Public Forum February 24, 2011 Springfield MO SRC Members Present: Beverly Kaskadden, Gene Fleeman, Phyllis Lovette, Mary Kay Savage, Ceil Callahan, Patty Yocum RSB Staff Present: Mark Laird, Kevin Faust, Randy Custer, Lindy Pierce, Darlene Kanel, Sue Fain, Carl Powers, Sue Phillips, and Sharon Burch Non-Members Present: Dr Chris Craig, Denny Huff, Pat Powers, Marissa Clary, Jackie Cutler, Earl Cutler, Donna Gieger, Leo Gieger, Vivian Marshall, Carolyn Sue Alflen, John Norm, Tamara Haverick, Jaime Bridges Phone Attendees: Darlene Johnson and Bryan Schultz Beverly Kaskadden welcomed everyone, opening the Public Forum. Deputy Director of RSB Mark Laird introduced the speaker for the night, Dr Chris Craig, director of School of Education and Child Development at Drury University. Dr Chris Craig opened with sharing his background with MO State University and Drury University. He considers his current position with Drury one with great opportunities. When he started as Director of School of Education and Child Development at Drury University he was presented with the concept that Springfield did not have the services for visually impaired infants and toddlers that was needed. They developed the Drury University Children’s Vision Center (DU CVC). However; since the building was located on the campus it was not convenient for mothers with small children. The family of the late Dr. Don Beisner donated the building at 1661 Elfindale. They now have a beautiful facility located in the Beisner Vision Rehabilitation Center of the Ozarks at 1661 W Elfindale St in Springfield. It is a good place for children and orientation and mobility with good connectivity to other programs. The grand opening will be March 11, 2011. Dr Craig went to Drury U to concentrate on young people. They have built some wonderful programs for different ethnic backgrounds. Drury has a philosophy that “no matter the background if you work hard you can go to college and be somebody,” there are no limitations. With that approach Drury has developed program that enables young people to have a structured experience to learn about college. As students take classes in the Arts and Sciences taught by college professors they experience what social skills, social confidence and advocacy skills are required in college. It is not a replacement for the compensatory training required but a companion to experience college life. After their week at college Drury talks to their counselors and ensures they are taking the right college prep classes. We invite them to spend multiple summers with us at Drury which will lead to career success. Questions for Dr Craig. Are volunteers needed? Yes How are the youth located? Through the counselors who work with youth we are able to identify those who will benefit from the program. If you know someone please contact Drury Univ. What age range? The program is open to any child from middle school to a senior in high school. Screening is done to see if it fits the needs of the child. Mark Laird: I think it is great that you are working with the Math and Sciences. That opens different doors for young people, to know what they have available to them, such as mathematics, engineering and architecture. Will it expand to other majors? Dr Craig: Yes, we would do a needs assessment to see what areas would be most appropriate. Is there a cost? No, funding is from private foundations, internal sources, and donations. Are there any other programs like this one? Others could do this. This could be a model that could be replicated in other areas. Patty from the MO school for the Blind added that last summer they had a 4 week transition skills program. It works with IEP transition goals. They partnered with Lighthouse for the Blind, the students went to work every other day and earned a paycheck. They were also responsible for making their own breakfast and lunch as well arranging transportation. We also have MSB LIFE which is acronym for Learning Independence From Experience for students 18-21 years old. Dr Chris Craig added, this is not about Drury but about planting a seed and helping these students to achieve. Carolyn Alflen asked Dr Craig how could a child with hearing impairments as well as vision impairments be able to experience this program? Dr Craig responded stating that there are resources at MO State and through the community that could assist. He expressed that the children who attend these programs are a diverse group, they have different goals, different disabilities and their individual needs are looked at. The council thanked Dr Chris Craig for his presentation and opened the meeting up to any questions. Caroln Alflen asked about RSB’s ability to hire counselors who have hearing impairments or specialized skills in sign language. Mark Laird responded by explaining that as a state agency there is a specific recruitment process required. Mark asked Carolyn for specific organizations that could be contacted when there were openings. We would provide that information to our personnel department. Jackie Cutler suggested that in today’s market, if we could give people with disabilities an edge, allowing for a points system or something to help them. Marisa shared her success story and wanted to thank RSB for their unwavering dedication in helping her to realize the beginning of her dreams. Beverly closed the meeting. State Rehabilitation Council for the Blind February 25, 2011 Springfield MO Council Members Present: Clay Berry (Chairman), Donna Borgmeyer, Ceil Callahan, Brady Clevenger, Gene Fleeman, Beverly Kaskadden, Phyllis Lovette, Mary Kay Savage, Patty Yocum. Non-Members Present: Denny Huff RSB Staff Present: Mark Laird, Kevin Faust, Randy Custer Clay called the meeting to order. The minutes were discussed and accepted as proposed. Area District Report: Randy Custer-District Supervisor gave the South West area district report. They have met about 50% of their production goals for the year. SW has the 2nd highest case load in the state with 210 VR clients, 275 OBS clients, and 40 ILR clients. The current economy has created challenges in the job development and job placement programs. Randy shared the different strategies his office has been using to encourage more businesses to hire visually impaired people. He shared several success stories, including being able to place a client in her chosen field as an architect. They worked with the company to get her office set up with the assistive technology needed. Randy is on the board of directors for the Vision Rehabilitation Center of the Ozarks. This center has a strong community representation Randy brings the vocational aspect to the group as well as representing RSB. Randy compared this program to the Joplin Association for the Blind program and the work that has been done in Joplin for many years, which includes a low vision clinic, support groups, a small children’s library and some technology. Christian county will be having a transition fair in March at the Ozark high school. SW gets a lot of referrals from Christian Co. Mark Laird-Deputy Director of RSB attributes some of the success of the South West district to Springfield and Joplin having 2 universities with vision programs, and the new Beisner Rehab Center as well as RSB developing good relationships with employers in the area. This led to a discussion of the Reader/Driver contracted hours, Denny Huff from the MO council for the blind expressed concern that the counselors did not have enough hours allotted to them to meet the needs of the consumers. It was explained that at the start of the contracts there was concern for the amount of hours, but all the districts feel they have enough hours available and are able to see clients as needed. Kevin Faust-Fiscal manager added, the hours are looked at monthly and discussed quarterly to insure that all services are being provided. At current we are under our projection of hours available. Director’s Report: Mark gave a commentary on Dr. Chris Craig’s presentation. Stating he gained a better insight into the program at Beisner Rehab. Dr. Craig has taken the job “try out” concept and used it for the college experience, allowing visually impaired students to experience college prior to enrolling. Mark is appreciative that Dr Craig had the insight to start with math and science. Our clientele tend to hone in on the social services jobs. Concentrating on the sciences gives the young blind encouragement and opens more doors to see what they can do. Statewide programs: as of the end of the first quarter FFY 2011, we are at 22% of our production goal for the year, which is very comparable to 1st quarter FFY 2010 and 1st quarter FFY 2009. Our closure success rate is 76% also very comparable to past years. We have been watching the success rate to insure that the implementation of System 7 does not affect the services provided to our clients. South West district has a success rate of 84% with 22% of closures being self-employment. SW has a counselor who is very active with self-employment, which is very time and service intensive. In all the programs we continue to look at referrals, the orientation of new clients and ensuring that RSB’s presence is known in the community. St Louis North Ben Elliot retired and Lisa Randolph has accepted the offer of D.S. of the St Louis North district office. RSB will be able to backfill the VRC position vacated by Lisa. System 7: has been implemented in the VR and CS programs. The staff is learning the intricate details of the system. ILR, OBS, POB, and BEP will begin their implementation after their training in March. We hope to be operational in all programs by the end of May. BEP: Mark shared the impact that the BEP has on the MO economy. There are 924 jobs created through the BEP. A payroll that is 29 million a year with a gross income of 2.3 million, with 4 million paid to SS taxes, 2.3 to Federal taxes and 900 thousand to state taxes. BEP is a small program that makes a big impact. They continue to look at other opportunities for new locations and ways of utilizing the Randolph Sheppard act. They are also looking into ways of getting into the private businesses, which includes supporting managers for other career opportunities such as retail sales or restaurants. Federal Report: Mark reported on a couple of House and Senate bills, which affect the community we serve. Mark is also watching a bill that affects work force training which could make a major impact on RSB. Clay commented that he has been watching a bill that could provided more business opportunities for those with disabilities. Fiscal Report: was given by Kevin; he reported that RSB was in good fiscal standing because RSB has almost no General Revenue Funds. The majority of the funding is from federal funds. Federal funds are matched with Blind Pension funds. Whereas other states and programs depend on the GR funds which are in short supply. We have a budget that we work hard to stay within, tracking salary, expenses and equipment and programs. Children’s Program: Clay Berry, Chairman, led the discussion regarding Children’s Services. In 2008 there were 253 14-24 year olds served, in 2009 205 served, in 2010 there were 268 14-24 year olds served. With the number of overall people served up in 2010 our percentage of youth served went up from 12.5% to 12.8%. Of the successful closures in 2009 there were 31 or 11% in the 14-24 year old range; in 2010 there were 28 or 11% of successful closures. After much discussion regarding children’s services it was decided that there are several questions that need to be answered. The council agreed that at our May meeting we would invite Keith Roderick to give us an overview of the Children’s Services program and at the Aug meeting Patty Yocum and Donna Borgmeyer would present us with information regarding the role of the Blind Task Force. Survey Reviews: Cindy Bitterman, Liaison; reported on the Survey’s. For the FFY 2010 there were 267 successful closures all of which were sent surveys, 75 surveys were returned, a return rate of 28%. RSB received a client satisfaction level of 85% for questions 1-11. Question 12-14 pertains only to those who were not employed prior to receiving services. The satisfaction level for questions 12-14 was 73%. There were 96 cases closed prior to reaching their goal, all of which were sent a survey, 9 surveys were returned, a return rate of 9%. RSB received a client satisfaction level of 86%. Committee Reports Program Policy Committee: Gene Fleeman gave a report on the expense of the SRC meetings compared to the attendance of the meetings. Although some locations had higher expenses they also brought in more attendance. It was agreed that we would try to keep expenses in mind as we plan the SRC meetings but not let the expense deter from the locations that would have a large public attendance. This led to a discussion of how we are promoting the public meetings. Clay Berry made a motion to expand the list of people who are notified of our meetings. Ceil Callahan seconded it, and all were in favor. It was also suggested that we emphasize the information being provided at these meetings in the announcement. Planning Committee: will be meeting in July to work on the state plan. Evaluation Committee: Beverly Kaskadden reported that the annual report was completed on time. Bev suggested that we use Marissa’s testimony from last night’s public forum in the 2011 annual report. There were suggestions to providing the annual report to different committees. It was decided that the important aspect of RSB is the client stories and letting them tell about RSB. Membership Committee: Mary Kay’s paperwork is in process. After Mary Kay is appointed the SRC will be fully constituted. There are a number of committee members who may be reappointed. Anyone who would like to be reappointed should turn in an application several months in advance to the state office. The council is looking at the terms that will expire later this year. All suggestions should be made to Mark and the membership committee, specifically needing an NFB representative, a parent with a child who is disabled and cannot represent themselves and a Business and Industry. Statewide Events: Legislative days March 7 &8 @ MCB. March is disability month. Legislative Disability Rights Awareness Day is March 9 at the Capital. Mary Kay commented there is no date for the fall Transition Summit yet. April 11th/12th Power-Up - Missouri Assistive Technology. April 9th St Louis Society for the blind, founded in 1911, celebrated its 100th year with a gala. Alphapointe also celebrates its 100th anniversary in November. The Blind Boys of Alabama will perform. Clay shared that Alphapointe has 2 new programs a day-camp for 10-14 year olds and a 1/2 day assistive technology day-camp for 12-16 year olds. Lighthouse for the blind in conjunction with the Fox Theatre is testing audio description on select movies. Missouri School for the Blind is celebrating 160 years February 27th having Lions Appreciation night. The 2nd Saturday of each month the Nelson Atkins Art museums is increasing accessibility to items. Identifying objects that can be touched also increased their auditory descriptions of items. Old Business: Mark is taking a look at how RSB codes referrals and training staff for a new process. Council will look at it again in November. New Business: Suggested postcard was presented. Council members are to give feedback on the post card. At the next meeting will discuss the cost basis. Next Meetings: Ceil moved to have the May meeting in Jefferson City, August in St. Louis, November in Kansas City, and research available opportunities and locations to have Feb meeting, second by Mary Kay. All in favor. Adjourn.