NYSILC Full Council Meeting

February 9, 2001

Attendees: Joe Bravo, Chair; Pat Figueroa, Treasurer; Terra House, Secretary; Sally Johnston, Member-at-Large; Calvin Alderman, Judy Avner, William Bird-Forteza, Maria Dibble via phone, Regina Estella, Mary Ewing, Marguerite Haring, Doug Hovey, Amy LaShomb, Steve Lovi, Paul Molloy, Bob shepherd, Mel Tanzman, Frieda Zames, Sharon Flom; Bob Gumson; Ann Marie Vadney, Brad Williams, Stephanie Lawton.

Guests: Pat Doyle, Denise Figueroa, Laura Hagen, Rick Anderson-RSA.

Absent: Fran Pizzola, Vice-Chair; Georg Fleischer; Steve Holmes, Harvey Rosenthal, Ron Bassman, Greg Jones.

Joe Bravo welcomed members of the Council and guests. Meeting rules were reviewed.

Open Forum: Frieda Zames mentioned that she has 3 sets of cards for signatures that will be sent to Pataki, Silver and Bruno to continue the SCRIE (Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption) attempt to get the rent exemption to apply to disabled persons under 62 years of age. Group support of this issue is also welcome. Laura Hagen announced that Senator Bruno has put together a committee with Senator Spano as chair, it’s a Task Force on Elections in New York and CDCI has asked to sit on that committee. All were encouraged to participate with this task force, as well as to provide Laura with all available information on accessible polling booths. Joe Bravo attended the State Rehab Council in Albany. There was minimal information about ILCs. One item of importance, VESID has decided to RFP all supported employment contracts statewide.

Motion by Pat Figueroa, second by Calvin Alderman, to accept the minutes of November 13, 2000 as presented. Motion carried unanimously.

State Plan for Independent Living: Brad Williams reporting.

• Brad reviewed the process that was followed to develop this SPIL.
• We will be reviewing this document section-by-section. Some sections are "boiler plate" sections, were we are not required to provide a plan or input.
• Table of Contents typo was noted for correction.
• Section 1: Purpose of the State Plan for Independent Living. Indicates assurances, participation in the programs, etc.
• Section 2: Legal Basis and State Certifications. Asks for identification of ourselves, Chief Operating Officer of the NYSED for VESID and the Commissioner of the NYS Office of Children and Family Services for CBVH. DSU versus DSA was mentioned for identification of Richard H. Cate, Chief Operating Officer, NYSED. Larry Gloeckler’s middle initial is "C," not "G."
• Section 3: Plan Submittal. Identifies guidelines for frequency of submittal, SPIL development, public hearings, and comment periods. In section 3.1(a) correct spelling error.
• Section 4: Statewide Independent Living Council. Covers the composition of the SILC (chart and answers reviewed), placement of the SILC, SILC budget. Refer to Attachment 2-Plan for the Provision of Resources to the SILC Budge, includes an additional staff person for Statewide Systems Advocacy Coordinator, COLA, NYSILC Budget is identified for each of the three years, NYSILC responsibilities.

Motion by Pat Figueroa to increase the NYSILC COLA to 3.5%, second by Bill Bird-Forteza. Discussion: If the COLA is changed where will that funding come from? RSA is uncertain of the feasibility of making this change. Members suggest 1.5% is too low. NYSILC will review this on a year-to-year basis. Motion withdrawn.

Motion by Sally Johnston, second Mel Tanzman, to accept Attachment 2 as written. Motion carries unanimously.

Previous motion needs to be eliminated. The SPIL will be approved as a whole.

Motion by Mel Tanzman, second by Bob Shepherd, to eliminate the previous motion. Motion carries unanimously.

• Section 5: Designation and Responsibilities of the State Unit(s). Identifies the NYS DSUs as being VESID and OCFS/CBVH, and their respective responsibilities.
• Section 6: Staff and Staff Development. Reviews personnel administration, development, affirmative action, and nondiscrimination.
• Section 7: Financial Administration. Goes into general provisions, source of State funds, financial record keeping, access to financial records and financial reports.
• Section 8: State Administration of Part C Program. This section does not apply to NY, as it is a 722 State.
• Section 9: Information on Use of Part B, Chapter 1 Funds. Two sets of funds come into NYS. The Title VII Part B funds are more resource oriented. The chart indicates the use of these funds. Refer to Attachment 1, pages 38-40 for details of the expenditures identified in the aforementioned chart. Specific objectives identified as well. The Statewide Systems Advocacy Network is currently being addressed, planned and defined by the Statewide Systems Advocacy Network Committee (includes persons from NYSILC, AILCNY and COIL). In depth discussion was had regarding the Statewide Systems Advocacy Network in terms of reporting lines, responsibilities and issues, as well as other details. Discussion also occurred regarding technology, e-commerce and e-business. On Page 32, 11. "Passage of the New York State Braille Literacy Act," correct name of the bill is "The Blind Students Literacy Rights and Education Act." This change will be made. On Page 39, change the paragraph that starts with "No Part B funds will be used ...," so that it does not begin with a negative.
• Section 10: Outreach. Refers to Attachment 1, page 32, Mandatory Area 3: Outreach. This attachment identifies what has been done by NYSILC, VESID, CBVH and the CILs and goes on to identify two objectives to further enhance outreach efforts to unserved and underserved populations over the next three-year period.
• Section 11: Extent and Scope of IL Services. Required core services are identified, as well as a listing of additional IL services that may be provided. [Pages 17-19] Discussion was had regarding Section 11(d)(1) on page 17, 11(d)(10) and 11(d)(14) on page 18.

Motion by Amy LaShomb, second by Pat Figueroa, to remove the "X" from Section 11(d)(1). Motion carries with 2 opposed, 5 abstentions. Discussion was had regarding doing a disservice to consumers who have expressed a need for the services identified in this item. It was noted that these categories are assigned and while the whole item may not be wanted, we cannot select parts of an item, it is the whole item or none.

• Section 12: Eligibility, Records, IL Plans, and Notice of Client Assistance Program. Identifies requirements that we do not comment on.
• Section 13: Statewide Network of Centers for Independent Living: This talks about the network design and the unserved and underserved area and priorities and refers to Attachment 1, Page 33. The existing network is identified, plans for the existing Federally funded network, plans for the development of new CILs and assessment of unserved/underserved need. Base level funding of $200,000 per CIL has been established. It is anticipated that it will take this SPIL and perhaps the next one to have all the CILs reach the new base level. The list on Page 37 is old and needs to be updated before submission. Orange County, Washington County, Queens and Kings need to be added.

Motion made by Pat Figueroa, second by Sally Johnston, to adopt the State Plan for Independent Living for 2002-2004 as written and exercise the best judgment possible. Motion withdrawn.

• Section 14: Communication, Cooperation, and Coordination. Refers to the working relationship between the SILC, CILs, and the DSU and Attachment 1, page 31. The details are outlined in Mandatory Area 2.
• Section 15: Evaluation Plan. This section refers to Attachment 3, which establishes a method for the periodic evaluation of the effectiveness of the SPIL. This is the instrument by which we monitor the SPIL in NYS. This requires submitting annual 704 reports, publishing an Annual Report, conducting consumer satisfaction surveys and needs assessment, participating in Federal site reviews, and review the progress of the SPIL. The chart identifies associated costs and timelines for each objective. On the evaluation chart, correct the wording under the outcome category to indicate "change" not "increase."

Motion by Marguerite Haring, second by Doug Hovey, to accept the State Plan for Independent Living for 2002-2004 with amendments and modifications as noted today. Motion carries unanimously.

Meeting adjourned until May 14, 2001.