Advisory Committee Meeting
March 4, 2009
Meeting Report
The Yolo County In-Home Supportive Services Advisory Committee met on the 4th day of March 2009, in the Community Room of the Department of Employment and Social Services, at 25 North Cottonwood Street, Woodland, CA.
Agenda Item No. 1
Call meeting to Order
The meeting was called to order by Chairperson, Nancy Seyden at
1:40 p.m. Nancy asked each person present to introduce him or herself.
Agenda Item No. 2
Roll Call
Members present: Nancy Seyden, Chair, Frances Gracechild, Vice-Chair, Winifred deAnda, Sharon McNeill, Johanne Lewis, Jeremy Warren, Rose Levinson and Marcelo (Nunie) Matta
Members absent: Stephen Redman
Staff present: Maryfrances Collins, Assistant Director Adult Services,
Laurie Haas, Supervisor, Adult Services, Frances Smith, PA Director, Devonné Williams, PA Analyst
Guests present: Jim Provenza, Supervisor, District 4, Gina Deleiden, Deputy
to Supervisor Provenza, Peter Thy, Dennis Lewis
Agenda Item No. 3
Public Comment
Supervisor Provenza expressed his appreciation to the AC Members who were willing to be reappointed to the committee. He also announced that he will be appointing Sheila Allen as the County representative on the AC.
Agenda Item No. 4
Member Reports
Nancy reported that the Executive Committee of the California In-Home Supportive Services Consumer Alliance (CICA) is planning the fall conference for Advisory Committee members. A list of preliminary topics includes developing leadership skills, the future of long term care, strategies for organizing consumers and grant writing. The Western Training Academy will be involved in the conference.
Nancy added that CICA will host Capital Action Day on May 27th 2009 in Sacramento. There will be an educational component on May 26th 2009 to assist individuals in meeting with Legislators to educate them about the impact of proposed reductions in services and funding for IHSS and other programs. Other issues will be included on the agenda for the day. The training is open to all providers and Independent Living Centers. Advisory Committee members will arrange their own transportation.
Jim Provenza announced that SEIU national has assumed trusteeship of UHW-West. Jim wanted to alert members that UHW Union Representatives are trying to reorganize. Jim would like to be notified if any problems or issues arise during the transition.
Frances Gracechild reported that an explanation of the reorganization will be included in the May 27th training day.
Fran Smith shared that a former UHW-West representative contacted her on March 3rd 2009 wanting information about the AC Members. Fran explained to the representative that she would need to have a written confirmation the he is representing the Trusteeship before she could have any further discussion with him. She also told him she could not give out information about Advisory Committee members.
Frances Gracechild announced cuts in Public Transportation. She reported that there will be an 85% cut in available transit-dedicated funding. She also shared that 1 in 5 Transit riders are seniors or persons with a disability. Of the 67 million rides provided annually by AC Transit, 49 percent are be people defined as “extremely” low income. Frances committed to bring updates on transportation issues to each meeting.
Frances added there will be a Transportation Action Day at the State Capital on March 25th 2009. All are welcome to attend.
Agenda Item No. 5
Approval of the Minutes
Fran stated the Maryfrances Collins’ title has been incorrect in the minutes of the last few meetings. Sharon McNeill moved, seconded by Johanne Lewis to approve the minutes with corrections.
Action Item: First, Sharon McNeill; Second, Johanne Lewis. All: Ayes
Agenda Item No. 6
IHSS Report
Maryfrances Collins reported that Yolo County volunteered to be a pilot for implementation for the start-up of CMIPS II. She said it has been pushed back 3 months and she is anticipating the launce in the fall of 2010. Kim Britt, Analyst for the Quality Improvement Division, is the Project Manager for the CMIPS II project.
Maryfrances explained that all IHSS providers are Medi-Cal providers and will be required to complete a new enrollment form developed by Health Services each time they are hired by an IHSS recipient. Discussions of completion and retention of the form are ongoing at the state and county level. She is hopeful hope that the final decision will be that the form will follow each provider, regardless of how many consumers they serve.
Maryfrances has directed her staff to use the New Provider Form (once launched), with the new providers coming on board. Staff will be required to confirm identity of the provider, via driver license, identification card, etc., and make copies of the ID’s as well. There will be future “Community” type meetings and mailers to explain the implementation of the New Provider Form and to respond to questions from providers and consumers. A portion of the costs for the meetings and mailers will be augmented by the state, but there will also be County Funds required for any costs not covered.
Nancy Seyden asked what IHSS Adult Services would do in a case such as hers, with an emergency situation of needing a provider. Maryfrances assured Nancy that IHSS Adult Services has 24/hour 7-day a week after hour staff to handle emergency provider situations. Maryfrances also pointed out that the Home Care Now Program is in place and there are existing providers that are available.
Laurie Haas announced that as of January 2009 there are currently 1880 IHSS. She added that during January 98 applications were made for IHSS and 22 were added.
Agenda Item No. 7
Public Authority Report
A. State Budget Update
Fran explained that the State budget is dependent on the Federal Stimulus package. She said she was told that there were many “moving parts” to the Federal Stimulus package. The governor and the California Director of Finance have stated that the state expects the first installment of at least $10 billion by April 1, 2009. If the first installment of federal monies comes later or are less than expected, the state will almost certainly cap its participation in provider wages at $9.50 per hour and cut other services. The stimulus package is expected to increase the Medicaid match for California from 50% to 56.2% which will increase funds to IHSS. The total dollar amount in the package will be dependent on many factors; the state unemployment rate is one factor.
B. PA Statistics
Devonne distributed the PA statistics for the month of February. There were no questions. Dev announced that since January there have been 700 “hits” on the Advisory Committee web site. Sharon and Nunie asked how to find the web site. Dev agreed to e-mail instructions to them.
C. AC Appointments
Fran listed the reappointments and new appointments to the AC as follows;
Reappointed:
· Nancy Seyden, Chair, Frances Gracechild, Vice Chair
Appointed:
· Rose Levinson, Advocate for Seniors-District 4, Stephen Redman, Consumer and Marcelo (Nunie) Matta, Consumer
She noted that Sheila Allen is scheduled to be appointed on March 24 as the county representative and added that there is still one vacant position for a consumer.
Agenda Item No. 8
Old Business
A. AC Planning Retreat
The proposed Mission Statement for the Advisory Committee was reviewed. The insertion of “well paid” between “productive relationship” was suggested.
Action: Nancy Seyden moved, seconded by Sharon McNeill, to adopt the Mission Statement.
The mission of the IHSS Advisory Committee is to give consumers and providers a voice in IHSS and Public Authority policy, program development and operations. We do this by advising, advocating and making recommendations for the enhancement, availability and quality of IHSS and ensuring services that support a positive, productive and well paid relationship between the consumers and providers.
Jeremy facilitated discussion of the Environmental Scan. The comments made are included in the following:
Environmental Scan
Budget Reductions are impacting our environment. The IHSS Program operates in a somewhat challenging environment due to the fact that our society and our local, state and federal governments do not demonstrate a high degree of sensitivity to the needs of low income, disabled and elderly people. This is also manifest in the reality that provider wages are subject to be reduced which could make securing quality providers a challenge for many consumers. These problems are all exacerbated by an increase in the need for services by this population and at the same time we are experiencing a decrease in the dollars available to fund these desperately needed services.
The lack of transportation services and resources for these services adds to the isolation that these populations experience. This lack of transportation directly impacts this population by decreasing their ability to be an integral part of the community, thus leading to considerable isolation from the rest of society. Para transit services could be improved significantly if there was more of a Regional approach to the resolution of this problem. The isolation that these citizens experience is also fed by the lack of social activities. Activities such as going to church become extremely challenging for members of these communities because of a lack of suitable transportation.
Citizen Safety is another prevalent issue for these populations. These people need assistance in ensuring their personal safety. Safety inspections of their homes to ensure that Smoke Alarms and Gas Leaks are repaired are examples of assistance that these people need but are not currently available. Disaster Preparedness is a critical need for these populations that is very inadequate. These groups may or may not appear on any lists for evacuations and other areas of focus for Disaster Preparedness.
Mental Health Services are also inadequate for these populations. There is clearly a dearth of these services in Yolo County. Depression is widely spread throughout these populations and the lack of mental health services also leads to misdiagnosing of patients in these populations adding to the inability for these citizens to fully integrate into the community. The result is another factor that facilitates the increasing number of people in the county who experience isolation.
Communications is another challenge facing these communities. Because there is a wide spectrum of disabilities that these individuals experience, communications with them poses a number of challenges. Communication materials require different formats if these populations are to be fully integrated into the population at large. Assessment of the consumer population is needed to determine the various formats of communication that are needed.
Ideas for further consideration include; what about disaster, development of a menu of services, strategies for obtaining consumer input and sharing information with the general community, i.e. town hall meetings, posting on the web site, feature stories in local news media.
Agenda Item No. 9
New Business
A. Election of Officers – There was agreement to continue this discussion at the April 1st meeting due to time constraints.
B. Time for AC Meeting - There was consensus to shorten the meeting time to 2 hours, from 1:30 – 3:30 beginning with the April 1st meeting. Fran agreed to check with the bus service.
Agenda Item No. 10
Announcements:
Johanne Lewis voiced concern about a recent car versus pedestrian accident with her neighbor. She explained that her neighbor was walking across an intersection and the amount of time on the “walk” sensor wasn’t enough in her opinion. She wanted some direction on who she might talk with regarding longer sensor/crossing lights. Fran suggested she called the Mayor’s office and ask for assistance.
Agenda Item No.11
Topics for next meeting:
New Provider Enrollment Form
Emergency Preparedness
Home Care Now
Transit Update
Election of Officers
Adjournment - There was no further business.
Action Item: Rose Levinson moved, seconded by Jeremy Warren to adjourn the meeting. All: Ayes Motion carried.
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