SILC of Illinois Logo.Statewide Independent Living
Council of Illinois

 February 6-7, 2003 Minutes

Attending Members

Executive Committee

Members

Excused

Staff Members

Guests

Thursday, February 6, 2003

Call to Order

Following lunch, at 1:15 p.m. on Thursday, February 6, 2003 Chair Fielding called the quarterly meeting of the Statewide Independent Living Council of Illinois to order. Introductions were made and Chair Fielding reminded the Council that inside their packets are the "Conflict of Interest Policy" that each member must sign every year. He asked that everyone review this document and to return the signed and dated page to Dunning.

Discussion & Approval of November Minutes:

Chair Fielding gave the Council a few minutes to review the minutes of the previous Council meeting.

Motion: Arellano motioned to accept the minutes of the November, 2002 meeting as submitted. Robertson seconded the motion. Motion carried.

Update on Federal/State Legislative & Fiscal Issues:

Eckert and Ford gave an update on Federal and State Legislation.

State

Noted that a letter was sent by the Consortium of Illinois Disability Advocates (of which the SILC is a member) to governor Blagojevich requesting a meeting to discuss Olmstead, Medicaid reimbursements, Home and Community Based Services and the need to keep shuttered Lincoln Developmental Center closed.

Noted that Disabled Services Advisory Council that he and several SILC members had been appointed to by Ryan administration has been temporarily suspended by the new Blagojevich administration as they reviewed numerous boards, councils and commissions. HB 76 (Daniels) is a bill designed to codify this board.

Noted that a new committee called the Developmental Disabilities/Mental Illness Committee has replaced the former Disabled Community Committee. This committee consists of most of the people who served on the previous committee. Ford noted that the Committee is chaired by Rep. Daniels who wants to focus his attention on issues related to Olmstead and developmental disabilities (as he has a daughter with a developmental disability).

HB74 (Daniels) looks at "reinvesting" funds for people who move out of state operated facilities so that the "funding follows the person."

HB75 (Daniels) creates a "dedicated fund" for Medicaid federal waiver monies (FFP) where the federal share being returned to the state would remain with the specific waiver rather than be put into the state’s general fund. Unfortunately, as it stands, this bill only address the DD/MI waiver and needs to be amended to include all waivers.

HB77 (Bellock) is similar to HB75 except that is more specific in how the funding would follow the individual.

HB69 (Mitchell) would require that an economic impact study be conducted in the community before any state operated facility would be closed. SILC will not support this bill.

HB293 (Hamos) is a bill that states that anyone who applies to the Community Care Program (Aging’s Home Services’ waiver Program) must apply for Medicaid.

HB303 (McGuire) would increase wages by $1 per hour for Personal Assistants of the Home Services Program (from $7 to $8).

The SILC’s support of HR7 was sent to the Illinois Congressional Delegation which its aim is to increase the federal share for the Medical Assistance Program. It will try to get a higher percentage of the match funds back.

HB4 (Wojcik) is a bill that will amend the River Boat Casino’s 3% of gross receipts for special recreation projects to increase for people with disabilities.

HB41 (Lang) would require that DCFS wards of the state with psychiatric disabilities will receive needed services.

SB3 looks to create prescription drug program for seniors which should include people with disabilities. $27 mil. fiscal note attached.

SB41 is a bill that will make sure that there is clear evidence of the need for a guardian. Introduced by Equip for Equality.

HB244 (Franks) would amend Public Aid code to require pharmacies that accept Medicaid give the same rate to Medicare and Circuit Breaker recipients.

HB255 would reduce the license fee for people with disabilities enrolled in the Circuit Breaker program to be $24 vs. $48..

HB496 (Curry) would reverse the US Supreme Court Garrett decision which would allow state employees to sue the state under the ADA and other laws.

Health Benefits for Workers with Disabilities (formerly Medicaid Buy-in) has 544 individuals "approved" for the program with 347 currently enrolled; 1,291 applications have been distributed. Given an "average" cost per enrollee estimated by IDPA of $600, even if all 544 approved individuals were enrolled the annual cost would only be $2.5 mil., fare below the estimated cost of $10 which was never added to IDPA’s budget. It has spent only $435,000 so far, suggesting the need to increase the current 200% federal poverty level (FPL) to 400% which is the level advocates originally pushed for.

Federal

New Freedom Initiative: The current federal budget would allocate $1.75 billion. Over a five (5) year period for new "Community-Based Living" initiatives that would re-balance Long-Term Care from institutional settings to the community. It would be given in the form of grants to states via waivers. Currently the states of TX, WI, MI, and WI have waivers of this model.

Proposed Medicaid Reform: (Health & Human Services) - Propose Medicaid Reform would preserve 2/3 of funds to "mandatory" groups (i.e., low-income families, low-income people with severe disabilities) and 1/3 of funds to non mandatory looking to give states more discretion. Currently, this proposal would be damaging for independent living services, an the HSP waiver in Illinois is non-mandatory and could be at the discretion of the governor.

MiCASSA (Medicaid Community Attendant and Support Services Act) is scheduled to be reintroduced in February. New to the bill are provisions that would project cost estimates and verbiage that allows the "funding to follow the individual." Senate co-sponsors are Harkin (IA) and Spector (PA), and Illinois’ congressmen Davis and Shimkus represent bi-partisan support for this initiative.

SB138 will amend the State Budget Relief Act of 2003 and is aimed at bringing more Medicaid funds to Illinois. Both Durbin and Fitzgerald sign on in support of this bill. Illinois’ portion would be increased from $104 mil. in ‘03 to $245-362 mil. if this were passed.

President’s Fiscal Year 2004 budget review has an increase of 2% for VR, $7 million for high school transition grants and no new funds for assistive technology.

Expanding Systems Change Grant: There is talk of expanding the current systems change grant (currently providing significant funding for our Homeownership project). We will work with DHS on this possibility.

Role of the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) RE Title VII-Part C Funding Recommendations from DSU/SILC:

At this time the Council reviewed materials from the RSA regarding recommendations from the DSU and the SILC on Title VII, Part C funding. Williams gave a brief explanation of Section 722 of the Rehabilitation Act and explained that Illinois is a "722" state, meaning that Part C funded CILs are monitored directly by RSA.

James Billy & Janette Shell (RSA)

At 3:00 pm we connected via conference call with James Billy; chief, Independent Living Branch (Washington D.C. office) and Janette Shell, Rehab Program Specialist (Chicago Region V office) to further discuss their process for recommending VII-C awards based upon the SPIL. Both Billy and Shell reviewed the process, citing several RSA Policy Memorandum, and statute cited from the Rehab Act. Upon completion of the phone conference, it was suggested that Eckert draft a follow-up letter to clarify several areas that were discussed.

Jim Fohey, Executive Director, West Central IL CIL

Fohey distributed a letter to the SILC expressing his concerns about receiving only a portion of the VII-C funding request WCICIL had made to RSA and the SILC’s funding recommendations. Fielding thanked Fohey for sharing his concerns and noted that the SILC had to prioritize its recommendations based upon the SPIL ‘02-‘04 and availability of VII-C funding. Additionally, Fielding noted that the SILC recognizes that WCICIL is below the $250,000 base funding level as noted in the SPIL and it remains a priority.

Adjourn for the Day:

At this time Chair Fielding adjourned the meeting. The Council will reconvene at 9:00 am Friday morning.

Friday, February 7, 2003

Call to Order:

The meeting of the Statewide Independent Living Council was called to order at 9:15 a.m. on Friday, February 7, 2003 by Chair Fielding.

Guest Speaker: Barry Lowy, Equip for Equality:

Barry Lowy, Senior Attorney for Equip for Equality (EFE) is here today to report to the Council about activities EFE are involved in. A packet of materials were distributed to SILC members for reference. Lowy explained that EFE is a not for profit, federally-mandated "Protection and Advocacy" agency. Lowy noted that EFE spends a significant amount of time working with guardianship issues for people with disabilities, investigating suspected abuses in licensed nursing homes, and conducting training programs for consumers on IDEA, ADA. Offices are located in Chicago and Springfield. Lowy also noted that EFE recently received a grant from Office of Developmental Disabilities to assist with Olmstead implementation in the state.

Following some questions, Chair Fielding thanked Lowy for sharing information with the SILC about the important work being provided by EFE on behalf of vulnerable individuals with disabilities.

Committee Reports:

Operations:

Committee Chair Robertson reported that the SILC’s FY ‘02 audit has been completed and was distributed for the Council to review. There were the usual two findings regarding interest earned and minimal staff for accountability.

Motion: Robertson made a motion to approve the audit report. A. Grove seconded the motion. Motion carried.

Additionally, Chair Robertson also asked members to review the quarterly budget reports, and there were no questions.

Outreach:

Committee Chair Arellano reported that plans for CIL outreach trainings for the Fall of FY ‘04 are still being developed. CIL Directors are being polled by Eckert for their top two choices of the following four topics: Outreach "101," Rural/underserved catchment area outreach, minority outreach, and outreach to underserved disability groups.

Gonzalez reported that the National Center for Latinos with Disabilities has lost its funding and that this is a huge loss for Latinos.

Planning:

Committee Chair Roberts reported that the Committee is currently working on two goals: The SILC/ORS survey and the outcome-based planning goal from the SPIL.

Eckert noted that he was displeased with the long time it is taking the SIUC Rehab Institute doctoral student researchers to compile the data, but his "hands are tied" as the work is being done in-kind.

Chair Roberts noted that the outcome-based committee of CIL Directors and Program Directors continues to meet periodically and a one day facilitated training by an outside trainer knowledgeable on the United Way process that the committee has been attempting to gain a better knowledge on.

Programs:

Dunning gave an update on the progress of the Illinois Youth with Disabilities Leadership Summit. The Summit will be held on July 14 - 16, 2003. John Foppe will deliver the keynote address.

Dickerson gave an update on the Workforce Investment Grant. Dickerson explained there are 99 comprehensive and affiliate workforce development offices in the state of Illinois. He has visited each of these offices to conduct accessibility surveys for physical barriers. Of these 99 offices there are eight (8) designated by the Illinois Workforce Investment Board’s Workforce Investment Grant as Model One Stops. Dickerson will also be working to establish an Illinois Business Leadership Network that will focus on employees with disabilities as part of his contractual duties with the SILC.

Update on Homeownership Coalition for People with Disabilities:

Benson, Project Manager gave a progress report on her activities since the last SILC meeting (a handout of activities was distributed). Benson noted that the new HUD Fair Housing Specialist staff position will by advertised in April. Benson also noted that this position will be an employee of the Springfield CIL, but supervised by her. Eckert noted the importance of this collaborative effort as we begin to work to make this initiative a statewide effort with the network of CILs.

Chair Report:

Chair Fielding reported on his recent trip to the SILC Congress 2003 in January. He explained that this Congress was the third that he has attended representing the SILC of Illinois. He was slightly disappointed this year to see that little progress has been accomplished since last year’s Congress. Their was a discussion of the level of participation by our SILC, and Eckert noted that– while he felt it was important to be involved– that due to staffing limitations and the importance of the SILC’s role in a major industrial state effects participation to a large degree.

Following a discussion, it was agreed that Eckert participate on two committees that Chair Fielding had committed Illinois representation on.

Executive Director Report:

A written report was distributed by the Executive Director noting his activities since the last Council meeting. Eckert reported that the Employer Ready Reference Guide which the SILC developed as part of the WIG1 Grant will be finished and be at the printers soon. Eckert also reported that Governor Blagojevich has appointed Carol Adams as the Secretary of the Department of Human Services and that he will arrange to meet with her to discuss the SILC and our Policy Initiatives. Eckert also noted that he will be meeting with Boards and Commissions to discuss the numerous re-appointment and appointments that need to be made to the Council.

INCIL Report:

A written report was distributed for review. Additionally, Roberts noted that INCIL has been busy with the legislative session and noted two specific short-term action steps: A meeting with Governor Blagojevich and to develop relationships between CILs and the newly-elected members of the general assembly.

Adjournment:

Chair Fielding, noting no other comments or business, asked for a motion to adjourn.

Motion:

A motion to adjourn was made by Gonzalez and seconded by Dykstra. Motion passed and the meeting was adjourned.

Next Meeting:

The next meeting of the Council will be held on May 1st and 2nd, 2003 at the Holiday Inn Glen Ellyn.

Minutes prepared for Secretary Pam Heavens by Tara Dunning and John Eckert.

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