BOARD OF DIRECTOR’S MEETING Minutes of virtual meeting September 28, 2023 Call Meeting to Order President, Paul Palmer, called the meeting to order at 8:33 am. Introductions were made and a quorum was present. Attendance Present: Daniel Bartz, Amanda Bouwman, Hansen Clarke, Jacqueline Cuevas, Amanda Davis-Scott, Teddy Dorsette III, Chris Land, Tom Landry, Paul Palmer Absent: Brian Calley, Davin Hemmila, Malkia Newman, Vincent Pinti, Jane Shank Staff present: Michelle Roberts, Michele Brand, Theresa Diebolt, Rachel Huddleston, Elham Jahshan, Kris Keranen, Sara Koroniotis, Mark McWilliams, Sarah Palacios, Kyle Williams, Simon Zagata Guests: Emily Henderson, McCall Hamilton, Laura Clark, BEI III and Audrey Morris, BEI II, Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services Approval of Consent Agenda President Palmer asked for a motion to approve the consent agenda. Tom Landry MOVED to approve the consent agenda and Chris Land seconded. A vote was taken. AYES: all NAYS: none Motion carried. Executive Director and Staff Reports Michelle Roberts, Executive Director, in addition to her written report, mentioned a few updates including union negotiations were completed, Michele Brand made some changes to the 403b providing a better package for employees, and staffing updates include three resignations and three new staff being hired. There were four requests for grievance forms, three of which were PAIMI eligible and one PAIR eligible. Michelle testified at a recent hearing on the guardianship bills. She was nominated to serve another year as secretary for NDRN Board of Directors. Michelle reflected on the last year at DRM and is very proud of her leadership team as well as the staff for all their accomplishments this past year. A question was asked if we anticipate hiring additional staff. Michelle is looking into hiring but not as many as she would like as we currently do not have sufficient funds. Sara Koroniotis stated July 31 was the end of the fiscal year for the Rep Payee Team with a target of 135 reviews. They conducted 215 reviews and interviewed 542 beneficiaries, 176 third parties, 133 legal guardians, and reviewed financial records for 771 beneficiaries. Additionally, 2,531 deficiencies were identified in those payee practices. Elham Jahshan gave a brief description of what the Employment Team does and the types of cases they handle. They have two major programs, the Client Assistance Program (CAP) and Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiary of Social Security (PABSS). Most of their calls are from individuals who have issues with vocational rehab, social security benefits and employment related concerns. Elham shared her team recently saved $66,000 for clients receiving social security who had overpayments. She went on to share a case involving an unsatisfied client with vocational rehab. Rachel Huddleston stated Rachel Prevatt, Voting Engagement Specialist, completed a clerk’s training video which was sent out to clerks throughout the state. Secretary of State is going to use the video as a resource and part of their training. They partnered with board members, Teddy, and Jacqueline, on their storytelling project which is part of a resource bank of individuals sharing their stories and they are hoping to have that project completed by December. They created a PABSS brochure that will be used by the Employment Team. They finalized and will be launching an assistive technology (AT) video to help understand what AT is. They had a successful accessibility day at the Lugnuts game with an attendance of over 4,000 people. Rachel reminded everyone to get their 70s outfits ready and join us for this year’s fundraiser, Disco Nights, Disability Rights, at Eagle Eye Golf Course on Saturday, November 4. Kyle Williams shared the legal strategy at DRM involves systemic cases, impact cases, and the big cases we commit our resources and time can be found in the new report under Priority 4A. Priority 4A is for people to have access to and receive services in a community-based setting. That is the area we are focusing on in a lot of advocacy and litigation at DRM. Kyle stated the largest case in terms of the amount of people represented and the impact we are seeking is our children’s class action. We are suing MDHHS on behalf of 65,000 children who live in Michigan who have a need for, but do not receive or have access to, crisis mental health services, intensive mental health services, and habilitative mental health services so they can live with their parents and avoid hospitalization and institutionalization. This case was filed in 2018 and we have been trying to settle for more than two years, and Kyle is hoping to share settlement details by the end of the year. There will be statewide impacts because of this case including the MI Kids Now program which has already been implemented. Another big case we have that was filed in 2016, is the Waskul vs Washtenaw County Community Mental Health. We have been engaged in a lengthy mediation attempting to reach a settlement soon. This case involves the rate of pay for direct care workers and in Michigan we have substantially lower wages and lower reimbursement for the people who do this work. We are working very hard to ensure people are well compensated who work in this field. A case involving a 22-year-old who is entitled to receive Medicaid-funded home and community-based services that went to the Court of Appeals was a success. That case created a statewide precedent. Simon Zagata stressed that a lot of their work is focused on psychiatric hospitals as well as prisons right now. He gave an update on an investigation case involving a mentally ill male who died in prison, and several charges against prison staff were dismissed by a judge, and the Attorney General is deciding whether to appeal or not. Jen Baker is also working on a project involving getting appropriations for body worn cameras for all prison staff. They have been working hard on discharge cases and Simon indicated almost 20 individuals who were inpatient at a state psychiatric hospital have been discharged. Simon also mentioned the destruction of Hawthorn Children’s Hospital and a lot of kids were transferred to Pine Rest in Grand Rapids. His team visited Pine Rest to ensure the kids are receiving their services and have a way to contact us if they need to. Some of the kids were moved to Walter Reuther Hospital in Westland and the CAIR Team has been monitoring that facility as well during the transition. Caro Center, in the thumb area, moved into a new building and DRM has been notified of issues with that transition. Kris Keranen reminded everyone of the success in the Perez case in the Supreme Court however they are now working on going back to court on the merits. Another case against the Michigan Department of Education in federal court regarding the failure to ensure corrective actions were taken has been settled and a statewide improvement will impact anyone who files a complaint against any district who is out of compliance. Kris discussed foster care and educational outcomes and they are looking into doing more work in that area. She discussed some of the calls they have been receiving and other work they have been doing. Sarah Palacios talked about the types of calls the Information & Referral Team (I&R) has been receiving and how the restructuring has been going with most of the I&R advocates being moved to the individual teams. Mark McWilliams oversees three advocacy groups, employment, education and community and institutional rights (CAIR) at DRM and coordinates activities with those teams and litigation and public policy issues. He also supervises the Vaccine Team where the goal is to get shots in arms with flu and COVID vaccines. That project will wrap up in 2024. Mark noted that we assisted in vaccinating around 2,900 people and did outreach to about 24,000 people. We reached out to people who live in public housing, in homeless shelters, those who are homebound, adult foster homes and nursing homes. We currently have over 20 events for October for COVID and flu shots. President’s report President Palmer thanked Michelle and staff for their reports. He reminded board members to complete their annual forms and return them to Theresa by October 13, 2023. Paul shared a few things from the Meet-N-Greet that was held September 26 and asked if anyone had anything to share from that meeting. Public comment No public comment was made. PAIMI Advisory Council update Christopher Land introduced himself as the elected Chair of the PAIMI Advisory Council and stated Veronica Ibrahim was elected Vice Chair. He coordinated a meeting with Ms. Algeria Wilson from the Governor’s office saying it went well and he is trying to connect the Council with policy makers so they can share issues they are focused on. Proposed Focus Areas and Objectives for FY2024 Michelle Roberts presented the focus areas and objectives for FY2024 with the proposed changes highlighted. The PAIMI Advisory Council (PAC) approved the proposed changes during their August meeting. Tom Landry MOVED to accept and approve the proposed focus areas and objectives for FY2024 and Chris Land seconded. A vote was taken. AYES: all NAYS: none Motion carried. Committee reports Development/Nominating Committee Tom Landry, on behalf of the Development/Nominating Committee, made the following recommendations for the election of officers: President – Paul Palmer 1st Vice President – Brian Calley 2nd Vice President – Malkia Newman Treasurer – Hansen Clarke Secretary – Daniel Bartz Immediate Past President – Tom Landry Tom Landry MOVED to accept and approve the nominations and Chris Land seconded. A vote was taken. AYES: all NAYS: none Motion carried. Tom congratulated the officers. He also referred to the Committee Roster and reminded members of their duty to serve on at least one committee. Discussion was held on recruiting new members. Budget & Finance Committee Hansen Clarke stated the FY2023 budget was over 6.4% below what was budgeted which is great and the money drawn down from the carryovers has made it possible to invest in other programs. Michele Brand discussed the budgets and estimates, the timeframe for receiving award funds, and explained the financial statements. Hansen Clarke MOVED to receive and accept the Budget & Finance Committee report and financial statements and Tom Landry seconded. A vote was taken. AYES: all NAYS: none Motion carried. Public Policy Committee Emily Henderson talked about the two House Democratic members running for mayoral election and what happens should they win. We are following the Elder Abuse Task Force guardianship and conservatorship package, and Michelle Roberts testified at a hearing regarding that package. Emily discussed another bill that would make changes to adult foster care centers in the state. Old Business There was no old business. New Business Tom Landry stated it would not be fair to ask new board members to evaluate the Executive Director for the past year and on behalf of the Executive Committee, asked for the board’s permission to perform Michelle Roberts’ review this year with a limited committee. Tom Landry MOVED to allow the Executive Committee to perform Michelle Roberts’ review and Hansen Clarke seconded. A vote was taken. AYES: all NAYS: none Motion carried. Adjourn Hansen Clarke MOVED to adjourn the meeting and Tom Landry seconded. A vote was taken. AYES: all NAYS: none Motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 11:05 am. Minutes prepared by: Theresa Diebolt, Executive Assistant Minutes approved by: Malkia Newman, Secretary 2