I. Call to order
Charles Bergamo moved to adjourn the meeting; Molly Cole seconded the motion. The motion was approved unanimously. James Hexter, Council and Committee Chair called to order the meeting of the Research & Planning Committee at 9:10 AM on July 25 at the UCEDD in Farmington.
Members present: Charles Bergamo; Mary Beth Bruder, UCEDD Director; Molly Cole, former Council Director; Kevin Daly; James Hexter, Council and Committee Chair; Gretchen Knauff.
Members present by phone: Shelagh McClure, Council Vice Chair
Members absent: Joyce Lewis
Staff present: Walter Glomb, Council Director

II. Approval of agenda
Charles Bergamo motioned to approve the meeting agenda; Molly Cole seconded the motion. The motion was approved unanimously.

III. Approval of minutes from last meeting
Kevin Daly motioned to approve the minutes from the June meeting; Charles Bergamo seconded the motion. The motion was approved unanimously.

IV. Open issues
Molly Cole discussed a conversation she had with Sheryl Matney, director of technical assistance at the National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities (NACDD), regarding the possibility of the Council separating itself from the state and becoming a private nonprofit agency. Based on information obtained from this conversation, the Council was advised against becoming a separate nonprofit because the complications and potential drawbacks of such a move would outweigh any possible benefits it would bring; these include the large amounts of time and effort required for the process, the increase in overhead costs the Council would be liable for, and increased oversight and scrutiny from AIDD.

Gretchen Knauff also spoke about her experiences with the process of transitioning the state’s protection and advocacy (P&A) system from a state agency to the private nonprofit Disability Rights Connecticut. The process was marked by a number of difficulties, such as having to reapply for P&A grant money, trying to find additional alternate sources of funding, and having to take responsibility in paying for overhead costs.

Kevin Daly motioned to make the Committee’s official recommendation to the Council that the Council should not become independent of the state and become a private nonprofit organization; Molly Cole seconded the motion. The motion was approved unanimously.

Walter Glomb led a discussion on how the Council can resolve its “key person risk,” in which an organization relies too heavily on the experience of one person and faces significant risk if something unexpected happens to said person. Because the Council’s Disability Policy Specialist has been on extended medical leave, the Council currently has only two people on staff: the Director and an administrative assistant. One suggestion for a contingency plan is the reclassification of the Disability Policy Specialist position to that of a “Deputy Director” who would be able to readily fill the Director’s role in the Director’s absence. The Deputy Director would be required to have knowledge and experience in organizational operations, project and budget management, policy development, and data reporting and evaluation. Another suggestion was to have a core group of Council members be responsible for basic Council functions in the case of an emergency; this would be accomplished by building the expertise of Council members through a more proactive recruitment process and a restructuring of the committee system.

V. Work plan
James Hexter will contact Sheryl Matney at NACDD regarding the possibility of scheduling a comprehensive orientation for all Council members, as well as more general issues that were discussed during the meeting, and report back to the Committee at its August meeting. He will also reach out to Council members to ask for biographical information to be posted on the Council website that would help better determine the kinds and amount of professional expertise present in the Council currently, as well as schedule the Committee’s August meeting.

Walter Glomb will research the process of reclassifying the Disability Policy Specialist position into that of a Deputy Director, including the feasibility of such a process and the potential costs involve, and report his findings to the Committee at its August meeting.