MICHIGAN COUNTY SOCIAL SERVICES ASSOCIATION

DISTRICT III MEETING MINUTES

February 16, 2007

President Fred Rogers called the meeting to order at 10:00 AM.

Attendance: Dave VanHouten, Bob Benson, Ardis Vance, Steve Barnes, Barbara Manville, Don Arquette, Fred Rogers, Doug Lapham, Oral Sutliff, Ben Kubiak, Fred Renner, Evelyn Binford, Dorothy Jones

President Rogers welcomed the attending members and the group introduced themselves and their respective counties.

Motion made by Don Arquette and seconded by Oral Sutliff to approve the minutes of the December 15, 2006 meeting. Passed unanimously.

Correspondence – Fred Rogers informed the group that Janice Covey e-mailed him that she would not be able to continue as Secretary due to personal reasons. Fred Renner agreed to take minutes for this meeting. A permanent secretary will be appointed at the next regularly scheduled meeting.

Treasurer’s Report – As of February 15, eight counties have paid their 2007 dues, one county has made a partial payment and ten are as yet unpaid. Deadline is April 1, 2007.

Beginning balance on financial statement was $1011.25 and ending balance $2,669.32. Scholarship fund stands at $58.00.

Motion made by Oral Sutliff to approve the financial statement, seconded by Ben Kubiak. Passed unanimously.

President Rogers asked members who have not paid to insure their counties submit payment prior to the April 1 deadline.

Meeting Reports:

Board of Directors – Fred Rogers reported that of 83 counties all Governor’s appointments to the county DHS boards have been made with the exception of 22 counties.

The annual Legislative Conference of MCSSA will be held March 6-8, 2007 in Lansing. Sign ups as of February 14 have been low. The meeting with the legislators will be held from 5 to 7 PM on the 7^th.

Conference Planning – Summer conference will be held September 10-12, 2007 in Frankenmuth.

Child and Family Services – Steve Barnes reported that Senate Bill 6 is under consideration in the legislature. Would allow for parole consideration for juvenile offenders who were sentenced to life in prison after they have served 10 years.

Senate Bill 9 is under consideration in the legislature. Would eliminate sentencing of life in prison for those under the age of 18.

Board Member Development – Don Arquette reported that a board member development session is scheduled for the March legislative conference.

Scholarship – Don Arquette reported that the MCSSA fund stands at $6,627.02. It was noted that the largest contributor to the fund is the silent auction held at the conference. Don asked that all of the local DHS boards try and make a contribution of items to the auction to insure increased funds can be obtained.

Constitution and Bylaws – Fred Rogers reported that the Executive Committee has met and discussed a revision of the strategic plan for MCSSA. Further information will be forthcoming.

Unfinished Business:

District III Bylaws Revision – Don Arquette reviewed with the group all proposed changes made by the District III Executive Committee. All items were discussed by the group with no suggested changes. Doug Lapham noted that the group must approve the changes today so they may be voted on at the next District III meeting.

Changes:

Add three counties to membership list to reflect current county membership.

Section 4.01: Change FIA to DHS

Section 5.03: District will have 1 delegate and 1 alternate County Board member and 1 delegate and 1 alternate County Director of the Department of Human Services elected to the state MCSSA Board of Directors.

Section 8.01: Introduce language to indicate that (a) at the October district meeting a nominating committee of 3 persons will be appointed for the purpose of proposing candidates for the every other year election of officers and (b) that the election of officers will take place every other year at the December meeting. The elections will be held in odd numbered years.

Section 8.05: Change the order of items L and M in the order of business.

Section 10.02: Change the wording of this section to read “A county which has been declared not in good standing by the Association and/or the district shall not be entitled to participate in District meeting or to vote on any district matter.

Section 11.02: Defined responsibility for who pays expenses for District III members for performing approved association business.

Section 12.01: Change requirements for approval of bylaws changes to a two-thirds majority.

New Business – Due to the changes in the amount requested for District III dues from $500 to $200, a motion was made by Don Arquette and seconded by Steve Barnes to reimburse the two counties that had paid the higher amount. Motion passed unanimously.

Group broke for lunch at 11:45 AM

Meeting resumed at 12:30 PM

MCSSW Report – Following on last meeting’s information, MCSSW members discussed how JET (Jobs, Education and Training) program was progressing. Noted that it is easier to close cases, there are new requirements and more emphasis on finding a job. Each applicant must submit a viable action plan to qualify.

Reported there was a positive article in the Detroit Free Press and the pressures on DHS workers due to case overload.

It was also pointed out the difficulty employees have in determining appropriate benefits for situations where children are in a joint custody situation, especially where one parent lives in one county and the other a second county.

Doug Lapham distributed a summary of the proposed budget cuts under consideration in Lansing. Noted that proposed human services reduction was the second largest at $34.4 million only behind the Corrections cut or $52.3 M. Third highest in dollars was Community Health at $28.2 M. Should these cuts be passed it will obviously have a major impact on local DHS offices. These proposed cuts are for the current (2006/07) fiscal year.

Motion was made and seconded that the meeting be adjourned, unanimously passed at 1:25 PM.

Submitted by Fred Renner, Acting Secretary for the meeting.