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WRC Meeting Minutes
April 17, 2008
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Present: Ben Anderson, Rob Buettner, Charlene Dwyer, Jodi Hanna, Steve Gilles, Ken Kluever, Gail Kolvenbach, Vivian Larkin, Peter Lucas, Ashley Marshall, Al Noll (for John Lui), Bill Malone, Roxan Perez, Cindi Pichler, Carol Schaufel, Dan Sippl, Linda Vegoe Absent: Jim Dobrinska, Patricia Lerch, Laura Owens, Dee Truhn Resource staff/guests: Patty Branton, Hugh Swanson, Patricia Severt, Manuel Lugo, Jill Gonzalez, Mike Greco, Scott Siegesmund, Patty Johnson, Mary Claire Carlson, Maria Nevala, Arthur Schenk
Interpreters: Stephanie Kerkviet, Tracy Vetter
Recorder: Kristin Rolling
Call to Order
Linda Vegoe, Chair, called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m.
Roll Call
Introductions
Announcements
Review of Minutes
Anderson/Schaufel moved/seconded to approve the minutes of the January 17, 2008 meeting.
Motion carried.
Old Business
None.
New Business
WRC Member Ashley Marshall proposed compiling informational packets to Wisconsin legislators related to DVR funding and services.
Anderson/Kluever moved/seconded motion to approve WRC support of educational packets to Wisconsin legislators.
Motion carried
Elections
Ken Kluever called for nominations from the floor. There were none.
Perez/Kolvenbach moved/seconded to accept the nominations as presented. Chair, Linda Vegoe; Vice-Chair, Rob Buettner; Secretary/Treasurer, Ashley Marshall.
Updates
- Charlene Dwyer reported that the Rehabilitation Act, last authorized in 1998, is not likely to be reauthorized this year and will continue as is.
- DPI Report, Steve Gilles - DPI, DVR and DHFS have been making presentations to groups around the state related to the new Memorandum of Agreement between the three agencies. All agencies are experiencing funding cuts so it is an opportunity to strengthen partnerships to improve services.
The goal of the new agreement is to improve communication between agencies to insure that all three are present during the Individualized Education Plan planning stage. This will help students develop plans that are person-centered and employment will take place in the least restrictive, integrated setting.
WRC member question – Will someone from DHFS attend IEP meetings with DVR and the schools. Answer – yes, the intent is to have someone from the adult long-term care service system assist with transition planning for youth with significant disabilities.
Agenda Item: Disability Navigators
Patty Branton, DPN Training & Technical Assistance Center
Hugh Swanson, DPN Kenosha County
- WRC is the advisory council to the Disability Program Navigators (DPN).
- DPN focus is on systems change for people with disabilities who face barriers to employment.
- There are 16 DPN’s in Wisconsin. At least one in each of the 11 Workforce Development Areas, and three specialty Navigators to serve Native American, Southeast Asian and TANF populations.
- Approximately 1/3 of a DPN’s job is building relationships with employers.
- DPN’s have seen an increase in their activities with the growth of the DVR waiting list. If someone on the DVR waiting list stays engaged with other resources while they are waiting, they are more likely to remain motivated and energized.
- DPN’s can assist people with disabilities who may not need DVR services – DPN’s can help them find other resources.
WRC Member Question – Who refers people to DPN's? Answer – No referral is needed. DVR counselors and other WIA partners talk to people with disabilities about DPN’s.
WRC Member Comment – Wisconsin is seen as a national leader among Disability Program Navigator programs in the United States.
WRC Member Question – Would an individual be taken off of the DVR waiting list if they find employment through DPN resources? Answer – No.
Agenda Item: Assistive Technology Standards
Cindi Pichler, IndependenceFirst
- The Milwaukee County Department on Aging developed an Assistive Technology Workgroup in 2005.
- There are no regulations that govern the scope of practice, level of training, or any other aspects of assistive technology sales personnel.
- Funding sources often do not know if recommendations from vendors are appropriate.
- The group is developing 2 Assistive Technology standards documents – one for purchasing equipment and one for purchasing evaluations.
- The group will encourage funders to incorporate the recommended standards into contract language and vendor agreements.
WRC Member Question – What is being done to train counselors related to assistive technology? Answer – DVR provides AT training and information to counselors but the challenge is that counselors are generalists and can’t be expected to be experts in any one area. DVR recognizes that it is an on-going challenge to stay abreast of all of the available assistive technologies.
Agenda Item: Committee Reports
Evaluations
- The WRC staff survey results were presented to the DVR Directors and will be presented to all staff at the DVR bi-regional staff conferences.
- A DVR vendor survey is being developed. Members should send suggestions for the survey to Rob Buettner by June 1.
Reports
- The WRC Annual Report will be available soon.
- With the outcomes of the new WRC elections, Ashley Marshall will be transitioning into her new leadership role on the Reports committee.
Executive
- The WRC has vacancies in its State Independent Living Council and Workforce Investment Board positions. A request has been made to the ILC-W Board to identify someone on the ILC-W as the WRC liaison or to accept a nomination from the WRC to serve on the ILC-W.
- WRC received public comment on the DVR State Plan and on services in general at two public hearings in April.
Agenda Item: W-2 Update
Linda Vegoe, WRC Chair
- The W-2/DVR workgroup would like a final product that resembles the DVR/DPI/DHFS agreement and that will open the lines of communication between DVR and W-2 agencies.
- Agencies can serve as a resource to one another, even if there is not a joint customer.
Agenda Item: W-2 Report
Vince Holmes, DVR
- In FFY 2007, DVR served 175 consumers who also received TANF benefits. Of those, 53% resided in Milwaukee, 10% resided in WDA 10 (Madison and surrounding counties) and 10% resided in Racine/Kenosha/Walworth counties.
- Ten percent of DVR/TANF consumers were rehabilitated (compared to 20% in the DVR general caseload) and 35% were closed because of lost contact (compared to 2% in the DVR general caseload).
- The 24 TANF consumers who were rehabilitated successfully in FFY 07 earn $314,236 annually; the cost of services for that group was $71,635.
WRC Member Question – Why don’t DVR and TANF regulations work better together? Answer – The regulations for each program come out of different federal agencies. DVR follows the regulations from the Department of Education and TANF is regulated by Health and Human Services. DVR’s charge is to maximize employment effort; TANF is charged with exiting people from the program, but not necessarily through maximized employment.
WRC Member Question – Will Wisconsin’s administration of TANF be changing? Answer – a new Wisconsin Department of Families and Children will be effective July 1. It will administer several programs that are currently part of the Department of Workforce of Development, as well as several from the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family services, which will be renamed The Wisconsin Department of Health after July 1.
Agenda Item: State of WDA 1
Patricia Johnson, WDA 1 Director
- WDA 1- Racine, Kenosha, Walworth Counties.
- The staff in WDA 1are comprised of sixteen vocational rehabilitation counselors, 5 consumer case coordinators and 2 supervisors; 3 teams – 1 in each county.
- Racine County staff hold informational sessions for interested applicants to talk about DVR services, rather than sending applications and then scheduling appointments. It is a “strike while the iron is hot” philosophy, rather than hope that someone will return an application.
- There are strong relationships with Job Center partners in the WDA.
- The WDA has recognized a need to work with staffing agencies – 20 of the 25 largest employers in the WDA only hire through staffing agencies.
- The WDA participated in a centralized eligibility and Order of Selection pilot. Lessons learned during the pilot were incorporated into the WDA’s daily work.
- In the last 9 months, 11 new placement vendors have emerged.
Agenda Item: DVR Administrative Report Charlene Dwyer, DVR Administrator Manuel Lugo, DVR Deputy Administrator
Ticket to Work (TTW) – New Regulations
- Ticket was originally designed to help vendors compete with DVR. The new regulations encourage VR/Employment Network partnership rather than competition.
- With the new regulations, Social Security is doing more to streamline the payment process for Employment Networks to make it more profitable. In the past TTW processes have been cumbersome.
- Ticket service recovery was risky for vendors under the old regulations. It was better for them to sell their services to DVR, rather than be an Employment Network and collect payments from Social Security.
- The biggest changes are outlined in the new regulations which become effective in July.
- Employment Networks will have to market their services to beneficiaries and demonstrate to Ticket holders that they have something of value to offer.
WRC Member Question – Could someone bring a Ticket to DVR and still be put on the waiting list? Answer – Yes. They will be determined eligible but if they are placed in Category 2, they will be put on the waiting list. If they are placed in Category 1, they will be served immediately.
WRC Member Question – Can DVR select Ticket holders from the waiting list first in order to collect Social Security cost reimbursement or milestone payments? Answer – No. Order of selection assignment is determined by severity of disability and application date. Any other criteria would be illegal.
WRC Member Question – What information about recipients does Social Security make available to Employment Networks? – Answer – DVR does not know. If there are concerns about how people are being contacted by Employment Networks, contact Charlene Dwyer so she can share the concerns with Social Security.
Order of Selection Update
- DVR is anticipating 300 Category 1 applicants/cases next month. If there are fewer than that, some Category 2 applicants will be invited off of the waiting list.
- There are about 3,000 people on the waiting list. There will be about 5,000 by the end of June, and an anticipated 8,000 a year from now.
- DVR is not out of money – DVR has the money to serve consumers with active employment plans.
- Category 1 consumers continue to be activated for services immediately.
- DVR’s previous Order of Selection action resulted in a 2 year wait for Category 2 applicants and a 1 year wait for Category 1 applicants. This time there is no wait for Category 1 and an estimated 6 month wait for Category 2.
WRC Member Question – Has DVR seen an influx of veterans who are adding to the waiting list? No – many are still in medical recovery and of those needing vocational rehabilitation services, most are probably using the VR services of the Veterans Administration.
Agenda Item: Public Comment
People First Wisconsin – Mary Clare Carlson
Sub-Minimum Wage
- Discussions of a sub-minimum wage began when Governor Doyle advocated for an increase in Wisconsin’s minimum wage. The Department of Workforce Development was charged with forming a task force to study the issue and advise Secretary Roberta Gassman.
- The task force is required to reach a consensus before moving forward with any recommendations.
- People First Wisconsin is seeking a letter of support from the WRC for a $1 per hour floor on Wisconsin’s sub-minimum wage.
- The WRC did not have a quorum to vote on the issue.
WRC Member Comment – the WRC should seek additional information on the topic in order to move forward in an informed manner.
WRC Member Comment – In the past, the WRC has supported integrated, community employment for DVR consumers, rather than becoming involved in wage issues in non-integrated workshop settings.
Charlene Dwyer Comment
- The WRC is advisory to DVR and DWD on Wisconsin vocational rehabilitation services and issues as those issues relate to the Rehabilitation Act.
- Sub-minimum wage is an Equal Rights wage issue.
- The DWD Secretary has not requested advice from DVR or WRC on this issue but has formed a special task force to seek advice.
- DVR cannot claim a successful employment outcome for a job where earnings are below minimum wage and that is not in an integrated setting. Therefore, recommendations on a subminimum wage appear outside the scope of the both the Act and the authority of the WRC and Division of Vocational Rehabilitation.
- A statement reinforcing the WRC’s support for integrated employment, in community settings at commensurate wages may be appropriate.
Perez/Kluever moved/seconded to adjourn. Motion carried.
Meeting adjourned at 4:15 p.m.