaUCLATarjanCenter

Gabriela FreyreConnecticutA.J.PappanikouCenter

Linda WallaceConnecticutA.J.PappanikouCenter

Cheryl LorendoGeorgiaMarcus Institute

Denise Lance KansasSchiefelbusch Institute

Clare CollinsMaineMaine UCEDD

David MorrisseyMarylandAUCD Central Office

Angela MartinMichiganWayneState

Elizabeth JakesMichiganWayneState

Jerry AllistonMississippiSouthern Mississippi

Laura WalkerMissouriUMKC UCEDD

Mark SmithNebraskaNebraska UCEDD

Kathy RobersonNew JerseyBoggsCenter

Ellie ByraNew JerseyBoggsCenter

Mitchell LevitzNew YorkWestchester Institute

Cathy HaarstadNorth DakotaMinotState

Pat CloppertOhioNisongerCenter

Amy HessOhioNisongerCenter

Marie CrawfordOhioNisongerCenter

Joey YounieSan DiegoUniversity of California

Laurel Ryan, SecretaryTennesseeBolingCenter

Doria PanviniTennesseeVanderbilt

Gordon Richens, Co-chairUtahUtahState UCEDD

Miriam ElliotVirgin IslandsVirgin Islands UCEDD

Mark VinzantVirgin IslandsVirgin Islands UCEDD

Susan Yuan, Co-chairVermontCenter on Disabilities

Sharon Jodock-KingWashington?

Carl DurocherWisconsinWaismanCenter

Elizabeth ShanksWisconsinWaismanCenter

  1. Welcome from the Co-Chairs and introductions of participants.
  2. What it means to be a COCA member. (Susan Yuan and Gordon Richeins)
    Co-chairs Susan and Gordon spoke about the COCA mission, COCA’s role in AUCD, and the special opportunity for input from community members which COCA provides to AUCD. Both co-chairs shared their unique perspective as COCA members: Susan as a family member and Gordon as a person with a disability. They reminded members to visit the AUCD website COCA section to read the mission statement. Susan explained how family representatives can keep in mind the interests of all the families in their state and how that contributes to the work of AUCD, so that the perspective of the families is brought into the Network. Gordon reminded that COCA regional representatives can provide this for their regions too. Gordon also spoke about the name of the group: founded as the Council on Consumer Affairs , we are now the Council on Community Advocacy. This change more accurately represents our perspective and work.
  1. Agenda for COCA and its steering committee for the foreseeable future (Gordon Richins)

The steering committee of COCA has been created to guide COCA as a whole and facilitate getting some of the planning chores accomplished for large efforts like the annual meeting. The steering committee is made up of 13 individuals from across the network.

To balance the steering committee and larger, full COCA participation, Gordon shared the chairpersons’ proposal that each month alternate between the full COCA and the steering committee, with the following plan: Full COCA Conference calls will be February, May, August, and the annual meeting in November; COCA Steering Committee Calls will be January, March, April, June, July, September, October and December. All calls will be held on the third Thursday of the month at 2:00 Eastern Time (1:00 CST, 12:00 MST, 11:00 PST).

Verbal consensus of those on the call seemed to express that this was an acceptable plan. Holiday conflicts should be considered always about particular months’ meetings as needed.

  1. Upcoming AUCD Annual Meeting (Gordon Richins and Susan Yuan)
  2. Annual Meeting events and key dates
    There was discussion about having the business in the morning, but having the election during the evening portion. That way the election could be discussed in the morning and then people would have the chance to gather more information during the day before committing to a floor nomination. The steering committee meeting is separate from these considerations.
    Mitchell asked about the SABE representatives who are slated to participate in the annual meeting. Laura said they would not be able to be there in time for the morning session, only the evening.
    Several members raised concern about that Sunday of the annual meeting being a really long day, which is very challenging to individuals’ longevity and stamina and for those who support staff need to be included in these meetings and therefore the planning decisions. We have to get this into AUCD’s planning earlier next time. It only makes more sense to spread this out so we can be productive. Can a second day be built in? Too full of an agenda and too late for this year.
  1. COCA's Annual Meeting agenda
    A workgroup of the COCA steering committee will be working on planning the meeting agenda over planning calls in October.
    Peter suggested that the agenda include a discussion on how UCEDDss can get more support for consumers with disabilities to attend from ADD. Advisory committees need to understand accommodation issues, which are sometimes difficult, so we must be innovative. We need to discuss getting additional support from ADD to get accommodation for full participation. Especially if there is a point that there is increased funding going to the UCEDDs, it would be appropriate to request that some of this money go to the CACs.
    SABE will do their thing in the evening and follow this with voting and then fill the agenda with other items. On Sunday, COCA members may also want to go to the CAC curriculum presentation and to the legislative affairs briefing (which conflict with each other!).
    Susan encouraged everyone to review the overall annual meeting agenda in advance so that some COCA members attend as many annual meeting activities as possible. Steering committee will discuss this further.
  2. Election of COCA leadership for 2008 (Clare Collins)
    The co-chair for an individual with a disabilities, currently Gordon, is open. A question was raised if whether the secretary position may be open too. The chairpersons will clarify, but it was believed that we should have Laurel for two years, so it should not be time to elect a new secretary. A question was also raised about the regional representatives. We need to vote on the West Coast representative only. Angela and Dean isare currently the West Coast representatives. The regional representation is staggered, so we are always bringing on new people. Claire was asked to send out a notice that that position is going to be up for election.
    Clare reported that we do have candidates for both the COCA Award and the co-chair position. We should have nominations from the floor that day as well. Clare encouraged everyone to realize that COCA has made enormous strides in the Network and that the leadership has shown itself as so important for this, for keeping the needs of families and communities and individuals with disabilities in focus. COCA needs to continue to have strong leaders who are committed.
  1. The new Community Advisory Council development curriculum available through AUCD (Laura Walker)
    For those unaware, the CAC Orientation Curriculum is available on the AUCD website. Go to Councils and then to COCA; you can also simply search for it from the homepage and it will come right up. It is customizable for your CAC and it is also available in Spanish. Carl in Wisconsin reported that they are using the CAC Orientation Curriculum by going module by module, month by month; they are going through it in order to get this valuable information and to keep existing and experienced members up to date with the latest information. The one piece at a time approach seems to be working well for everyone’s busy schedules and their CAC workload. David encouraged everyone on the call to promote Laura’s seminar on the CAC Orientation Curriculum which will occur at the annual meeting to their co-workers and UCEDD staff members.
  1. Reaching out to your state SABE and Self-advocacy organizations (Laura Walker)
    Over these last five years, ADD has worked to get the different parts of the DD Network collaborating and partnering. The COCA can help tie all of these organizations together! Laura shared some ideas for developing connections between CACs and SABE (also known as People First in some states) or other self-advocacy organizations at the local and state levels. Invite a SABE member from your state to attend a CAC meeting. SABE members will also be coming to the annual meeting and presenting. Laura can help any state CAC to contact SABE to find a local member to join the CAC. You can also go to to see all the self advocacy organizations. Also try . Laura also discussed the self-advocacy training centers’ component of the DD Act Reauthorization that SABE is pushing for. It is important because it would help new advocates receive some good training that will benefit the whole self-advocates movement. This would help new advocates also to be matched to experienced self-advocates for mentoring.
  1. Seeking volunteers for interviews on supporting individuals who participate in advisory councils (Susan Yuan)
    Susan explained that Joe Caldwell is doing a study on the leaders of the self-advocacy movement and he has asked that we be aware of people who have been elected to state and national leadership positions and make sure he knows about them. Please contact him at .
  2. Updates from the AUCD Legislative Affairs office (David Morrissey)
    David explained the AUCD Public Policy website and ActionCenter resources. He encouraged everyone to advocate for the Americans with Disabilities (ADA) Restoration Act, which has now been introduced in the House and Senate. He offered to be a resource to anyone on the call who would like materials about the ADA or who want information about how to contact their Representatives. He can be reached at .
  3. Additional discussions.
    Laurel made a brief announcement about the COCA History Poster for the annual meeting. She has called for photos, documents, other materials that celebrate the COCA’s 15 year history and the details of its founding. Wonderful stuff has been received so far. Historical COCA documents in the AUCD library. Please contact Laurel at UT Boling Center (901) 448-3737 or toll free (888)572-2249 or email here at .