State Rehabilitation Council for the Blind Public Forum Sikeston, MO November 19, 2009 SRC Members Present: John Thompson, Clay Berry, Gene Fleeman, Bev Armstrong and Ceil Callahan RSB Staff Present: Mark Laird, Mike Merrick and Wendy Metzinger Members of the Public: Diane Urns, Jennifer Parker, Denny Huff, Barbara Leezer, Frances Kay Rodes, Brian Schultz, Tom Armstrong and Chip Hailey Clay Berry opened the public forum with an introduction of the Council members. The public forum was opened to the public for questions. Chip Hailey asked if RSB actually gets involved with advocacy in public policy for the blind and/or visually impaired individuals, and if so, are there any success stories that can be shared. Mark responded that RSB uses the SRC as an advocate in areas of public policy. There are also two national organizations, The Council of State Administrators and the Council of State Agencies for the Blind that advocate at the federal level for different programs. RSB does not directly advocate on public policy issues. Success stories are sent to these two national organizations who then present the information to Congressmen. RSB has also discussed using the SRC annual report to market their services. Brian Schultz asked if there was a way to coordinate an afternoon where potential employers are invited in to see blind and/or visually impaired individuals working with computers and adaptive technology as a way to promote their skills. Mark responded that there have been a couple of states that have coordinated educational job fairs aimed at educating employers on how blind visually impaired individuals perform office duties. The core idea of educating employers on blind and visually impaired individual’s skills is a good idea but there are draw backs due to the number of blind consumers being so small. Brian Schultz asked if training could be done for consumers in areas of customer service to give them experience. There was discussion about a program, National Employment Network, that trains individuals to work at Walgreens. The idea behind the program is if the individuals moves anywhere in the state, they already know the requirements at Walgreens and can apply at the store in their new location. Mike Merrick explained that RSB will provide on the job experience as well as on the job training which are both done on an individualized basis. John Thompson said Lighthouse for the Blind in St. Louis offers a work program where individuals get paid for work experience, all they only require a minimum of four continuous weeks working a regular schedule. Alphapointe in Kansas City also has a similar summer transitional program that is an eight week program for teenagers. Brian Schultz asked if there was order of selection in services for individuals who have been incarcerated versus individuals who have not. It was explained that once an individual is out of the Department of Corrections, they are served in the exact same manner as any other consumer. Tom Armstrong asked if RSB offered follow up services after a consumer is placed in a job. There was discussion that every VR counselor at RSB has received training on job development and job placement. When clients of RSB are ready to seek employment they can attend the Missouri Career Center, their staff know where the job vacancies are and are the ones who can assist with resume building. Diane Urn suggested consumers should work closely with their RSB counselor’s in regards to jobs they are interested in so that barriers can be addressed. Denny Huff said the MCB completed a strategic plan. In the past, MCB was supported by thrift stores around the state. In the last 2 years, four of these stores pulled their support. A strategic plan was developed to assist MCB with funding. Currently, MCB is trying to open their own thrift store which will employ visually impaired individuals who can either work in the store or do solicitations for the store from their home. In the next three years MCB is hoping to open a call center where blind/visually impaired consumers can work from their home making calls. State Rehabilitation Council for the Blind Sikeston, MO November 20, 2009 SRC Members Present: Brian Wekamp, Ceil Callahan, Gene Fleeman, Bev Armstrong, John Thompson and Clay Berry SRC Members Absent: Donna Borgmeyer, Brady Clevenger, Pat Fox, David Hertweck, Rose Marie Hopkins, Beverly Kaskadden, Phyllis Lovett, Lawrence Luck, Russell McCampbell, Mary Kay Savage and Jim Sucharski RSB Staff Present: Mark Laird, Mike Merrick and Wendy Metzinger Members of the Public: Tom Armstrong and Diane Urn Minutes Due to the number of absent Council members there are not enough members present to reach a quorum. Area Office Wendy Metzinger, District Manager of the Sikeston District Office gave a report of their district. Wendy said most of the staff in the Sikeston office have been with the office for 20 plus years. Currently, the Sikeston office has two Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors, two Rehabilitation Teachers, one Orientation & Mobility Specialist, one Children’s Specialist, one Clerk IV, two Rehabilitation Assistants and five part-time reader/drivers. These employees provide services to 24 counties. During FFY 09, Sikeston District Offices successfully closed 29 Vocational Rehabilitation cases. Their Independent Living Program averaged a case load of 17, of which 12 were successfully closed. Their Older Blind Services program averaged a case load of 125 cases and successfully closed 121 cases. The Children’s Specialist currently has 92 open cases. The Children’s Specialist covers all 24 counties in the Sikeston District and provides services to some of the St. Louis North and South District offices. Wendy said even with the current economic conditions, the Sikeston District office continues to receive referrals into the program. Wendy has an employee who takes general agency brochures to different ophthalmologist and optometrist’s offices to increase public awareness and to educate the employees about RSB and the services they provide. Wendy said they receive a fair amount of referrals from doctor’s offices, in particular from Cape Girardeau, Farmington and Rolla. Wendy said staff in the Sikeston office also do outreach by attending senior health fairs to raise public awareness. Wendy said the District has been able to place several consumers in successful employment with Drury Hotels. Drury Hotel’s main headquarters and reservation call center is located in Cape Girardeau. To date, there have been three or four consumers employed by this call center. Director’s Report Mark Laird gave the director’s report. At the end of Federal Fiscal Year 2009, RSB had 266 successful closures, which is one more than FFY 08. RSB’s rehab rate is 81.35%, which is 3% higher than last year. Prior to FFY 09, the highest rehab rate RSB has had was 78%, so this year rate is a bench mark. The Independent Living Resource program closed 108 cases. The ILR program rehab rate is 80.6%, 2% higher than FFY 08. The Older Blind Services program closed 988 successful cases, 3 more than FFY 08 making their rehab rate 92.6%. The Prevention of Blindness program provided 6,757 glaucoma screenings increasing the total number of people screened by 1,116 from FFY 08. They also provided resources to secure vision restoration to 632 people with visual impairments; this is almost double FFY 08. The Business Enterprise Program had a little over thirty five million dollars in sales. With 39 BEP managers, their average income was a little over $61,000 per year. Budget State government has shared the projected revenue and spending, if state agencies continue operating without change, there will be a significant gap between revenue and spending in 2010 and 2011. RSB is exploring ways to continue to provide services given the budget issues that the state is facing. RSB has made some changes, one being in OBS. OBS will no longer purchase digital hearing aides for consumers. These hearing aides cost between two and three thousand dollars a piece. If they continue to purchase these hearing aides, they will not be able to afford to offer other services. OBS is still able to purchase auditory enhancement devices that will enhance sound, just not the hearing aides. OBS staff will work with individuals to find other sources to assist with purchasing the digital hearing aides. This cut effects 22 current cases. RSB also terminated their part-time staff which consisted of two employees. RSB’s reader drivers were part-time employees. As of December 31, their employment will end. A contract has been created which will make these employees vendor’s rather than employees. Overall, given the conditions that other agencies are facing, RSB actually looks good. RSB still has 9 vacancies, these positions will be backfilled but there has to be enough money in the budget to pay salaries and benefits. Mark worked with Kevin to project costs. The plan is to hire two employees a month for two month and then reassessing. The priority of positions filled with start with direct care positions, such as the VR Counselors. National News There has been discussion in the House of Representatives to move RSA to the Department of Labor. Currently, RSA is under the Department of Education and Special Education. The Federal Government may also look at reauthorization this spring. System 7 The committee is currently reviewing all of RSB’s forms in System 7 to see if there are any changes/developments needed. A video conference was conducted with Libra to discuss issues and to project timelines. Once the VR program is online, the other programs will happen fairly quickly. RSA Monitoring Report RSB submitted a response to RSA’s monitoring report but has not received a response back. Mark anticipates this report will be received around the end of November. Statewide Single Audit Mike Merrick explained that the review is done. RSB is currently waiting to receive the results of the audit. Mike said there could be a finding on the personnel funding, which has since been resolved. There were also a couple of cases identified where the IEP had not been reviewed on a yearly basis. Hearing Officer Status There will be a meeting November 23, 2009, to discuss whether to use Legal Services for fair hearing officers. Mark requested the Council’s opinions and feedback about Legal Services acting as the fair hearing officers/mediators. Council members voiced concerns regarding using Legal Service because they are not experts in the vocational rehabilitation field; they are employees of Social Services and may not be as impartial as a person who is not an employee. It was suggested by the Council that if Legal Services acts as the fair hearing officers/mediators, they need to have training in vocational rehabilitation issues so that they are educated about the grievances. The Council also expressed concerns about Legal Services staff being impartial. This issue will be revisited in February. Satisfaction Surveys Surveys were sent to consumers whose cases were closed during the first and second quarter of FFY 09. The Council reviewed the results and will continue to review the future surveys to see if patterns are arising. Annual Report The Annual Report is due to RSA on December 31. Mike Merrick and Kim Gerlt will work together to gather information to be included in this report. Mike Merrick will send a memorandum to RSB staff requesting success stories along with photos of the individual. Bev Kaskadden is the Chair of the Evaluation Committee and will assist with the annual report. A conference call will be held with the entire Council in December to pass the annual report. Committee Reports Clay is going to send an announcement to each of the committees chairs requesting they review the duties of their committees. Membership Committee Donna Borgmeyer is the Chair of this committee. Currently the Councils is short one member. Anyone who is still interested in serving will have to complete a new application. The application can be found online. An email will be sent with a link to the application. Top Five SRC Priorities Mark received a request from the Governor’s office asking for the Council’s top five priorities the Council is dealing with or has dealt with. There was discussion regarding the different aspects of the Council’s priorities. Below are the agreed upon priorities: 1.  Promote the full inclusion, participation, and integration of Missouri blind and severely visually impaired in the economic, social, cultural and educational mainstream of society 2. Through the SRC’s ' advisory capacity assure that appropriate education and  rehabilitation services increase the employment rate of blind and visually impaired in Missouri. 3.  Promote and assure the continuation of specialized vocational rehabilitation services to Missouri consumers who are blind and severely visually impaired through specially trained professional staff with unique skills and knowledge of blindness 4.  In partnership with RSB, develop, agree to, and review the annual State goals and priorities of RSB in preparation of the state plan and evaluate the effectiveness of services.    5.  In partnership with the State Agency, RSB, conduct a statewide comprehensive needs assessment to determine the unmet rehabilitation needs of blind and severely visually impaired in Missouri. Public Forums There was discussion about the low attendance to the public forum. The Council is going to research the possibilities of having a webinar. Webinar’s would overcome the transportation issues faced at every location, as well as allowing structured monitoring of questions asked by participants. Mike, Clay, and John are going to speak with other agencies that conduct webinars to get more information. Another item that was suggested was to set up an email account, specifically for the Council, which will be added to the RSB website for individuals to submit questions/comments. Statewide Events * January is Annual Glaucoma Month. * November is Diabetes Awareness Month. Alphapointe is going to host a community event where Diabetes educators will speak with their staff. New Business: * RSB will begin the process of filling two VR Counselor positions.