March 6, 2020
Seattle, Washington
Attendance
All members attended via phone
Council Members Present:
Chris Alejano, Corey Grandstaff, Doug Trimble, Jerri Clark, Jerry Johnsen, Julie Brannon, Julie Jefferson, Kim Conner, Linda Wilder, Marci Carpenter, Sheila Turner, Steve Fiksdal, and Michael MacKillop
Council Members Absent:
Gloria Walling
Staff and Visitors Present:
Meredith Stannard, Yvonne Grimes, LaDell Lockwood, Jeannie Brown, Lisa Wheeler, Tricia Eyerly, Kim Canaan, Alice Klein, and Carl Jarvis
Welcome and Introductions: Marci Carpenter, Chair
The meeting was called to order on March 6, 2019 at 9:05am; Council members, DSB staff, and guests introduced themselves.
Approval of December 2019 Minutes:
Motion: Jerry J moved and Sheila seconded acceptance of the December 2019 meeting minutes. Motion carried.
Director’s Report: Michael MacKillop
COVID-19 is the big topic right now, agency guidance from the governor’s office is changing daily. Currently we are being asked to avoid in person meetings of 10+ people, conferences, etc… Need to find alternatives, especially in King and Snohomish Counties, more telework where possible. This impacts DSB work – youth conference this coming weekend was cancelled and postponed to a later date. Internships will proceed but without face-to-face meetings. OTC term due to start on March 16th, and will have to make a decision by next week about whether to start or not.
State Plan – Due date was moved from June to March, and then to January. Agencies were notified three days before the due date. Michael expressed thanks to the SRC Executive Committee for getting in their comments so quickly when deadline changed. Public comment period on the Combined State Plan ended March 3rd. Now the plan goes to the Feds.
In the past, DSB has been the only state to start Pre-ETS services at age 9. New Mexico has just begun offering Pre-ETS services starting at age 8. This is a good thing, and hopefully an indicator to other states to start these services as young as possible. In Washington, DVR has agreed to the age range established for the state to provide Pre-ETS services, although DSB is providing the majority of those services for the age range 9 – 13 right now.
DSB is looking at progressive employment as a model for engaging adult VR recipients at an earlier stage, essentially “Pre-ETS for Adults”. They can start learning/thinking about career options earlier in their plan than they do currently.
DSB is looking at underserved populations, especially people who are homeless, and how we can best support them. Do we have the resources and knowledge we need in order to assist them? Another underserved area is clients where former incarceration is a factor. Do we have the resources and are we prepared to support them?
Another goal in the State Plan is for DSB to achieve financial stability. This has been challenging since WIOA shifted 15% of our adult VR grant funds to Pre-ETS. DSB wants to find alternative revenue sources. The goal is to have enough funding to have an empty wait list. Order of Selection would remain in place however no one would need to go on the wait list.
At a recent Governor’s results review meeting Michael heard about a great program being offered by the Pac Mountain WorkSource to combat youth recidivism. They offer a 12-week job readiness program to youth who were formerly incarcerated that offers training and skills to be ready to enter apprenticeship programs.
Budgets from the current Legislative session have come out, and the DSB budget shows a reduction of about $83k. This was initially worrying but it appears to be a reflection of the reduced cost that DSB is paying for centralized services, so there should be little to no impact overall.
The Governor and Legislature have just established an Office of Equity. It is tasked with assisting other state agencies to identify and address systemic ways that racial and other inequities are being perpetuated. Disabilities will be a large part of that conversation as well.
There is a Voter Accessibility bill (HB 2437) which would update the language regarding disabilities. It also calls for an electronic way to vote from home for those who need it. There is still a lot of concern about cyber security with this option so not sure this will come to pass.
The WA College Grant, used to be the State Need Grant, will be operational in the Fall of 2020. This program provides financial aid to students, of families who are at the median income level or less, for college tuition. Depending on the income level this could be 100% of tuition paid for the student. This is a big increase of who will potentially be eligible for financial aid. There are most likely DSB student VR participants who will be eligible for these higher education grants.
At the Federal level, the Social Security Income Restoration Act is in committee. It is looking at cost of living increases, as well as increasing the amount of income from work that could be earned before penalty for those receiving disability benefits.
The RSA is accepting public comment on clarification of Pre-ETS spending per WIOA. These proposed changes will give more flexibility on what services can be covered by Pre-ETS dollars. The one drawback is that the changes will also require changes to the Aware business management system and DSB’s processes.
Speaking of changes, there have been a lot of DSB personnel changes and movement. Lou Oma Durand and Arlene Itou both retired at the end of December. Michael was it for the Executive Team in January and it was kind of lonely. Have now filled the Executive Team positions with a new Senior Financial Officer, Jeannie Brown; Assistant Director for VR & Workforce, Lisa Wheeler (formerly North Region Area Manager); and Assistant Director for HR & Training, Tricia Eyerly (formerly East Region Area Manager).
Michael has been eliciting feedback from DSB staff and stakeholders. What he’s heard is that everyone would like more open communication, and more presence in the field offices. The Management team has identified accessibility and increased exposure to, and understanding of, blindness context for all staff as something to focus on for this year. The goal is to complete process improvements that can be pointed to as accomplishments by the end of the year.
Due to the staff turnover and number of retirements in the past few years, and projected retirements in the next five years, there is a greater need for blindness context than there’s been in the past. Currently new staff spend a week in the OTC to learn some of that blindness context which is a good introduction, but it’s clear that there needs to be ongoing exposure, training, and conversations.
Michael had a good discussion with the directors of the consumer groups for the blind, and exchanged ideas such as consumer groups coming in and talking to the VRCs to reinvigorate the notion that there is no job that a person with a visual disability can’t do if they have the aptitude, training, and strengths in that field. The consumer groups can possibly provide connections to people who are visually impaired and already working in that field of interest. Michael plans to have these meetings regularly every two months.
Order of Selection is still impacting participants, staff, and number of outcomes. Last year had a lower number of students enrolled in the OTC. Enrollment is full for the next term, and there’s a lot of excitement about that. Will be unfortunate if it’s derailed by the COVID-19 situation. There are still cases on the wait list, 50% of those will be released into services next week and the rest will go in another few weeks. It has been challenging to release people due to impacts on caseloads. It seems there is always one that gets really loaded up each time there’s a release.
The agency’s fiscal processes pose the highest risk for agency compliance with regulations, and possible penalties to the federal grant, in part because almost every staff member is involved in making financial transactions in a decentralized fiscal structure. There’s an ongoing cultural shift to have the Fiscal department provide more technical assistance and guidance to staff rather than just processing transactions.
BEP is super busy right now. There have been some unintended consequences to BEP facilities with some of the government directives, such as Telework Tuesday on the Capital Campus, which has resulted in fewer customers on site to visit BEP locations. Now there are concerns over the impact of COVID-19.
Independent Living is currently in the position of having too much money to spend due to lack of service providers. This will change soon, and Kim Canaan will address this later in the meeting.
2020 is the 100th year of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act. DSB is planning several ways to commemorate this anniversary throughout the year. Some ideas include: making video testimonials of past participants talking about how VR made a change in their life and sharing on DSB’s website and Facebook; putting up accessible artwork in the Seattle office; and coordinating events with other state agencies, and with the Lieutenant Governor.
It is also the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. One idea discussed is having WSSB and the blind Consumer Groups pair a student with an older adult to discuss the impact of the ADA and their experiences pre- and post- passage of the ADA.
Marci asked – How many people are on the Wait List? Michael explained that clients who fall under Priority Two and Three are still being added to the Wait List. There are 50 people right now, and 25 of those will be released next week or the week after.
Julie J asked – How is DSB doing outreach to the seven tribal schools in the state in regards to Pre-ETS workshops and other youth activities? Lummi VR works with 11th & 12th graders, she is curious what outreach DSB is doing to identify youth in tribal schools who may qualify for Pre-ETS services. Michael replied that Youth Services does outreach to itinerant TVI and other schools. Michael asked Julie J to pass along any contacts she has for the Youth Services team.
Jerri C mentioned that DVR clients can go on the DSHS website and find out who the school counselors are that work with Pre-ETS students at each school, and they can be requested to attend the student’s IEP meeting. Michael confirmed that Jerri is referring to a DVR process. He said that DSB counselors also attend these meetings when requested.
Julie J asked – What kinds of workshops and/or training is done for students who are 9 years old? Michael said the primary focus at that age is on career exploration. This can look like a fun activities for the kids that ties to various career opportunities. For example, taking the kids to experience iFLY, an indoor wind tunnel, and then having a Boeing engineer talk to the students about career options in the aerospace field. A lot of the workshops for ages 9-13 are along this vein. Julie asked how many kids are in these programs? Michael said there are about 400 students who have taken part in a Pre-ETS activity.
Kim Conner mentioned that Kimberly Meck from the Alliance has been using Part B funds for helping people who are homeless in Seattle/King County for the last year or two. Kim wanted to let Michael know about her as a possible resource as DSB looks into working with this underserved population.
Julie B wanted to clarify what it means to not bring people in to Seattle to the OTC (due to response to COVID-19), is it only local or what? Michael explained this means not bringing anyone in person to the OTC. DSB is looking at ways to continue with existing OTC students remotely to keep people engaged. Have just started the conversation on options to investigate.
Julie also asked about the IL funding situation. Once the Lighthouse is fully up to speed with service providers will that take care of the excess funding? Michael said yes, that is the hope once the Lighthouse, and other service providers that UW is bringing on board, are ready to take clients.
Jerry J said he mentioned in the CAP Annual Report the same conclusion as DSB regarding people who are homeless being an underserved population. He sees it every day around his office. Need to remember when looking at homelessness that it is not just an issue of poverty, but very often is also mental health issues. One question he would ask is, do DSB policies and Order of Selection categories adequately address homelessness and mental health?
Carl Jarvis (IL provider in Jefferson County) asked – Given the aging population, low resources, and an increased need at older age for services to maintain independence; what is the long-range thinking at DSB? Michael said the thinking has been that there are not enough monetary resources to provide for more service providers and more services being provided. DSB does see that as a top priority. There’s a trend in VR services of people 65 and older who are requesting services to stay in the work force, so it may be as much a discussion for VR in addition to IL-Older Blind. Carl said he glad to hear it is considered a priority. There is a critical need for more IL funding as people need more training than he can give them in one four-hour visit to their home.
New Executive Team Members Introductions
Jeannie Brown, Senior Financial Officer
Jeannie comes to DSB with 30 years of accounting and finance experience. She shifted from private industry to non-profit work about 15 years ago and liked supporting a mission. She has also worked as an auditor. After meeting several people at DSB during the interview process, especially Michael, she became really excited about coming to work here.
Jeannie will manage the Fiscal team and their processes, as well as risk management and facilities for the agency. She has been complicated in the past for her ability to present complex financial information and analysis in a very understandable way, and she strives to find ways to do that.
Lisa Wheeler, Assistant Director for VR and Workforce
Lisa is a lifelong Washingtonian and considers herself a devoted Seattleite. She attended Evergreen State College and Western Washington Univ. Currently married and has an 8-year old son. She loves to spend time with her family, is an outdoor enthusiast, loves music and art, and is working on becoming a backyard gardener.
Lisa was inspired at her first job in disability services 20 years ago to pursue a degree to work in Rehab Counseling. She’s been at DSB for 12 years and in that time has worked as a VRC, a VR Lead, a Regional Area Manager (RAM) and now A-D. She is passionate about DSB’s mission and vision; and looks forward to growing VR programs and workforce relationships, and increasing collaboration.
Tricia Eyerly, Assistant Director for HR and Training
Tricia is also a lifelong Washingtonian. She headed to the east side of the state for school at Central WA University, and ended up staying for a job in Yakima. She initially went into the Mental/Behavioral health field and was introduced to vocational rehabilitation about 27 years ago. She’s been at DSB for 20 years, started as a rehab counselor and was a RAM for 12 years. She currently lives in Yakima with her husband, has two grown children, and loves the outdoors.
Tricia is excited to move into Human Resources. She has previously had to hone her HR skills as a RAM, enjoyed that part of her job and is looking forward to supporting all DSB staff. Having someone focused on agency training needs is a new position and she’s excited to dive into that. She’s also looking forward to learning about Independent Living and supporting that program.
Independent Living Program: Kim Canaan
Kim manages the IL program for DSB at the University of WA under contract.
Background on the program – IL services are provided by nine contracts with providers around the state. Services are provided mostly state-wide and in some rural areas. Older Blind (OB) are aged 55 and older. Younger Blind (YB) are adults under 55, not youth. Services are for people with vision loss who have no VR rehab goal and are not interested in keeping/finding a job. A typical OB client is female, in their 80s, with Macular Degeneration (number one cause of vision loss in adults, causes a slow decline in vision). The YB clients have often had traumatic or sudden vision loss.
IL services are primarily provided in people’s home. Often IL clients just want to be able to read again, and get help with daily living tasks. Some receive O&M training with a long light cane, and counseling to deal with emotional impacts of vision loss. There is becoming an increased need for assistance with smart devices, especially smart phones, but some providers haven’t had that training themselves or the resources to provide that kind of training.
The IL budget for spending is on the July-June state fiscal year. Right now there are two new IL providers working to get up to capacity. IL-OB has more resources than places to spend it and could be returning half of their funds that were set aside for the OB program. Lighthouse for the Blind signed their contract in November but is still working to get up to speed and hire additional service providers. Their service area covers the greater Puget Sound counties where almost half of the IL clients reside and is one of the main reasons spending is so far behind. IL-YB is in a similar place as far as underspending, although there is no wait list which is good news.
What to be done short-term? Kim shared several ideas have been discussed as ways to spend some of the funds that remain for this fiscal year. They include:
- Have increased providers’ hourly rate
- Have increased limit for devices to clients, previously could spend $200 per person and increased it to $350
- Investing in more CCTVs to have for loaners to all providers
- Ongoing – provide handheld CCTV devices now for anyone who asks now, however this may lead to inequity of services in the future when they can’t be provided
- Boost the provider kits with more devices
- Host in-person training events, including training to providers
- COVID-19 has interrupted this plan; training scheduled for mid-April at DSB is now on hold until the summer
The IL Advisory Group is still active; they try to have meetings quarterly but it’s been working out to every 4-5 months with the next meeting scheduled in May. The group is made up of stakeholders including both consumer groups and providers. Kim has found this group very supportive and appreciates their feedback.
The feds have requested changes to the OB program report which has been causing stress because it was originally supposed to be retroactive to October 2019, and included data that was not being collected. Thankfully that was rescinded and now they have to start collecting the new data in October 2020. Kim said it will require them to make some tweaks to their database, and they just found out their web developer will be leaving the job. So they may have to collect the data in a spreadsheet if that position is not filled quickly.
Now the concern for the IL service providers is COVID-19, since most services are provided in people’s homes. She has reached out to other state IL programs and to the WA Department of Health regarding guidelines for in-home care providers in light of the virus.
Doug commented that he is excited about upgraded toolkits for IL providers; and he’s really looking forward to the training when it’s able to happen.
Michael asked – What is the State Independent Living Council (SILC) doing regarding COVID-19? Kim Conner said that she has not had those conversations yet, but will share with Michael once she does. Kim Canaan said she has time to reach out if Kim Conner doesn’t, so they can work together on this. The new SILC website has COVID-19 information and resources listed.
Marci added that she knows people who provide home care and will ask them about guidelines.
SILC Update: Kim Conner
Kim has been working on the SPIL (State Plan for Independent Living) which is written in conjunction with the state Centers to IL. The current plan was an interim plan for only one year, this one is for three years. SILC needs to have a signed state plan in place in order to get funding. The funding stream from the plan includes Part B funding, money to the state that is portioned out to DVR and then to DSB and IL-YB program; and Part C funding, money to the Centers for IL. Without a signed plan in place these funds are not given.
The SILC does outreach for public input into the plan through community meetings and quarterly SILC meetings which always host a community panel. The new three-year plan is due to submit by June 30th. The plan has to be signed by 51% of the Centers for IL, the SILC chairperson, and DVR.
Michael clarified that the IL-OB program funds still come from the US Department of Ed RSA Division.
SRC Training
Michael and Marci have been discussing that there has not been any formal SRC training in several years. It’s a good way for new SRC members to learn about DSB and its programs, roles of the SRC and being a member, and it’s an opportunity to bond and talk outside of a meeting. Currently looking to schedule the day before the SRC meeting in September or December for training.
Jerry J added that the NCSRC has a publication for SRC members and everyone should have one. He is willing to help with creating the training. Onboarding to the SRC needs to be formalized so everyone receives the same information. Jerry said he will chair a committee to work on training. Steve said he is willing to help.
Jerri C said as a new SRC member she would welcome the opportunity for training.
Meredith mentioned that SRC members can also attend the DSB New Employee Orientation (NEO) training when it is offered.
Jerri C advised that she has a work retreat the first week of December so she has to either miss the retreat or the SRC meeting and training.
After discussion, there was a motion made to move the December meeting to Friday, December 11th and schedule training for the day before on the 10th. Linda moved and Julie B seconded the motion. The motion was passed.
Yvonne will submit a meeting correction to the State Register.
Jerry J suggested Marci send out a link to the NCSRC information so members can review it prior to the December training day. Meredith and Yvonne will assist with this.
Sub-Committee Reports
Note: Due to using a conference call for this meeting, the sub-committees were not able to break out and meet.
Kim Conner – Feels there needs to be discussion around the low response rate to customer satisfaction surveys. She asked if it has to be only closed cases? Yvonne said that is what UW was doing before for the survey so DSB just carried on the same. It needs a multi-pronged approach and not just email. Jerry J said he will share with the Survey Committee what the State SRC is doing for their surveys. It is known that SRC staff make outgoing calls to participants in addition to mailing out the surveys. Michael stated that placing calls is a challenge as it’s a huge staff resource, even for the state SRC. If any other SRC members have ideas or suggestions, please share them with Kim Conner.
Marci – Policy committee was able to meet and provide feedback to Michael for the State Plan in a very short time frame.
Constituent Spotlights
Kim Conner – Recruiting for SILC members, would like to find representation from the southwest, central, Spokane and/or San Juan Islands areas of WA. The SILC advocated to the Governor about accessibility at his first press conference regarding COVID-19. Observed that press conference yesterday had ASL interpreters and closed captioning available.
Chris – WorkForce Board met in late January. Had a presentation on the Google Pathways program. It connects the state’s CareerBridge website to a search for education and training programs that lead to in-demand occupations. Also had an overview of the basic Food Assistance Employment and Training program and the Able-bodied Workers without Dependents program and how those benefits play into the WorkForce development system and how low-income individuals, displaced workers, and others can use these benefits for support while they are finding gainful employment. Marci asked if Google Pathways is accessible, and Chris said yes, he asked about that. The person who was presenting acknowledged that there is more work to be done for accessibility. Marci will send Chris names of a couple people who would be happy to help with any testing/feedback on accessibility issues.
Jerri C – Shared that there is an ADA timeline on the PAVE website. The website is wapave.org and if you search for “history” you can find the timeline page.
Jerry J – What he’s been observing in CAP is the impact of WIOA and Order of Selection at DSB. These have caused DSB to work and manage resources differently which has resulted in a culture change at DSB of how much can be done for a client. In the past, there has been an expectation for “cradle to grave” services. However, public perception hasn’t changed necessarily, and expectations have not adjusted to that change.
Julie B – Washington Council for the Blind (WCB) is doing great, currently they have 400+ members. They’re working on developing an at-large membership component for members who can’t join a local chapter for variety of reasons, and WCB wants them to still feel part of the larger association. Work on their leadership conference has been impacted by the COVD-19 situation so still working on that. Their WCB Conference is scheduled for October in SeaTac at same hotel as last year. There is a new affiliate developing for WCB members who are diabetics. Also looking forward to the VR100 celebrations and working with DSB on mentorship programs.
Julie J – Happy to share that Lummi Tribal VR was approved for a five-year grant. 23 other Tribal VRs and service providers also applied for grants, so there was stiff competition. They have lost a couple of staff members recently and currently have openings for a VRC and a VR Tech.
Linda – Has recently joined the Board of the Hope Vision Foundation, and continues to be active with the Pierce County Assn of the Blind and WCB.
Sheila – All meetings have been getting cancelled. Not much for updates. Not able to hold their main Fundraiser this year. Still planning for Easter Egg hunts.
Marci – National Federation for the Blind in WA (NFBW) is working on VR 100 celebrations and mentoring programs with DSB. Their leadership retreat for the upcoming weekend was cancelled. Ten members attended the national event called “WA Seminar” where they travel to DC and meet with legislators and congresspersons. NFBW will be hosting the BELL Academy program, which stands for Braille Enrichment for Literacy and Learning. It will be in August, two-week day program for children aged 9-12. They will be sure to let DSB Youth Services know about it so they can promote as well. It introduces Braille in a lot of fun ways, cane training, field trips, etc…
Steve – Feels there is something positive about the current COVID-19 situation. It is freeing people up to focus on other things and see what is really important. He’ll be launching his business soon, and is making plans to offer online training instead of live workshops for now.
Seattle Construction Update
Construction is ongoing, everyone in the office is ready for it to be completed.
LaDell said the workers have really learned a lot about DSB and its services. They even attended the last OTC graduation.
Future Agenda Topics
IL Client and BEP Vendor visits – Still planning to do this, will need to wait until in-person meetings are resumed.
SRC 2020 Meeting Schedule
March 6th, June 12th, September 11th, December 11th (Training day on December 10th)
Meeting Adjourned
Meeting was adjourned at 12:15pm