AREA 12
Family Care Council
Chair Philip Pearson
EASTER SEALS
Draft Summary Minutes
|
MEMBERS
PRESENT: |
STAFF &
GUEST PRESENT: |
|
Phil Pearson, Chair |
Sandra Mills, APD |
|
Ray Sylvestra, Treasurer |
Richard Stimson – Disabled & Alone |
|
Lina Peterson |
Kamal Tom Brander – Covenant Support Sevices Anita Martin – parent Shirley Bostick – APD Susan Tanner – parent & provider Jimmy Perrin Joan Mannix – Volusia ARC |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I. ROLL CALL AND INTRODUCTIONS:
The meeting was called to order at 3:10 P.M. Roll call established a quorum.
II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
The minutes of
the October meeting were reviewed and approved as written.
III. OLD BUSINESS:
·
Last Mailing / Next Mailing
Chair Pearson reported that the last Family Care
Council’s newsletter had been mailed to consumers and families and that he is
currently working on the next mail out. He
asked all present to review the news letter and to give input on what
information should be included. Although the date is not definite the next
newsletter should go out sometime in December.
All feedback can be forwarded to Chair Pearson via email. Each
newsletter will contain an article about a staff member from the Area 12 APD
program office. The current newsletter
features Patrick Burwell a Human Services Counselor III with the Agency. Chair Pearson expressed his disappointment
with the fact that Mr. Burwell would not agree to have his photo included as he
feels this would make it more personable to the readers.
·
December Meeting
The next meeting will be held at the
·
Recommendations for
Libraries
There were no recommendations. Susanne Tanner advised that she had given the
information about our previous donation to her daughter who is an Exceptional
Education teacher. Her daughter will
forward the information to the parents.
·
Speaker Phone and conference
numbers
Sandra Mills advised that she would speak with the
Area Administrator, Ed De Bardeleben about acquiring
a conference phone and number for the Family Care Council and email the
information to Chair Peterson.
·
Recommended Providers
Chair Pearson spoke about adding recommended
providers to the Family Care Council website.
The idea is to post information about providers that have a
recommendation from a family. The family
must be willing to provide their contact info so that other families can
contact them. Kay Samar suggested there
be an emphasis on Behavioral Specialist as there are not a lot of them to
choose from. Sandra Mills advised that
the Steering Committee’s small work group is meeting tomorrow to discuss how to
recruit Behavioral Providers.
·
February Social
The February Social is going to be held at the APD
program office. Sandra Mills will help
with developing a list of refreshments that will be needed.
IV. NEW BUSINESS:
·
Disabled and Alone – Richard
Stimson
Mr.
Stimson reported on the services offered through his organization Disabled and
Alone/ Life Services for the Handicapped, Inc.
The primary objective of Life Services is to help families with sensible
planning for their sons / daughters when the families are no longer there to
help them. Each individual being served
gets a Personal Advocate
to work directly with the family to develop a plan for their loved ones and to
serve as the lifetime advocate for the person with disability when the
surviving parent dies or is unable to fulfill the role. The Personal Advocate is privately funded
through a Special Needs Trust. To join
the program the families will pay a one time membership fee and begin the
planning process.
·
2007 / 2008 Budget
Chair Pearson announced that the budget was in good
shape and referred everyone to the handout provided at the beginning of the
meeting. He is still awaiting
recommendations on items such as books, etc. to donate to the local libraries.
·
Agency Updates
Sandra Mills reported on the following:
Ø
3 new OPS positions have been allocated to the Area 12 Agency for
Persons with Disabilities. It is
anticipated that they will be on board sometime in December or January. These new positions will be responsible for
conducting customer needs assessments and preparing initial cost plans. Individuals hired for the positions are required
to have a bachelor’s degree and four years of experience in social services and
working with individuals with developmental disabilities.
Ø
Notices were sent out to consumers and their families
regarding the 2007 law passed by the Florida Legislature requiring the Agency
for Persons with Disabilities to eliminate NRSS, Chore, Psychological
Assessments, Homemaker and Therapeutic Massage services from the Developmental
Disabilities Medicaid Waiver. The
effective date of the elimination is
Ø
APD will begin providing clerical support for the Family
Care Council beginning in December.
Ø
The Steering Committee changed the By-Laws so that anyone in attendance
can vote. The Committee was broken up
into 2 small work groups with the purpose of coming up with ideas on how to
recruit new providers and will be approaching other districts that have already
done this for their assistance.
Ø
The quarterly provider meeting is being held next Friday. Anyone can attend as it is an open meeting.
V. OPEN DISCUSSION:
Joan Mannix provided Chair
Pearson with a flyer regarding an event that she and Shae
Porter from the Agency for Persons with Disabilities are facilitating to market
employment to individuals with developmental disabilities.
A discussion ensued regarding the use of the APD
training room for future Family Care Council meetings. It was decided that effective January 2008
the meetings will be held at the APD program office.
VI. ADJOURNMENT:
With no further business to come before the Council,
the meeting adjourned at 4:55 P.M.