BOARD OF DIRECTORS Minutes of virtual meeting May 7, 2024 Call Meeting to Order President, Paul Palmer, called the meeting to order at 8:37 am. Introductions were made and a quorum was present. Attendance Present: Daniel Bartz, Amanda Bouwman, Jacqueline Cuevas, Hansen Clarke, Teddy Dorsette III, Tom Landry, Paul Palmer Absent: Brian Calley, Amanda Davis-Scott, Davin Hemmila, Chris Land, Malkia Newman, Vincent Pinti, Jane Shank Staff present: Michelle Roberts, Michele Brand, Theresa Diebolt, Nick Gable, Rachel Huddleston, Kris Keranen, Sara Koroniotis, Mark McWilliams, Sarah Palacios, Simon Zagata Guests: Emily Henderson, McCall Hamilton, Interpreters Laura and Lisa, Christina Agle and Sue Franklin, PAIMI Advisory Council members Approval of Consent Agenda President Palmer asked for a motion to approve the consent agenda. Tom Landry MOVED to approve the consent agenda and Hansen Clarke seconded. A vote was taken. AYES: all NAYS: none Motion carried. PAIMI Advisory Council update Minutes from the January 23, 2024, meeting were provided. The Chair and Vice Chair did not attend the meeting and no further updates were provided. SAMHSA reviewers were onsite and met virtually with the PAIMI Advisory Council members from 9:30-10:45 this morning. Michelle Roberts stated there were two requests for grievance packets since our last meeting, one being PAIMI (mental illness) related and the other being PAIR (individual rights) related, and no grievances were submitted. Committee reports Budget & Finance Committee Hansen Clarke reported we are nearly 2% under budget. Michele Brand referred to her narrative and the financial documents and asked for questions. Tom Landry MOVED to approve the budget and finance report and Hansen Clarke seconded. A vote was taken. AYES: all NAYS: none Motion carried. Public Policy Committee Emily Henderson stated it is budget season and recommendations for fiscal year 25 have been issued and are set up for negotiations. The legislature has a deadline of July 1 to get budgets to Governor Whitmer. She mentioned a few bills we are watching but doesn’t expect much movement until after the election. Public comment No public comment was made. President’s report President Palmer stated he is on summer break from school. Executive Director and Staff Reports Sara Koroniotis stated this has been the busiest quarter with 58 representative payee reviews being conducted. They interviewed 241 beneficiaries while observing their homes, checking license types, and noting any health and/or safety concerns. They also interview legal guardians and reviewed 86 this past quarter. They look at records and how payees manage their beneficiary’s funds and cited 627 deficiencies during this review period. Sara shared they have impacted 37,490 beneficiaries since the start of this program. Rachel Huddleston stated Rachel Prevatt, Voter Engagement Specialist, attended a ribbon cutting ceremony for Chris Swope’s office at a new voting location where DRM was invited to speak. As part of ‘Promote the Vote’, DRM was asked to provide sign language for voting videos that will be posted online. Additionally, they are in the final stages of the “Know Your Rights Guide” and hope to have a printed version available in June. Rachel Prevatt also attended a clerk’s conference in Mt. Pleasant which allowed her to speak to approximately 400 people about the voter assist terminal (VAT). Additionally, Rachel shared the VAT is on a 10-year contract with the state and that is coming to an end. The Bureau of Elections has asked DRM to help test the current machines until the contract expires and provide feedback for the next round of changes. Rachel went on to share her team is partnering with Detroit Disability Power on an accessibility project. They have also been working closely with Emily on voting bills as well as testimony that may need to be provided. The Communications Team issued a press release on the transportation website. Rachel participated in the Michigan Legislative Disability Caucus working closely with Representative MacDonell as well as the DD Council. Rachel is also part of the Disability Justice Alliance (DJA) and will soon be heading up their communications committee. Sarah Palacios stated the Information, Referral and Data Team received more than 2,400 calls this past quarter. She was pleased to announce they are growing their community partnerships with other agencies who want to share resources and/or referrals. The Administration for Community Living (ACL) had done a poll regarding food insecurity and reached out to DRM to assist. Sarah’s team completed a six-week pilot asking clients specific questions about food insecurity and will present their findings to ACL. Mark McWilliams referred to his written report stating the Vaccine Team administered over 438 COVID vaccinations and have provided over 1,700 people with COVID vaccinations this fiscal year. He reminded everyone the project is slowing down and will be wrapping up by the end of September. Additionally, we wrapped up the current phase of the USAging flu shot grant and administered around 1,142 flu shots at 46 events between October 2023 and March 2024. The public transit landing page is live, and we have reached around 76,000 people on our social media and around 9,600 hits on our website. Mark encouraged everyone to check it out. Mark McWilliams reported for Elham Jahshan stating the biggest accomplishment of the Employment Team was in March when the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity finalized their changes to the Michigan Rehabilitation Services (MRS) regulations using a lot of comments submitted by DRM. Next, they are going to look at the rules for the Bureau of Services for Blind Persons (BSBP) as they have not been updated in several years. The team is working on some strategies to test MRS services using cases they are already working on. There has been some internal reorganization of transition work which will now be handled by the Education Team. Additionally, they are looking at transportation services and possibly doing some short-term projects including the complaint process for public transportation in Detroit and the accessibility of public transit websites. Kris Keranen announced the Education Team has been looking at different ways to get the Michigan Department of Education to take ownership of correcting problems that individuals face in the special education programs across Michigan. Kris went on to explain the complaint process and how some school districts are found to be out of compliance time after time without corrective actions being taken. They are continuing to work on behalf of kids in foster care because they have such difficult circumstances. They have made some great partnerships with other organizations that have been resourceful. Simon Zagata stated the CAIR Team has identified the systemic issue at Caro Psychiatric Hospital with clients of a particular CMH not having case managers which meant they were not getting discharge planning services and had no chance of finding housing and services outside of the hospital. Simon was happy to report those clients all have case managers now. Simon shared the audit of the state psychiatric hospital system has officially started. His team will continue to meet with Senator Weber’s office to ensure they are aware of issues DRM advocates see and hear during monitoring visits. Simon discussed the case covered by WXYZ Channel 7 titled “Trapped in a Psych Ward” regarding a doctor pre-signing clinical certificates utilized to keep individuals involuntarily in a psychiatric hospital. Michelle Roberts, Executive Director, reported on staffing changes since the last meeting sharing that Sara Koroniotis had to repost for the Representative Payee Specialist and interviews will be conducted for that position. Elham made an offer for the Employment Team advocate position and the individual is currently going through the suitability process. Sarah Trumbley was hired in the Marquette office as the Office Specialist/Advocate. Morghan Contois was also hired in the Marquette office for a newly created position as an advocate for transition related advocacy. Michelle mentioned that SAMHSA reviewers are onsite and will be meeting with board members immediately following this meeting. Michelle and Kyle attended the NDRN Spring CEO/Legal Directors meeting in Virgina in April. Kyle met with his fellow Legal Directors from around the country as well as with the Department of Justice. Michelle discussed finances asserting we still do not have our federal awards for this year and we are eight months into the fiscal year. Fortunately, we are a bigger organization and have enough carryover unlike smaller P&As who must shut down some of their programs at times like this. Nick Gable gave the litigation update sharing we are very close to a settlement with the state in the ongoing KB lawsuit and should have more details to report soon. In the Waskul litigation, we submitted our motion to the court to approve the settlement with the state and for a judgment holding the settlement binding on the two local defendants in January. They did a lot of advocacy with organizations around the state and were able to submit 12 declarations from advocacy organizations to support the settlement. As a result, the court scheduled a status conference, as well as a briefing schedule on our Motion for Approval. A reply brief was due by July 15, and we should have a decision from the court relatively soon. Another update in the case involving our client who had gone two years without getting any CLS or respite services in his plan only because CMH said they could not find providers. This is a statewide problem with many people not receiving services due to a lack of providers, and it not being enforced. We won on summary disposition at an administrative hearing and got the Judge to issue an order for CMH to provide the services. A regulation states they must comply within 72 hours of such an order. Knowing CMH would not comply, we filed a mandamus to enforce the decision. It ended up in the Michigan Court of Appeals and in the meantime, CMH started providing services to our client. The case ended up back in circuit court where we negotiated a monetary settlement for our client. Within a week, the client was again not receiving the services he was entitled to. We ended up back in court and filed charges against the Director of CMH as well as a few CMH staff members for money damages. Guest speaker - Debbie Macika (Baksh) Christian Baksh is our client and Debbie is Christian’s mother and guardian and was kind enough to speak to the board and share their experience since moving to Michigan from New York. Christian is 24 years old, has CP (cerebral palsy) and is a quadriplegic with one working limb and requires a lot of care. Debbie is his sole provider. She shared how difficult it has been navigating the system in Michigan to get services set up and no one told her about DRM. She stumbled upon the agency by doing her own research. After contacting DRM, she finally felt someone understood what she/they were going through, and she had a voice. She shared her appreciation for Nick and knows he cares very much about her and her son and is very passionate about his work. She thanked the entire legal team for everything they have done for her and her son. Old Business There was no old business. New Business There was no new business. Adjourn President Palmer asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Tom Landry MOVED to adjourn the meeting and Hansen Clarke seconded. A vote was taken. AYES: all NAYS: none Motion carried. President Palmer adjourned the meeting at 10:47 am. Minutes prepared by: Theresa Diebolt, Executive Assistant Minutes approved by: Daniel Bartz, Secretary 2