MCSSA DISTRICT IV
MEETING
Hosted by
at Kalamazoo County Department
of Human Services
Sherry Thomas-Cloud welcomed District IV
MCSSA/MCSSW representatives, directors and board members. Introductions were made all around. The two groups conducted business meetings in
the morning and reconvened for lunch.
Guest Speakers: Making It Work Co-Collaborators: Gaylyn Barnum and Jack Mekemson, Goodwill
Industries; Ellen Kissinger-Rothi, Housing Resources; and Sherry Thomas-Cloud,
Mel Haga made a
motion to approve the
A.
Adult & Health Services - Liz
Krause/Willa Kenoyer
Briefly discussed
QCC training to providers for home care and the Michigan Direct Care Work
Initiative Grant. Jane Curtin discussed
clarifying the single point of entry for Medicaid. The Adult Medical Program was supposed to end
in January and reopen in July but may reopen sooner due to low enrollment. The long term care initiative proposes taxing
people with home mortgages $1 to prevent seizure of estates for Medicaid
costs. They are going to pilot the
single point of entry program for seniors with three counties or centers to see
how it goes. This will begin in June;
the counties have not been decided yet.
B.
Automated Systems – No report
C.
Board Member Development – Sue Hoffman
Discussed new programs
to expose board members to possible new funding sources; i.e., HUD and
MSHDA. There are funds out there; we
need to look outside the box. Staffing
of medical care facilities was discussed; most are currently not operating at
recommended staff to resident ratios; most are higher. Cuts to their funding will generally mean
staff cuts. They also discussed the
impact of Medicaid cuts, the Feds are looking at block grants and reducing the
administrative rate and/or capping benefits.
It is questionable if TANF reauthorization will be reduced.
D. Child & Family Services – B. Jay Bortz/Marc DelMariani
Discussion centered
around establishing boilerplate language for the Court-Appointed Special
Advocate (CASA) program. They ended up
opposing the bill as it gives too much authority to the volunteer. Ms. Hoffman indicated that they applaud the
program in Barry/Eaton. CASA’s get a
minimum of 80 hours of training in the court system. Mr. Bortz said this is not spelled out in the
boilerplate. Don Rewa indicated that in
E. Conference Planning
– B. Jay Bortz
Conference locations
were discussed. Next year’s Legislative
Conference will be at the Radisson again, and we will again have lunch at the
Capitol but will get more space than this year.
It is widely believed this format is an improvement over the nighttime
reception. Ms. Thomas-Cloud suggested
having a panel of legislators present their views and be available for
questions rather than each county individually speaking with the legislators,
since all the members of MCSSA have the same priorities. Ms. Krause thought the original intent of
this forum was to inform new representatives of our concerns and said that
Marianne Udow had directed the membership not to make this forum
political. Ms. Thomas-Cloud said that
the legislators have some responsibility to us as voters and our agendas. Ms. Krause suggested we do follow-up with the
local representatives in the community after the conference.
G.
Planning & Development – No report
I. Constitution, By-Laws & Platform – No report
J. Nominating Committee - Chris Kadulski
We need to elect
four members to the Board of Directors.
Ms. Bailey-Carman opened the nominations. Marc DelMariani and Don Rewa were nominated
and approved as Type B Representatives and Mel Haga and Willa Kenoyer were
nominated and approved as Type A Representatives. Of these four, the Board of Directors will
name one to the Advisory Committee and one as an alternate.
K. Scholarship – Chris Kadulski
Discussion centered
around eligibility for the scholarships, which is currently restricted to the
children of DHS employees, MCSSA staff, MCF staff, and board members. Currently any human services field qualifies
and Mark DelMariani mentioned it should require a social work major. Mr. Kadulski agreed. They looked at the possibility of including
means testing as a criterion. Ms.
Hoffman said there are scholarships available for the needy, while this
scholarship is available to those who might not qualify for other
assistance. Ms. Thomas-Cloud added that
points should be awarded for community service.
They further discussed how to raise more money and market the
scholarship better. The scholarship
amount is now $7000 and they would like to raise it to $10,000.
J.
Meritorious Awards – No report
A. Board of Directors
– Susan Bailey-Carman
Ms. Bailey-Carman
said it is time to reelect Chris Kadulski to the Nominating Committee. Sherry Thomas-Cloud nominated him and the
nomination was supported and approved.
We also need a board member on the Nominating Committee. Sue Hoffman nominated Barbara Rider and it
was supported and approved. It is also
time to elect District officers. Susan
Bailey-Carman was nominated and approved as President, Loren Snippe was
nominated and approved as Vice President, and Phil Larson was nominated and
approved as Secretary/Treasurer.
B. Executive Committee –
B. Jay Bortz
Ellen
Speckman-Randall is leaving MCSSA after eleven years to accept a position with
the State and to care for her terminally ill husband. The Executive Committee will meet next month
with MCMCFC to address their contract, which is a large source of the
Association’s income, and the renewal process.
Shelley and Kathy are planning a reception for Ellen and they suggest
donations to the scholarship fund as a gift idea. Barbara Rider asked if they are able to
rename the scholarship for Ellen. Mr.
Bortz indicated this has not been decided yet and they will discuss how best to
honor Ms. Speckman-Randall at the next meeting, as well as what is owed her in
benefit payouts, etc. This change can be
an opportunity to reevaluate MCSSA’s direction and redefine the Association
goals. They plan to try to contract an
interim director without benefits to cover the renewal of the MCMCFC contract. Volunteers will be needed for the search
committee.
C.
Advisory Committee – Mark DelMariani
The members
expressed appreciation that Director Udow will be staying with DHS and urged
her to let staff know as well. Jeanine
Diller, Federal Liaison discussed grants and foundation funds and is working
with the Casey and Mott Foundations. The
Foster Care Performance Based Initiative is a
D.
Legislative Committee – Sue Hoffman
The members opposed
most of the bills presented at the last meeting. Representative Rick Shaffer was the speaker;
he talked about taxing food and members disagreed and said to tax services
instead as food has too much effect on the lower income population. In
ROUNDTABLE:
No discussion
The meeting
adjourned at