September 11, 2020
Seattle, Washington
View previous meeting minutes.
Attendance – all members attended via videoconference
Council Members Present:
Chris Alejano, Corey Grandstaff, Doug Trimble, Jerri Clark, Jerry Johnsen, Julie Brannon, Julie Jefferson, Linda Wilder, Marci Carpenter, Sheila Turner, Steve Fiksdal, Michael MacKillop, and Jolie Ramsey (representing WASILC in Kim Conner’s absence)
Council Members Absent:
Gloria Walling
Staff and Visitors Present:
Meredith Stannard, Yvonne Grimes, Lisa Wheeler, Tricia Eyerly, LaDell Lockwood, Kim Canaan, and Alice Klein
Welcome and Introductions: Marci Carpenter, Chair
The meeting was called to order on September 11, 2020 at 9:05am; Council members, DSB staff, and guests introduced themselves.
On behalf of the SRC, Marci acknowledged we are all on Native land. She also acknowledged that today is the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
In addition, Marci announced that this is Doug Trimble’s last SRC meeting, and thanked him for his service and contributions to the council during his two terms.
Approval of June 2020 Minutes:
Motion: Jerry J. moved and Julie B. seconded acceptance of the June 2020 meeting minutes. Motion carried.
Acting Director’s Report: Michael MacKillop
In addition to Marci’s acknowledgements, Michael mentioned the current wildfire situation in the western states and the impact the fires are having on everyone. He also thanked Doug for his years of service and input on the Council.
DSB has started in-person Orientation & Mobility (O&M) services which have a lower risk since they take place outside. This also includes OTC students. There is a limit to what can be taught remotely in regards to O&M.
DSB has seen a slight drop in numbers served and spending due to COVID-19. Anticipate a rush for services when things open back up, especially for people who have lost their jobs. Will certainly see the need increase for remote working skills and retraining for some people.
There has been underspending in Pre-ETS due to the pandemic, and unfortunately this is the 2nd year of the current biennium. The remote summer programs that was offered went great and were amazing, but there were a number of things that couldn’t be included. Things like student work experiences and internships, earning a paycheck, and being away from their families and responsible for their own food and clothing, among other things.
The Business Enterprise Program (BEP) has been hit the hardest since the vendors rely on people working in State and Federal buildings. Three or four operators have been able to continue, offering reduced services for essential staff. Michael is really proud of Jim Hemmen, BEP Manager, as he was able to negotiate rent abatement back to March for a number of vendors. And, next year’s rent will be reduced and based on building occupancy. The same sites have added an additional parking space, free of charge to the vendors, to begin expanding their businesses’ ability to offer pick-up/delivery. This also fits into the reinvented model for BEP operators, as they need to transition away from the current cafeteria model.
Independent Living (IL) services – Understanding of Part B monies and DSB’s relationship with the funds has changed. After WIOA it was very unclear as to splitting the funds between DVR and DSB, and DVR had become the main authorized entity in the state for Part B monies. It is understood now, and it will change some things as DSB is currently negotiating an inter-agency agreement with DVR for their share of the state’s Part B money along with the other Centers for Independent Living (CILs).
There is impact from ongoing pandemic on staff mood, it’s hard to work remotely in the blindness field as DSB is a high touch agency. Staff are staying connected through activities like lunch and learn discussions, and a 10-minute stretch once a week. It’s a challenge to work from home, and it can be an inefficient way to work as well, with less opportunity to spontaneously share information with co-workers or ask for feedback.
In addition, it is a very stressful and challenging time for staff who have school-age kids at home, it’s a lot to balance every day. DSB is offering broad schedule flexibility with work hours that support the need for homeschooling, and still cover the business needs as well.
It’s time for agencies to submit budget decision packages for the 2021-23 biennium; and DSB is asking for increases to BEP, VR, and maintenance level funding for IL. Agencies also have to submit decision packages based on possible spending cuts up to 15% over all programs. The packages go to the Governor and then he decides what packages go to the Legislature in December as his proposed budget. The budgets are usually approved toward the end of the legislative session, so final budget decisions likely won’t be known until June 2021.
For the first time, DSB is submitting a budget package for the BEP due to the ongoing lack of revenues, and the need to revamp and update the current program model. The package is for $2 million over the biennium.
The ask for VR is $1.8 million over the biennium. DSB is anticipating an influx of applications, and will be a critical part of the recovery of the state’s economy. Needed as well to support the mission of the Governor’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiative.
The other impact of no additional, or cuts to, VR money would be on the VR Federal grant DSB receives. Because of the state match obligation of $1 to every $4 federal money received, DSB will have to pay a Maintenance of Effort (MOE) penalty if the new biennium budget is less than the previous biennium. The penalty is dollar for dollar lost, so 5% is $200,000, 10% is $700,000, and 15% is $1.2 million (all approximate figures). If there are any cuts to funding then DSB will likely have to reinstate the Order of Selection (OOS) wait list.
The 100th anniversary of VR is coming up, and the nation just celebrated the 30th anniversary of the ADA. There is a VR100 WA State celebration planned for October 15th. DSB has gathered testimonies that will be shared, and DSB staff have been involved with creating the event. More information is available on DSB’s website and Facebook page. Michael noted that this program will be an amazing outreach tool to have in the future, to help others understand the impact of Vocational Rehabilitation on peoples’ lives.
Michael has been proud of the DSB Leadership team’s work on the process improvement project on accessibility. The new employee training now includes more accessibility training and blindness awareness. The team is looking at all DSB forms and processes to make improvements.
Michael expressed appreciation for the blind consumer groups, Marci and Julie B., talking to DSB VR staff so their role is better understood, and to learn about resources they can offer. Also their ability to offer peer support for specific job fields that participants want to explore.
25% of DSB staff is new and still learning DSB’s culture and values. There is a need to be more deliberate about sharing this with new staff, and explaining the cultural values. One exercise given to new staff prior to the next NEO is to talk to staff who’ve been at DSB for 5+ years to ask about DSB values and culture.
Julie B asked – Does Michael see including the consumer groups in the cultural discussion? Michael said yes, absolutely. There are multiple levels to this ongoing conversation. And he really appreciates what’s been offered so far.
Marci added that the consumer organizations can have a role in the budget ask, as far as sharing the DSB story, and so can the SRC members.
Independent Living Report: Kim Canaan
Kim said they made the decision to relaunch in-person IL services on September 1st. The University of WA has strict requirements to be met, including PPE and health monitoring, and vendors have to answer an online survey any day they provide services. Vendors had to submit their own plans as well. IL submitted the plans to DSB for review. Not all providers have chosen to come back, some are waiting for Phase 3.
IL provider contracts with DSB run on the state fiscal year, July 1-June 30, and the program had unspent funds at the end of the year that DSB agreed to carry forward into the new year. Kim said some of their providers had taken a small overall cut on their last contract so it wouldn’t have to get cut mid-year, and she will use this money to supplement the Older Blind (OB) contracts as the year goes on. Given the pandemic and the expected impact to state revenues she does not feel optimistic about the DSB budget ask for IL, and is worried about any further cuts.
They used some of the unspent funds to augment providers’ “go” kits. Some are low-tech items, and some are higher tech items for them to train on, and to be able to show clients their options if they have their own funds to spend. These are not all items that IL can afford to supply.
Marci asked about geographic coverage now that Karl and Cathy Jarvis have retired. They covered the upper Olympic peninsula, Clallam and Jefferson Counties. Kim said she has reached out to Rafael Ramirez to expand his territory for now. It will mean higher travel costs, but he doesn’t mind the extra driving for now. She said it would be nice to have a third provider, but it is challenging to find someone for that large of an area. Lighthouse is also providing services on some of the Peninsula.
Youth Services Report: Debbie Brown, Janet George, and Jen Scheel
Janet and Jen shared three stories each from six of the modules that were part of DSB’s Youth Services Virtual Summer Program.
Jack Straw Productions – One young student with recent vision loss was paired with a new audio tech, the student was not familiar with JAWS yet and she was scared. Janet shared that DSB supported her through the experience, and especially two of DSB’s AT Specialists, Mario E. and Reg G. who stepped in a number of time to assist her with joining the conferences throughout all of the summer programs. After her Jack Straw experience the student expressed how much she had learned and would be able to take back to use at school.
Financial Beginnings – This module was about financial literacy, and included information on loans and insurance, identity theft, saving money, the differences between banks and credit unions, and the basics of “what is money”. The presenters were from BECU, and they were fabulous co-facilitators. For Janet, the memorable moment was when one student said, “Gosh, I thought I knew a lot about money, but I didn’t know anything!” and he was very excited to have participated in this module. He felt that now he knew what he needed to know for his future.
Career Explorations with Partners in Careers, and the ADA – Included participating in informational interviews, writing resumes, and preparing for interviews. Discussed career readiness for students with additional support needs. Examined what the ADA says about what accommodations can be requested for an interview. Looked at strengths and interests with a segment called “Oh, the Places You Can Go”, which because of being virtual was able to include speakers with a variety of interesting professions from all over the country.
There was one young man who had participated in most of the modules offered, and at the end of the interview session he said, “I did not realize that I needed to know so much as an adult. This is so much, what am I going to, do, how will I ever learn it all?” Janet was able to respond to him and let him know that he’ll always be learning and every experience he has will teach him new things, even when he thinks he’s done learning. He then said “Good”.
Jen told about the contractor YS used, who works with Marci Ebarb at WSSB with students who have additional support needs, on career exploration and career readiness materials, activities, and curriculum. The contractor created curriculum on Career Readiness for the summer youth students who had these additional needs, and figured out how to present it virtually. The contractor did an amazing job, and Youth Services is excited to incorporate what they’ve learned about the virtual world into future programming, and where this can go in the future.
The students met in small groups to discuss their strengths, work readiness and interests, and how those can translate into future careers. In addition, there was an educational portion for guardians and caregivers where there was a lot of peer learning and resource sharing. For example, one student is dead set on becoming a pilot; the group discussed all the careers that exist around being a pilot, and the kids thought of all the other jobs there might be at the airport, working with airplanes, etc... For the parents, the contractor encouraged them to step back and let their children take the lead in this exploration.
Another module was called “Oh, the Possibilities!” and included a weekly virtual Career panel. Because of the virtual presentation, YS was able to have Blind and Visually Impaired (BVI) people representing a variety of careers from across the state. This was achieved by working with the WCB and NFBW, as well as DSB’s counselors. The different careers were grouped into career “clusters” and those panelists presented together, e.g. Medical careers. A sampling of presenters who were all BVI included: NASA engineers, retired Physical Therapist, retired Massage Therapist, BEP vendor, sound engineer, woodworker, small business owners, and many others.
Janet and Jen wanted to focus on informational interview type questions, and were very successful with this. The students were able to work on this with the panelists, and really improved their skills with asking deeper questions more confidently over the sessions. One student wants to be a sound engineer and was able to ask if being an introvert would impact their ability to work in that field. Some of the students wanted to ask more questions after the sessions were over and the presenters were happy to provide their emails for further conversation with the students.
The social component was a huge aspect missing from the summer programs by having to participate virtually. The students value that space to make new friends and reconnect with friends from the previous year. The module “Let’s Talk About It” on Fridays was developed to help encourage those social connections, with the intent of increasing self-awareness, peer relationships, and self-advocacy skills. YS worked with previous DSB contractors who they were confident had the ability to encourage that type of engagement between the students; and again were very impressed with the curriculum that was developed.
In the sessions they focused on each of the “5 H’s”, which are heritage, high times, hard times, hobbies, and heroes. It gave the students a place to share about themselves, what they like, their heritage and family traditions, etc… They received feedback from a couple of students that they were nervous before it started and weren’t sure how they could make friends virtually, and that it went so much better than their expectations. All of the feedback was positive, and many students were surprised, and very happy, to have the same types of social interactions and friendships develop on the virtual platform as they had in person. And they didn’t want it to end! YS is looking at how to carry this type of session forward, it’s clearly needed and wanted by the students now more than ever.
Debbie wanted to add that when they first started working on the virtual programming they had no idea how it was going to work or if it would be successful. The YS team was very pleasantly surprised at how well it went, and realize that they captured some students who have not been willing or able to come to the in-person offerings because of various reasons. From the comfort of their own homes they were able to participate this year, and Debbie said that was a big step she wants to acknowledge for the students, DSB, and the YS team.
Jack Straw Youth Services Summer Program - For the final part of their presentation the team shared the song that was created by students with the assistance of Jack Straw. The employees at Jack Straw really put forth the effort that was needed to make their usual blind youth program work virtually, and the end result is a wonderful and inspiring recording.
Constituent Spotlights
Doug – WSSB has started, remotely. Next week they will have six local students in person, and he will offer in-person O&M. He has contacted a TVI at the school about being his replacement on the Council, Steve Lowery. Although he works at the school in Vancouver, WA, he lives in Portland, OR. The council has a question in to the Governor’s office about his eligibility because the SRC By-laws for this council state the members must reside in WA state.
Jerry J. – He said the challenge with working from home is to stay in touch with people when his job is to do outreach. He has been very involved in the VR100 presentation coming up in October. Staying healthy and working on his retirement plan.
Jolie – representing the WASILC. Their quarterly meeting is coming up on October 1st, from 9am-3pm on Zoom. They have developed a solidarity statement regarding the intersectionality of race and disability, it can be read on their website, wasilc.org. The CIL, WASILC, and Partners in Disaster Strategy are planning a virtual conference on emergency preparedness called “Planning Today for a Safer Tomorrow. It is on November 17th-18th, is free to attend and more information is on their website. Everyone is encouraged spread the word and promote attendance, especially in disability communities.
The Coalition for Inclusive Emergency Planning (CIEP), managed by Jim House, is also involved in the conference. CIEP continues to provide COVID support, and is now providing support to those impacted by the wildfires.
The State Plan for Independent Living (SPIL) has been submitted to Administration of Community Living (ACL), and are now waiting to hear if accepted. It is a three-year plan this time which made it a little easier than the previous one-year plan they had to submit.
The WASILC has four new members on the council and still have one spot open. They are looking for representation from Central or Eastern WA. If anyone knows someone who might be interested, encourage them to apply.
Sheila – Reported that the Edith Bishel Center reopened on September 1st with two staff. Currently operating without an acting Exec. Director, but Sheila was able to rehire their previous office manager. They have a sanitation station and the required PPE available. The Low Vision clinic will be available starting next week, and they’ve gotten a newsletter out. Sheila is ready to see clients again, but now needs a reader-driver as the previous one was let go during the shut-down. They’ve started their Veteran’s support group back up, and hoping to get some Pre-ETS workshops and their Birth to 3 play group going soon. Sheila is also dealing with her own kids’ online schooling.
Marci – Shared that the NFB National Annual Convention was held virtually, and was free to attend. All technologies could participate, including landline phones. They were able to work out a effective way to vote, and there were 8,000 participants all together. The in-person convention usually has around 3,000 participants.
NFBW (along with WCB) is currently focused on access to voting this fall in WA state. Both agencies are helping BVI residents get registered to vote. They are advocating for changes in the ways available to vote accessibly. Need improvements to current methods, some of which do not allow for a completely secret ballot. Weekend of November 6th is the virtual state convention. Marci will be working with Jen and the YS team for youth programming at the convention. Their youth group has been keeping active with monthly calls since last year’s convention.
Julie B. – The ACB National Convention was also held virtually. There was concern about how it was all going to work, and there were 108 individual sessions offered over the week. As Marci noted for NFB, many more people were actually able to attend virtually than could go in person. They did not do any voting, and current office holders will carry over to next year.
ACB Community Events have blossomed since the COVID restrictions began. Julie heard a statistic that after the shutdown started, in April there were 88 events held during the month. A week ago they held 74 events over one week. Any topic you can think of gets covered. The event information is being shared with DSB to go out to all clients.
WCB has cancelled their Leadership Summit for this year and rescheduled to April 2021, hoping things are open by then. They will hold their state convention virtually the weekend of October 29th. There will be voting at this convention, deciding on the final details now. They have planned a diverse convention schedule, including a Youth program planned by the WCB Families Committee. WCB has added new affiliates recently, for diabetics and also for dog guide owners, and they have been holding monthly meeting calls. Julie can provide the call information if anyone is interested, as one does not need to be a WCB member to participate in the calls.
Julie J. – Lummi Tribal VR held a Back to School Bash drive-thru event earlier in the week to distribute computers and supplies. They found that there are over 1,000 Native American students in Whatcom County. They are developing a survey to help them gather information about student disabilities and special needs, as there is no current data available.
They are coming to the end of the first year of their VR grant, and are wondering what this means for the rest of 2020. RSA has opted not to award 5-year grants to the other Tribal VR (TVR) programs that were in competition, and has just extended them for another year instead. Not sure what will happen and this puts some tribes in a difficult situation, especially if they are serving other tribes. Lummi Nation is fortunate, they only serve the Lummi Tribe and other Native Americans living in Whatcom County. Another local TVR serves multiple tribes in northern WA and is much more impacted.
Julie announced she is retiring after this grant cycle. Julie has moved down to a VRC position and they are transitioning in a new Director over the next four years. She is a young Lummi tribal woman who has experience in working with individuals with disabilities, specifically of high school age. In addition, there is an upcoming election for the new Lummi Tribal Chairperson and they should know by November who has been elected.
Jerry J. asked if Julie could clarify what’s happening with the RSA funding. Julie said that is what they are trying to figure out. RSA has asked for more information in regards to remaining budgets, which because of COVID were not spent by TVRs. Lummi has funds that will carry over due to COVID. Their carry over happens automatically under their grant, they do not have to apply for it. Still unable to provide face to face services due to current phase for Whatcom County, may change by end of September.
Public Comment
There was no public comment given.
Committee Reports, Membership Discussion
Policy Committee has not met, they will meet before the December meeting. There will be committee breakout sessions scheduled at the December meeting. Julie J. has been assigned to the Satisfaction Survey and Annual Report Committee.
Satisfaction Survey Committee has not met. Marci commented that the most recent survey results were included in the meeting packet. There doesn’t seem to be a large response rate. Yvonne confirmed that even though the survey was shortened, it has not seen an increase in responses. Also, VR closures have decreased so it’s a smaller pool each month. For example in July, there were 14 VR closures and three clients responded to the survey.
Jerry J. asked – Are only closures being surveyed at this time? DSB – Yes, that is correct. Jerry wondered if there was any reason that people in open status are not surveyed? Michael said it’s probably up to the SRC to consider that question, and he would be open to hearing from clients while they are in service rather than just at the end of it. Jerry thinks it would be more effective and would get better information than after closure.
Jerry said that the general state SRC has been making inquiries to clients specifically about COVID. Questions asked included: What is happening to you as a customer of this agency? How responsive is this agency to you? Are things working?
Jerry said the answers have been very revealing, and the responses come from a broader audience rather than waiting for case closure. Can get all kinds of information about how things are going right now, and allows for course correction if needed.
Marci agreed that active customer surveys, and a COVID-specific survey, would be valuable information. She asked if these are phone surveys or emailed?
Jerry said they are doing both. Prior to their quarterly meetings, the DVR SRC members are making outgoing calls to clients and having a 1:1 phone interview. This feedback is shared at the meeting. They identify a group of people, usually by region, and there is a specific set of questions that are asked. Jerry said the 1:1 conversations on the phone work much better than when they surveyed small groups in feedback forums, people are more inclined to speak their mind privately.
Marci asked if it is support staff making the phone calls or SRC members? Jerry said that staff work with the agency to send out the emailed surveys. The phone interviews are done by SRC members. The calls are split up between several members. While there is a standard set of questions, Jerry said that sometimes an answer will lead to several follow-up questions, or need clarification, and he gives leeway for that when he is making the calls.
Marci asked for thoughts on this subject from the other SRC members.
Steve commented there’s a lot of value in a call that does allow you to dig a little deeper. Also, to check in with clients still in service is valuable.
Julie B. asked –How do you decide who to contact? Jerry – By geographical area or field office location. They do offer an incentive for people to participate, $10 Starbucks or Visa card. He said they really focus on keeping the feedback general and not naming specific people that the client may want to talk about. And it is feedback that is useful for the agency.
DVR has actually decided to do their own survey based on the feedback that that SRC has been collecting. Jerry said the agency and SRC are working on it together, and they have the same end goal of improving delivery of service to their clients.
Marci asked – Do SRC members making the calls sign a confidentiality agreement or get more training? Jerry – Not really extra training, there are some givens that the council understands, and there is a federal mandate for the SRC to contact clients and solicit feedback. There was pushback from some staff in DVR and the SRC sought clarification from the RSA, and confirmed it is main reason the SRC exists.
Meredith asked – We thought the SRC could not make calls? Jerry – No, it’s okay. Meredith added it’s uncertain if there’s DSB staff time available to do this. This would be Michael’s concern as well is the amount of staff support that may be needed.
Corey commented that the staff support would be mainly for getting the client contact information together, and then compiling the results. He thinks it can be managed to limit the amount of staff support needed.
Consensus was to explore and discuss this further. Marci would like to hear feedback from more council members. She will talk to Kim Conner about this idea and how they might proceed. She’ll recommend that the Survey committee can touch base with Jerry to get more details of current DVR process.
Membership Committee has not met. The potential candidate from WSSB is not eligible due to residing in Oregon. Corey feels this will not be a hard position to fill as there are other potential candidates. Also, the committee will make a plan to fill the CRP and the business & labor positions that are open. Marci advised they will also be looking for a new BEP member to take over the term for Gloria Walling. Technically her position is one of the four termed as “Business, Labor & Industry” in the by-laws, but Marci feels having one be a BEP vendor is valuable for the council.
Yvonne checked the member spreadsheet and the following members expire in September and need to re-apply: Linda, Julie J., Chris, and Jerry J.
The Membership committee could use more members, Linda said she would like to change to this committee. She said she has several leads to people who may be interested in serving as council members and they are all BVI.
Linda asked – Are people (public) notified of SRC meetings, i.e. sent out to all former clients or a listserv? Yvonne advised notices are posted on the DSB website and Facebook page. Marci & Julie B. will start sharing the meeting notices with their consumer group lists. Michael said DSB will work on a method for emailing out the meeting information.
Council Election Discussion
This is Marci’s last year as SRC Chairperson. She will finish the rest of her term as a “regular” council member. She also expressed thanks and appreciation to Doug Trimble for serving as Vice-Chair with her. After discussion it was concluded that Corey is actually the current Vice-Chair and was elected last year.
At the December meeting the membership will elect a new Chair and Vice-Chair. The Membership committee is handling the election, please email Corey if interested in either position. Linda and Julie B. both expressed interest in a position. Corey will send out the list of responsibilities for Chair and Vice-Chair to all of the SRC members.
SRC Training Discussion
Reminder that the training session is scheduled for December 10th, the day before the next quarterly meeting. The committee is meeting next week to discuss and plan the agenda, and the content to be presented. Will probably be one to one and a half hours long, and in the morning.
Future Agenda Topics
IL Client and BEP Vendor visits – Still planning to do this, may need to wait until in-person meetings are resumed.
Linda suggested having a VR Counselor speak about the change to providing services remotely and how else their work has changed.
SRC 2020 Meeting Schedule
- December 10th – Training Day (conducted remotely)
- December 11th – Meeting
Meeting Adjourned
Meeting was adjourned at 11:55am