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WRC Meeting Minutes
July 26, 2007
La Crosse, Wisconsin
Call to Order: Linda Vegoe, Chair, called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m.
Present: Ben Anderson, Jodi Hanna, Ken Kluever, Gail Kolvenbach, Patricia Lerch, Peter Lucas, John Lui, Bill Malone, Ashley Marshall, Cindi Pichler, Carol Schaufel, Dan Sippl, Dee Truhn, Linda Vegoe
Absent: Steve Gilles, Laura Owens, Roxan Perez, Jim Dobrinska
Resource Staff/Guests: Fran Breit, Roger Gantzarow, Amy Grotzke, Vince Holmes, Kyle Kleist, Kathie Noble-Iverson, Jean Rogers, Patricia Severt, Carlene Volbrecht
Interpreters: Colleen Keating, Brenda Prudhom
Recorder: Kristin Rolling
Roll Call
Introductions
Announcements
Linda Vegoe shared an ADA Pledge with the Council, on the anniversary of the ADA:
I pledge allegiance to the Americans with Disabilities Act And to the vision for which it stands One law to right our nation And bring liberty and justice for all.
Review of Minutes
Schaufel/Lucas moved/seconded to approve the minutes with the following corrections to the public comment section.
- Last name of the Autism Society of Wisconsin representative is Diderrich.
- Third bullet should read, “Daughter has difficulty challenging authority or self-advocating.”
Motion carried.
Old Business
Ben Anderson – Contacted Dave Obey’s office in June regarding his concern for sufficient funding to maintain the Disability Navigator positions in Wisconsin. He never heard back from Obey’s staff.
New Business
WRC member questioned - how are meeting dates and the opportunity to offer public comment are publicized.
- Posted on DVR website.
- Public meeting notice.
- Public comment can be offered at anytime during the meeting.
- Ideas for increasing public comment:
- Send meeting notice to the local independent living center and community rehabilitation programs.
- Post meeting notice in local DVR offices and campus disability services offices.
- Linda Vegoe thanked the council for the discussion.
Linda Vegoe led a discussion on the continuing appropriation authority proposal that is currently being discussed by the Budget Committee:
- Federal and state funding schedules are different. Continuing appropriation authority would allow DVR to offer continuous services without being affected by the different funding schedules.
- DWD approved it and it was included in the Governor’s budget and approved by Joint Finance. The Assembly version of the state budget it removed it.
- Concern that this item will get lost among the other budget discussions that are currently taking place.
- Executive Committee can draft and send a letter to the budget committee about the issue.
- Members should contact their local representatives. If they are not on the budget committee, ask that they share your concerns with the committee.
- The Executive Committee should share their letter with the full council so that it can be used to draft letters for other organizations.
Anderson/Malone moved/seconded that the WRC Executive Committee should write a letter to the budget committee in support of the continuing appropriation authority for DVR and that the letter should be shared with WRC members and DAWN.
Linda Vegoe alerted the WRC that the Disability Navigators have requested WRC support to gain a variance for an accessible home without a basement. A Milwaukee Alderman is refusing to grant the variance.
- Cindi Pichler suggested tabling the discussion until after lunch. She will contact a colleague at Independence First to get additional detail.
Agenda Item: Committee Reports
Reports
- Ben Anderson requested that the town name listed for him in the WRC annual report be corrected. It should be Amery.
- Ashley Marshall requested that instead of “Representative of People with Disabilities,” WRC members should be listed as “Representative of Individuals with Disabilities” in the WRC annual report.
- Discussion of using the annual report as a vehicle for advertising WRC vacancies and increasing geographic diversity of the WRC membership.
Evaluation
- The committee just received the results of the staff training survey that was sent.
- The committee will analyze the results and make recommendations to DVR’s senior leadership team.
- The results will also be shared with DVR staff.
- A DVR vendor survey is still in progress.
- WRC member Gail Kolvenbach commented that she felt the WRC is moving in a good direction of collecting data and making recommendations to DVR based on that data.
Executive
- National Rehabilitation Association Update, John Lui:
- Legislative activity includes the ADA Restoration Act, Workforce Investment Act hearings and Mental Health and AODA parity.
- The committee will be requesting counselor caseload information from DVR.
Client Assistance Program Update
- CAP is facing level funding.
Independent Living Council – Wisconsin Update
- Chair Leona Vega resigned. Former vice-chair Kathie Knoble-Iverson will be the new chair.
- Executive Director Jennifer Boyle resigned. Michael Bachhuber was hired as the new Executive Director.
- The State Plan for Independent Living was submitted.
Agenda Item: State of WDA 9, Amy Grotzke
- The La Crosse office location is not ideal but the Job Center is not accessible. She is hopeful that negotiations with the Job Center landlord to move the main entrance will be successful and increase the Job Center’s accessibility.
- There are 11 full time counselors in the WDA, with four vacancies – 2 in outlying areas and 2 in La Crosse.
- The average caseload is 138 cases per counselor.
- The WDA goal for successful closures is 143 for FFY 07 – she is confident that they will exceed that goal.
- The WDA’s rehabilitation rate is 33% - it is low but an improvement from last year.
- DVR staff are working with vendors to increase capacity – it is a challenge to find enough vendors, especially in outlying areas.
WRC member question – What is the transition process in WDA 9?
Response: Each school is assigned a DVR liaison. Staff attend school conferences, etc. If there is a decrease in referrals from a school or district, DVR meets with the school staff to find out why. Even if there is no DVR file for a student, DVR reminds the schools that DVR can be a resource.
WRC member question – What has been the reaction of parents to the decreasing focus on workshops?
Response: The reaction has been mixed. Some are afraid of what will happen – the workshops, even if not ideal, are familiar to them. Others have wanted it for a long time and are excited about the change.
Agenda Item: Labor Market Information/WisCareers Roger Gantzarow (DWD) and Fran Breit (Center on Education and Careers)
- DWD is seeking DVR funding to pay for a portion of the cost of providing WisCareers in Wisconsin Job Centers.
- WisCareers is a career web portal that provides information on careers, training, labor market information, and offers cover letter and resume writing assistance.
- Fran Breit provided a demonstration of the portal.
- It will be available in Spanish Fall 2007.
WRC member question – Is WisCareers accessible to people with disabilities?
Response: The portal is JAWS friendly and a half-time staff person is dedicated to insuring sec. 501 compliance.
WRC member comment – She used it in high school and found it very helpful in choosing her current career path.
Agenda Item: WisTech Council, Kyle Kleist
- WisTech is funded by the Department of Education and is charged with connecting people with disabilities with assistive technology that can increase their independence.
- Their activities include:
- Device loan.
- Device demonstration.
- Equipment reutilization.
- Alternative financing.
- Training events.
- Assistive Technology Training Kits are a new initiative – two suitcases of assistive technology provided to Aging and Disability Resource Centers for demonstration to consumers.
Agenda Item: State of Native American VR, Patricia Lerch
- Native American VR is seeing an increase in success – there are as many successful closures at the halfway point this year as there were in all of last year.
- There are about 300 consumers – 30-35 per counselor.
- Self-employment is a common goal for consumers – new policies recently developed for self-employment.
- In the process of getting AODA certifications for all counselors
WRC member question – What is the process for transition?
Response: Native America VR counselors work with DVR counselors and the school to develop a coordinated plan
WRC member question – Are their cultural differences in serving a Native American population?
Response: Coming on time and missing appointments is a large issue; there is more family involvement; can offer funding for traditional Native American healing services
Agenda Item: Administrator’s Report - Jean Rogers, DVR Deputy Bureau Director for Consumer Services
- DVR Administrator Charlene Dwyer is on a national workgroup that is looking at setting a standard national definition of significant disability.
- There are 11 statewide vocational rehabilitation counselor vacancies. DVR is mandated to maintain a 2% vacancy rate.
- There are currently 20,251 active consumers – caseload varies widely from office to office.
- Eligibility Pilots:
- The WDA’s competed and submitted proposals to the senior leadership team.
- Pilots were awarded to WDA 1 (Racine, Kenosha) and WDA 2 (Milwaukee)/WDA 3 (Waukesha, Washington, Ozaukee) as a joint pilot.
- Vendor Relations:
- Job development and supported employment services now include employment supports planning.
- The vendor training that was held earlier this year will be held annually.
- New Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor Position Description:
- Counseling time increased to 65%.
- As a training technique, examples are being used, i.e. “for the consumer to achieve _______, the counselor must_____.”
- It is the hope that the new position description will help consumers take more responsibility and grow throughout the VR process.
- Counselors will be able to seek and utilize the training they need to meet the new expectations of the position description.
- Employment Goals and Outcomes - DVR is on track to meet or exceed the outcome goal for FFY 2007.
- Quality Assurance and IPE’s - Quality assurance is being approached with “how will this help the consumer” rather than just meeting the minimum federal requirements.
- Waiting List Status:
- Since June 2005, more than 23,000 have been invited off of the waiting list.
- July 1, 2005 = 13,645; July 1, 2007 = 56.
- Making Work Pay was rewritten and resubmitted and now includes the Disability Navigators
WRC member question – Will the Navigators still be in place when Making Work Pay rolls out?
Response: Other options are being explored if the Navigators are no longer in place.
- The MOU with the Department of Public Instruction and the Department of Health and Family Services has been signed.
- Three vacant field supervisory positions have been filled
Agenda Item: DVR Report on Deaf/Blind Consumer Disorders Vince Holmes
There may be some confusion on how to code this disability group. When taken by itself, there are 30 DVR consumers who are deaf/blind. If deafness/hard of hearing is coded as the primary disability, with blindness as the secondary disability, or vice versa, it increase to 67 consumers.
WRC Member Question – Should the concern be the coding or the service delivery?
Response: The two go hand in hand. The consumer won’t be successful if the limitations caused by their disability aren’t addressed
WRC member question – Do we know how many have been involved with the Helen Keller Center (comprehensive rehabilitation center in New York with regional centers)?
Response: Unsure
WRC member question – How do other states code this disability group?
Response: Some states are strict and require total vision and hearing loss. Some don’t require that so it would be difficult to compare.
WRC member comment – A workgroup is needed to set definitions for coding so that there is statewide consistency.
WRC member suggestion – include a more detailed training on deaf/blind issues. Bill Malone will coordinate for the January 2008 WRC meeting.
Agenda Item – DVR Communication Plan, Kristin Rolling
- Defines goal and strategies for DVR to provide information consumers, partners and employers.
- New print material are being developed for consumers.
- An external newsletter for partners and stakeholders will be developed.
Agenda Item (Added): Independent Living Center Update Kathie Knoble-Iverson, Independent Living Resources – La Crosse
- The independent living center provides four core services.
- RAVE has been very successful – a drop-in center for people with mental illness.
- Preparing for Family Care – it will change the face of how services are provided
Anderson/Kluever moved/seconded to adjourn. Motion carried.
Meeting adjourned at 4:00 p.m.