Connecticut State Council on Developmental Disabilities

CTCDD Meeting 1-9-18

CT Council on Developmental Disabilities

COUNCIL MEETING

January 9, 2018, 10:14 a.m. - 2:45 p.m.

Temple Beth El, 2626 Albany Avenue, West Hartford, CT

 

 

The 211th meeting of the CT Council on Developmental Disabilities was held on Tuesday, January 9, 2018 from 10:14 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. at Temple Beth El in West Hartford, CT.

 

Presiding:  Shelagh McClure, Chair

 

Recorder of Minutes: Donna Devin

 

Members Present:  Chris Blake, Vice Chair; Kevin Daly, Ann Gionet, Gretchen Knauff, Joyce Lewis, Shelagh McClure, Chair; Patricia Richardson, Linda Rammler, James Rosen, Brenda Stenglein, Robin Wood

 

Members Absent:   April Burke, Gary Gross, James Hexter, Alicia Kucharczyk,        Margaret McDermott, Megan O’Neill, Kathy Wolkner,

 

Non-Voting Members Absent:   Ellyn Little, Antonio Orriola, Michael Scanlon

 

Staff: Donna Devin

 

Meeting Assistant: Jennifer Raymond

 

Guest: John Curtin

 

 

1. Call to Order:  With a quorum present, Shelagh McClure, Chair, called the meeting to order at 10:15 a.m.     
2. Approval of Agenda:  Because Robin Wood had a Community of Practice LifeCourse training to attend at 2:00 p.m., she requested that presenter, Deborah Richards' move her LifeCourse presentation from 2:00 p.m. on the meeting agenda to 1:00 p.m. Brenda Stenglein motioned to approve the agenda with the adjusted timeline. Kevin Daly seconded the motion. The agenda was approved.
3. Approval of November 11, 2017 Minutes:  Kevin Daly motioned to approve the minutes. The motion was seconded by Joyce Lewis. The minutes were approved. Brenda Stenglein abstained.
4. Greeting from Council Guest:  John Curtin, a former Council member attended the meeting. He visited to learn more about what the Council was doing for people with developmental disabilities and was excited to find out what the Council was up to.
5. Report from Council Chair:  Shelagh McClure, Chair, revisited a few items the Council talked about at the November meeting.

In a special session, the Legislature approved by a wide margin to restore the $54M they had cut from the Medicare savings program. A letter was sent by Shelagh, on behalf of the Council, to the Legislature urging them to restore the program's funding. She also recommended they set it up as an item that should be permanently funded, and that the funding not be taken from other programs that older citizens and people with disabilities rely upon.

NPR has been reporting on sexual abuse perpetrated on people with IDD. They are 7 times more likely to experience sexual abuse than people without IDD. Links to the reports will be sent to Council members, so they can find out more details on this horrific and disturbing trend.

With the new Legislative session on the horizon, Shelagh and the Council's Director, Walt Glomb, have been reviewing the Council's legislative priorities. These issues include the Budget, the Residential Housing Waiting List, and Southbury Training Institution.

6. Report From Director - Walter Glomb discussed the Council's Campaign 2020 and the obstacles impeding the closing of Southbury Training Institution. The 2020 Committee has decided to make this an issue in the 2018 political campaigns.

Local civic leaders, legislators and families of individuals who live with developmental disabilities are the target of 5 regional screenings of the Building a Great Life documentary. It is hoped all showings can be completed by summer

The planning committee for the Building a Great Life Conference is hard at work scheduling workshops on a wide range of topics, such as Community-Based models, Self-Direction, Supported Decision-Making, and Civil Disobedience. The conference is scheduled for Thursday, April 19th at the Radisson Hotel and Conference Center in Cromwell.

The Traditional and the new Professional Providers' 2018 Partners in Policymaking programs are scheduled to meet Thursday thru Saturday, February 1st – 3rd. Members of the Thursdays' Providers' program will join the Traditional class on Friday afternoons for a joint session. Gretchen Knauff, the Executive Director of Disability Rights Connecticut is a new Council Member and one of the architects of the Partners' trainings. She said they wanted the individual service providers to understand families and where they're coming from; and the reverse, for families to understand where service providers are finding barriers. They thought by having the 2 groups work together, they would develop a better understanding of each other. Also, another new Partners' group for parents of children from birth to 5 is slated to start in the spring. Participants and faculty of all programs are gearing up for an exciting and productive year of Partners' training!

The Cross Disability Lifespan Alliance is holding their next meeting from 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. on Monday, January 29th at Beth El Temple. Presently, the Alliance is finalizing a notice for hiring a part-time coordinator.

The RFA (Request for Applications) for 2018 Customized Employment Training was sent out to providers, but only two private providers have applied for the 2018 certification program. While every effort is being expended to pull in more people, training in Discovery will commence on Wednesday January 17th and run through Friday, the19th as planned.

Turning to the matter of post-secondary education, the UCONN UCEDD was awarded a $25K grant by Think College for strategic capacity building in CT. Council member, Dr. Linda Rammler from the UCEDD expressed her hope that some of the Council's members will join the working groups being assembled.

After 3 months of being locked out of the Council's website by DAS BEST, Council Webmaster, Matt Smith of Litchfield County Computer, has been allowed to continue his work on the website. Consequently, significant updates are scheduled over the next 2 months.

With the uptick in the number of Council sponsored events, the position of the Council's Program Assistant, Donna Devin will be made full-time. Funding for the increase in hours was already included in the budget that was approved the Council in September of 2017. The Council's Disability Policy Specialist, Cathy Adamczyk, remains out on medical leave.


7.Budget Report:   The budget is on track and the staff continues to look for opportunities to save money and cut back on costs whenever and where-ever possible.
 
8. Community of Practice LifeCourse Presentation by SDE: Deborah Richards, Director of Student Services at the Capitol Region Education Council (CREC) talked about involving the Regional Educational Service Centers (RESCs) in the LifeCourse certification training. Robin Wood, Director of Family Support Strategies and Advocacy at the DDS, who introduced Deb to the Council, welcomed the involvement of the RESCs, because, "…more individuals will learn how to implement the processes and the philosophy of LifeCourse Planning." To move this goal forward, the Council is prepared to pay the University of Missouri $25K to train the RESCs upon approval of the proposal by Council. Joyce Lewis made the motion to refer the proposal to the Proposal Review Committee and that the Council would approve the proposal as long as the Proposal Review Committee gives a positive recommendation. Gretchen Knauff seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.


9. 2018 Legislative Priorities:  Multiple meetings have already been scheduled with members of the Legislature to discuss Campaign 2020 and the best options for the keeping it on the table. The Council Five Year Plan objectives will also be discussed at the meetings.

10. Council Retreat:  The Council's Retreat will be held on Tuesday, April 10th at the Sheraton Hotel in Rocky Hill. An agenda for the day is being created.
 
11. Announcements and Adjourn:  Shelagh McClure asked for a motion for adjournment. Ann Gionet made a motion for adjournment. Brenda Stenglein seconded the motion.  The meeting adjourned at 2:45 p.m. The next Council meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 13, 2018 in West Hartford. The snow date for the meeting is Tuesday, March 20th.