NCSOCRC- Past Conference Minutes: January 17, 2002

Conference minutes, January 17, 2002, Carl D. Perkins Rehabilitation Center, Kentucky

Welcome/Introductions * Agenda Review * Proceedings Dissemination *
Conference Planning 2002 * Action Groups * National Forum * Research *
Euro-American Platform * Legislative Update * SOCRC Web Site * Business Meeting *
Facility Updates * CERMUSA Presentation * Next Meeting * Attachments

Present:

Donald W. Dew (DC), Kathy Barr-Howanek (PA), Carolyn McKinley (GA), Tim Milligan (AR), William Tanzey (WV), David Holmes (TN), Michael Breedan (MD), Frank Ruzycki (GA), Judy Ashley (VA), Dennis Hart (MI), Rick Sizemore (VA), Barry Newill (KY), Ralph Pacinelli (RSA -via telephone conference call)

Guests:

Barbara Demuth-CERMUSA, Assistant Director Telemedicine
William Duke, Former Director, Carl D. Perkins Rehabilitation Center

Welcome/Introductions:

William Tanzey, NC-SOCRC Chairperson welcomed the group. He thanked Barry Newill and the Carl D. Perkins Comprehensive Rehabilitation Center for hosting the meeting. He also acknowledged the participation of several representatives from various facilities who attended a special work group session on Behavior Management, hosted by the Kentucky center.
Barry Newill, Director of the Carl D. Perkins RC welcomed everyone to Kentucky.

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Agenda Review:

Donald W. Dew, director of the George Washington University Regional Rehabilitation Continuing Education Program briefly reviewed the agenda for the meeting. He noted that the group needed to spend some time reviewing in detail the agenda for the next meeting, with specific reference to the time needed to cover all items. Several items on the agenda were briefly reviewed, including specific topics to discuss with Ralph Pacinelli and issues to be addressed during the CERMUSA discussion with specific reference to funding and consortium opportunities. Kathy Barr-Howanek provided some background information for the CERMUSA discussion, including the fact that project's mission is to use technology to enhance the delivery of services particularly to remote and underserved areas. The technology for the initial project is just now being installed at HGA.
The consortium is particularly interested in establishing a linkage between each of the centers for training and service delivery purposes.

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Proceedings Dissemination:

Don Dew distributed the proceedings from the 2000 National Forum. Several copies will be sent to each facility. Consortium members congratulated and thanked Dr. Dew for the production of this important document.

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Conference Planning 2002 (Third National Forum):

Dr. Dew indicated that funding has been received from RSA and each facility will be provided $10,000 to fund conference attendees. Each facility will pay their own expenses up front, then request a check from George Washington University. Dr. Dew will begin identifying the location and based on hotel availability, two dates will be selected. Facilities will be polled for their preference before confirmation with hotel. The consortium thanked Dr. Dew for his work in securing funding support for the conference and for coordinating the forums. For this year's conference, Sonja Scholl from WVA will assume the role of conference coordination and work directly with Dr. Dew's office.
Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) Review (Ralph Pacinelli) Dr. Ralph Pacinelli provided an overview and update of RSA activities, to include:
Ticket-to-Work rollout is scheduled to begin February 1, 2002. There will be a big ceremony on February 5th in Delaware which is one of thirteen states included in the first phase of this initiative.
Authorization/Reauthorization- RSA is beginning the preparation phase for the legislation (slated for reauthorization in 2003). There is a House of Representatives Steering Committee organized to begin reviewing what sections need strengthening or modified. RSA has a plan to organize the input into areas of proposed changes, with a series of public meetings to be held across the country - Atlanta in March; D.C. in June. The four major sections for public comment are eligibility, standards for timeliness, substantial nature of services, and quality of vocational outcomes. The consortium may need to have additional discussion regarding a possible strategy for presentation at one of the RSA public meetings.
Appropriations - Dr. Pacinelli expects no major changes in appropriations other than the consumer price index increase. Although there was a move to make vocational rehabilitation a discretionary service rather than a mandatory one, it will remain as mandatory
RSA Workplan - Dr. Pacinelli reviewed the major sections and status of RSA's workplan including:

a fiscal component to identify the relationship of agency to WIA cases who went through a rehabilitation facility;
interface between state education and rehabilitation agencies;
revisions to the case review instrument to factor in performance
compliance
Employment Conference.

Update on Florida Privatization Initiative - there have been dramatic changes in Florida, with the move to privatize vocational rehabilitation. Currently Florida is being monitored by RSA as a "high risk grantee', and there is a pause in the privatization plan beyond the three pilot sites
Personnel changes - Dr. Pacinelli reviewed a number of personnel changes with the state agencies and at RSA.

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Action Groups:

Carolyn McKinley facilitated a discussion on the status of the four action groups. The catalyst for these groups was the National Forum held in 2000 as well as continued discussion by the consortium. It was agreed that these four topics would be the consortium's priorities from the National Forum. Prior discussion included an agreement on the consortium sponsors, topic leaders, participants from the facilities and an initial action plan. It was agreed that these four action groups would drive the major focus of the national conference and that each group would add a training component for the breakout session. Sponsors provided updates as follows:
Outcomes - Sponsors Judy Ashley and Dennis Hart. An initial decision has been made to pilot the Functional Assessment Inventory -Revised at three facilities (Virginia, Michigan and Georgia-although Georgia may need to alter plans). The next step from this group will be to identify models for measurement of outcomes, e.g., the Critical Success Factors model used by Georgia.
Residential - Sponsor David Holmes. Volume I of a resource manual has been produced which focuses on crisis response procedures, since safety and security is a major focus of concern at all facilities. David provided a copy of the resource manual for each facility. The next phase of their work will focus on a training outline for residential services staff and development of a student government web site as a methodology for communication between student council members. At the national conference they will report on the accomplishments and identify others areas for consideration. The group is asked to consider Campus Life as a broader umbrella title and to include a recreation component in their agenda.
Assistive Technology - Sponsor Al Reynolds (Kathy Barr-Howanek reporting) Dr. Reynolds has held conversation with Dale Castilla, group leader and identified some initial priorities including third party reimbursement and prioritizing referrals. The focus for this subject is on client services, however, noted were the lines between Assistive Technology and Information Technology and the pros and cons of blurring or keeping the lines distinctive. Also noted was the tension between the counselor's limited case service dollars and the creativity in the AT process.
Case Management - Sponsor William Tanzey. There are many areas of interest involved in this subject including the title of the discipline, specific responsibilities, 3rd party reimbursement, certification, and the international component and opportunity. It is expected to be an even bigger issue and need for the "one-stops".
The group reviewed the responsibilities of the sponsors between this meeting and our next scheduled meeting in Washington in the spring:

Contact or re-contact the team leader
Review major recommendations from the conference proceedings
Review the issues identified by the consortium at the Arkansas meeting (April 17 & 18, 2001)
Conduct a conference call with all participants
Develop a preliminary action plan before the next meeting

Summary - the four action groups will form the basis of our national conference in the fall. There will be break-out sessions (3 hours each), allowing time for review of action to date; training; facilitated discussion; research; and future opportunities and plans. The participants for the four action groups were reviewed and several changes made (see attachment). The consortium will identify and bring to our Washington meeting a list of participants for each of these four action groups so that the group leaders can make contact with them prior to the conference.

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National Forum - Continued Planning:

Carolyn McKinley facilitated a discussion on the other major components of the national forum as follows:
Administrative/Leadership - it was agreed that this subject would become a 5th breakout session. Possible topics to include are efficiency, streamlining; budget - future funding to support centers; accreditation; succession planning/leadership development; safety/security at facilities; and strategic planning (SWOT, etc.) Donald Dew, William Tanzey, Frank Ruzycki and Tim Milligan agreed to serve as sponsors for this session topic.
Distance Services- This subject will be included as part of a general session, with emphasis on the use of technology to deliver client services, conduct staff training and market the facilities. A CERMUSA update and discussion will also be included in this section. Judy Ashley, Dennis Hart, Michael Breedan, Kathy Trossi (VA) and Brenda Cover will serve as the topic sponsors for this program.
Workforce Investment Act - Ticket to Work - This will serve as the second major area of focus for the national forum. Issues to consider in planning this section include serving non-disabled clientele; philosophical implications; strategic planning; legislative direction and one-stops. Barry Newill will serve as the consortium sponsor with Bill Duke as both a possible presenter and discussion leader. Joe Ashley was also recommended as a co-sponsor to assist in the planning of this program.
Other issues:
Role of state directors
Congressional representatives
Need to identify individual for opening and closing session (reports from breakout sessions were not recommended again)
Exhibit area - outside vendor displays, facility exhibits?
Sonja Scholl will coordinate with the three leader groups with regard to planning the 5th breakout section and the two general sessions.
Need to identify theme - with possible emphasis on Opportunity (Targeting Opportunities; Turning Opportunities into Reality; Emerging Opportunities, etc.)

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Research:

Frank Ruzycki reported and affirmed the logic of building a research focus into each of the four concurrent sessions/action groups. He also recommended following up on the status of the research plan which was initiated in Washington, D.C. at the 2000 conference. Subsequent to that time, consortium members completed a research survey, prioritized research interests and submitted those to Linda Loeffler, Warm Springs who has served as our research contact. Frank will follow up with Linda to determine if she can get a status report from Donal McAnaney.

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Euro-American Platform for Rehabilitation:

William Tanzey provided an update on the status of our Euro-American collaboration. West Virginia currently is hosting an individual from Italy in their clinical psychology program. The goal is that five such staff education exchanges can be conducted this year. Areas of interest include case management, rehabilitation technology, medical rehabilitation (especially TBI) and specialized services for individuals who are deaf and/or blind. He noted plans for a TBI conference/work session in the spring. He encouraged all consortium members to email him of their interests in serving as a host site for the educational exchange program.

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Update - Legislative Initiative:

Tim Milligan updated the group on the status of the proposed legislation for language to be inserted in the reauthorization which will l provide the authority for funding specifically for rehabilitation facilities. He has been working with Jim Stower a legislative aide for Senator Lincoln. If this is put back into the reauthorization bill, it would need to be published in the Federal Register for public comment. The consortium discussed pros and cons to this strategy. Further discussion is needed on the next steps. He did note that his contacts with Senator Lincoln and Congressman Ross had resulted in $150,000 for a welding program at his facility.

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SOCRC Web Site:

Kathy Barr-Howanek gave an update on the SOCRC web site. The group provided the correct name (NC-SOCRC) and reached agreement on the logo. Lee Dayton is the individual in Pennsylvania who has assumed responsibility for working on the web site. Donald Dew will research his files to determine if there is a copy of the information each of the facilities provided when work was underway for the National Rehabilitation Journal article. This can then be provided to HGA to use in preparing the web site. Kathy also noted the possibility of including pictures of each of the directors on the site.

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Business Meeting:

501 (C)(3)-The consortium is still seeking legal assistance to file for 501 (C)(3) status.
Judy Ashley gave the Treasurer's report noting a current balance of $23,227.00 in the general fund and $1,000 in the staff exchange fund. She distributed the dues payment schedule. Treasurer's report was accepted as presented (attachment included original copy of minutes).
Streamlining Initiative-After discussing the streamlining initiative, Donald Dew agreed to allocate funds to support this as a pilot initiative. The money would be used to design the protocol and carry out the process. Three facilities agreed to participate in the pilot phase (West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia). More discussion will take place at the next meeting to determine if we will conduct comprehensive review at the three sites or select one process, e.g., admissions and review it at the three sites.
Marketing Committee-Frank Ruzycki gave a report which addressed:
- Brochure - a fact sheet/one page summary was suggested as an alternative to the brochure. Carolyn McKinley volunteered assistance from Warm Springs to develop this. Further discussion on the newsletter will take place after the web site is underway.
- Display - Pros and cons of a display for the consortium were discussed. After discussion the group agreed to revisit this after the development of the web site. During this discussion, the group agreed that any item submitted for inclusion on the web site should have facility director's endorsement.
- There was a great deal of discussion on the subject of marketing, e.g., who would be the target audience, what would the consortium be marketing, etc. This led to an affirmation of the need for a strategic planning retreat.
- Bi-Annual Newsletter-this issue was tabled until electronic capabilities will support this.
Retreat-Frank Ruzycki agreed for Georgia to serve as a host site. He will provide possible dates from mid-July through mid-August. Our next meeting will be used for pre-retreat planning, however it will focus primarily on strategic planning for the consortium to include vision, SWOT analysis, research, education, internships, university partners and marketing. Donald Dew's office will identify a facilitator.

Present:

Guests:

Welcome/Introductions:

Agenda Review:

Proceedings Dissemination:

Conference Planning 2002 (Third National Forum):

Action Groups:

National Forum - Continued Planning:

Research:

Euro-American Platform for Rehabilitation:

Update - Legislative Initiative:

SOCRC Web Site:

Business Meeting:

Facility Updates:

Cermusa Presentation:

Next meeting: