MN HIV Services Planning Coun=
cil
Meeting
Council Members Present:<= o:p> |
|
Hazel Erickson (Co-Chair)
|
Paul Eknes-=
Tucker
(Co-Chair)
|
Mike Behl= <= o:p> |
Chris Bernard
|
|
M=
ichael
Hargrave |
Bob Hansen
|
Rob Pioli
|
Jennifer Houston
|
Dave Rompa<= o:p> |
Marty Perry
|
Jerry Moss
|
Nick Metcalf
|
Peggy Darrett-Brewer
|
Ephraim Olani
|
Keith Henry
|
Karin Sabey=
|
Hank Jensen
|
Rosetta Hunt
|
Susanne Pfeil
|
Ama
|
Gerry Tyrrell
|
|
Council Members Absent:<= o:p> |
|
Gilbert Achay
|
Alvine=
=
Siaka
|
Randall Guilford
|
Timona Jarha
|
Shelia Mills
|
|
Consultants:<= o:p> |
|
|
Becky Kroll – CLEAR |
|
|
Guests: |
|
|
Gary Novotny – Commun=
ity
Member |
Peter Carr - MDH |
|
Zarina=
Jurae=
va
– U of M intern @ MDH |
|
|
G-HAT: |
|
|
Mary Jo Meuleners
– |
Thuan<=
/span> Tran – |
|
Jonathan Hanft – |
Redwan=
Hamza – DHS |
|
Sheila Murphy – |
Julie Hanson Perez - MDH |
Planning Council Staff:
|
|
Wendi Kistner (minut=
es)
|
Tim Sullivan
|
|
|
|
Quorum Present? Yes
I.&n=
bsp; =
;
Welcome
and Introductions; Lighting of the Candle
Hazel stated she would be p= residing and called the meeting to order at 9:02 am. Introductions were made. Jerry lit the candle for Don Ander= son who recently passed away. He = was very involved in the community and served on the Planning Council.
II.&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p;
Review
the March 11, 2008 Meeting Minutes and Proposed Agenda
The minutes and agenda were approved by unanimous consent.
III.=
Open
Forum
Karin made an announcement =
that
HCMC is conducting a consumer training on April 24th from 8:30-4=
pm
at Park House. The training w=
ill
help clients become their own case managers and learn how to navigate the
system. She distributed a fly=
er
entitled Do You Need Help Navigatin=
g the
HIV System?. Questions/Comments:
·
Mike as=
ked if
this training would be beneficial for well seasoned consumers. Karin said this training is for any
consumer that is interested in becoming their own case manager.
· Mike as= ked if clients continue to see a case manager so data can continue to be collected. Karin said most in= formation on clients is compiled through bubble sheets.
IV.&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p;
Co-Chairs
Report
· Part B MOU is very close to being finished a= nd will likely be ready for Executive committee approval at the end of the mon= th and Council approval at the May meeting.
V.&n=
bsp; =
;
Staff
Report
· Tim passed around a sign-up sheet for lighti= ng the candle.
· Tim and Wendi attended and participated in t= he Empowering Heroes Conference at the end of March. The Council had a table at the res= ource fair and held a session on Saturday morning.
· Tim distributed flyers promoting the Communi= ty Voice committee, entitled Are You H= IV Positive?, and asked Council members to put them up in places consumers will see them. He reminded the Council that each committee is responsible for setting their own community = membership standards. Dave said his staf= f can include the flyer in their Program HH mailing and will reach about 1400 cli= ents.
· Wendi has begun using her maiden name of Johnson. Her new email addres= s is wendi.johnson@co.hennepin.mn.us.
VI.&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p;
Part
A Update, Jonathan Hanft,
A. Part A received notice that the waiver request was approved. Jonathan is still waiting for the = 2009 waiver request guidance which is expected to be much more stringent. Questions/Comments:
· Susanne asked how much the Council currently spends on core medical services. Jonathan thinks it is about 60% and is up from past years.
B. FY 2007 Spending – Part A was able to spend close to 93% of funds and th= ere are still invoices being processed. The under spending is lower than it has been in past years. Jonathan thanked the Council for a= ll the hard work in the past year with reallocation and shifting of funds to make = sure the award was spent.
C. The
next All Provider meeting will be held on May 15th. All Council members are welcome to
attend. This is a collaborati=
ve
meeting among DHS, MDH, and
D. The updated MN-tel= brochure was distributed to Council members. The MN-Tel brochure is funded by Clinical Consultation. The up= dated brochure includes 3 physicians who have made themselves available for consultation 24/7.
VII.=
Part
B and ADAP Update, Redwan Hamza, DH=
S
A. Part B FY 2008 Award - Haven’t received final award yet. Dave received word from NASTAD tha= t they are flat funded and may receive $667 less than last year’s award. Questions/Comments:
· Keith asked if the drug costs are going to increase even though DHS received flat funding. Dave said his office will work wit= h the pharmaceutical companies to make sure that rising costs do not impact clien= ts.
B. MAI Application – Part B has been told to apply for $29,233 in MAI fundin= g.
C. Empowering Heroes – Nick and Kevin did a great job on the conference. DHS has received a lot of feedback= on the conference. Nick said 330 people attended. DHS staff di= d a good job with registration and the hotel was very accommodating.
D. Odyssey
Conference – This year the focus of the conference will be empowering
clients and families. The
conference is open to everyone.
Dave is trying to get Jeanie White to speak at this conference as we=
ll. The conference will be held in
E. = Governor’s Freeze – Some travel plans have had to be cut due to the spending freeze.
F. =
DHS
is still processing invoices but thinks $140-180,000 of the $202,000 reallo=
cated
to cover unpaid client out of pocket expenses has been spent.
VIII.
Learning
Stations
Emergency Financial Assi= stance (EFA) – Karin and Gary walked Council members through the Emergency Financial Assistance SAR Sum= mary. Questions/Comments:
· Jonathan made a clarification that HOPWA off= ers additional housing assistance, mostly to greater MN.
· Chris asked why the cap includes that clients must be within 150-300% of FPG. Jonathan said this has been in place for many years to ensure that t= hose in the most need have access to the program.
· Karin said there are only two states that ad= just the FPG to be based on actual cost of living.
· Mike asked why there isn’t a FPG cap on the housing assistance. Karin= said if someone is in the TGA they are bound to the 175% FPG cap. Part B funds can be used anywhere = in the state and doesn’t have the same guidelines because there are HOPWA fu= nds involved.
· Ama asked if the committee took into consideration changing the lottery system because it can keep those who truly need help in a month from getting it if their name is = not drawn. Karin said the committ= ee discussed the lottery system but didn’t have a better idea of how to = run the system.
· Gerry said sometimes this program isn’t used as emergency funds and clients plan on having that money each year.
· Dave asked how the Council will address whet= her or not this service is really a payer of last resort. He suggested removing the term “Emergency” from the service name. Karin clarified that the committee= sees this as a very valuable service. Tim said EFA is HRSA’s language and since Ryan White funds are a payer of last resort these funds should be use= d as such. It is up to the Council= to define what an emergency is. =
· Dave also asked if there is a concern that t= he guidelines should be adjusted to account for the recession.
· Jonathan clarified that Food Vouchers are not included in the EFA allocation and is listed under Food Bank/Home Delivered Meals but does come out of the EFA cap of $400/year.
· Keith asked if the EFA cap is being closely monitored. Jonathan said this= is all covered under the same agency. <= /span>
· Nick gave anecdotal information that this service is used as an emergency by clients. He added that county financial assistance is very difficult to access.
· Gerry said the committee appreciates this service doesn’t have a lot of overhead costs and most of the funds go directly to clients. He think= s if more restrictions or changes to the policy are made that may change.
·
Julie asked about a policy that state=
s a
person can only access assistance for 24 months total and
asked if this policy affects the way the Council administers funds. Jonathan said this o=
nly
applies to Emergency Housing Assistance (EHA). Tim made an addition that there is=
a
HRSA definition that allows for more long term housing assistance but the
Council has not allocated resources to this service in the =
past.
·
Michael asked what happens if funds a=
re dispersed
at the beginning of the month but a shutoff notice comes in the middle of <=
span
class=3DMsoPageNumber>the
month and will be shut off at the end of the month. Karin said the money continues to =
be dispersed
through the lottery until the monthly allocation is used.
·
Jerry asked the committee to take another lo=
ok
at the voucher system because he doesn’t think the system is
working. Karin thinks this is=
very
valuable feedback but it is outside the scope of what the Council can do.
· Mike thinks having an eviction or shut off notice is a good recommendation to forward to the grantees. Dave added that changing the way t= he service is delivered could push people into crisis. Sheila said the vendor has criteri= a and asks for documentation and listens to the situation. She said the vendor works as best = they can with clients to ensure their needs are met.
· Dave said there are several consumer driven activities coming up and Council staff could attend and give a presentation= on this service.
Food Bank/Home Delivered= Meals – Karin walked Council members through a document entitled Food Bank/Home Delivered Meals SAR Sum= mary. Questions/Comments:
· Dave thinks this is another service that may= be impacted by the changing economy. He suggested the Council monitor spending of this service and consider putting additional funds in it as needed.
· Paul asked why this service is not listed in= the Comprehensive Plan. Jonathan = thinks this is addressed in the cost barrier activities. Tim added that the Comp Plan was b= ased on HRSA’s old list of core services and t= he plan is written with two goals “getting people into care, and keeping them in care”. He said = there may not be direct goals for each of the services but there are connections.=
· Chris asked if these services are only avail= able in the TGA. Karin said Food V= ouchers are available to anyone while congregate and home delivered meals are avail= able to those who are within range of the service. Jonathan added that the last RFP included a greater MN Food Shelf provider.
· Bob asked if Food Vouchers are included under the $400 EFA cap because it isn’t listed in the SAR summary. Karin pointed out where this appea= rs in the SAR summary and added that the cap should specify it is part of EFA.
Legal Services ̵= 1; Gerry walked Council members through a document entitled Legal Services SAR Summary.&nb= sp; Questions/Comments:
· Dave added that the need for this service has grown in the past few years. = In addition to immigration issues they have had to advocate for clients when medications and medical appointments were being denied while clients were i= ncarcerated.
IX.&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p;
Committee
Reports
A document entitled Committee Report Summaries was distributed.
·
Community Voice – no additional
update
·
Executive – no additional updat=
e
·
Membership & Training – no
additional update
·
Needs Assessment & Evaluation =
211;
no additional update
·
Operations –
o
· Planning & Priorities –
o
§ Jonathan presented the updated proposal to allocate $139,728 to Medical Case Managem= ent and $20,000 to Transportation.
§AMM= ENDMENT: Bob made a motion to approve the amendment that will allocate $139,728 = to Medical Case Management and $20,000 to Transportation. Mike seconded the motion to amend.= Discussion:
¨ Karin stated her conflict of interest and as= ked why the $40,000 reduction was not done proportionately. Jonathan said the proposal is base= d on need. Case Management funding= is used to fund staff while Transportation funding goes directly to client services.
¨ Nick asked why the mileage rate is $0.35/mil= e. Jonathan said this is what the gra= ntee and funded Transportation providers agreed upon several years ago. At the time it was a compromise to ensure that all clients received this service. This is currently under discussion= and the rate could be increased. =
¨ Mike said people coming from greater MN are = low income and are driving older cars that don’t get as good of mileage as newer cars. Michael added tha= t some clients don’t have transportation means and rely on the Transportation funding in order to secure rides to appointments.
The amendment passed by m= ajority with a vote of 16—0 with 3 abstentions. The main motion passed by majority= with a vote of 17-0 with 2 abstentions. <= /span>
X.&n=
bsp; =
;
Unfinished
Business
Karin asked if it’s possible to get the committee reports ahead of time and suggested sending them with the meeting notice. Tim said it might delay the meeting notice going out but will try to accommodate this request.
XI.&=
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p;
Announcements
· MDH will be releasing the RFP soon for prevention services. They are looking for volunteers to be reviewers for the RFP prevention proposals whi= ch will take place in June and July. Call Kathy if interested at 651-201-4008.
· Francis has resigned from the full Council a= nd will continue as a community member and co-chair of Membership & Traini= ng.
Meeting Adjourned at 10:52 am
Meeting Su=
mmary:
· Wendi has begun using her maiden name of Johnson. Her email address is= now wendi.johnson@co.hennepin.mn.us
· Part A received notice that the waiver reque= st for FY 2008 has been approved. They are waiting for 2009 guidance which is expected to be more stringent than t= he past two years.
· The next All Provider meeting will be held on May 15th at the Southdale Library. All Council members are encouraged= and welcome to attend. More infor= mation about the meeting will be distributed shortly.
· Council members were led through learning stations and were taught about Emergency Financial Assistance (EFA), Food Bank/Home Delivered Meals, and Legal Services.
· The Council approved an allocation proposal = that will put an additional $139,728 into Medical Case Management and $20,000 in= to Transportation.
Documents
Distributed Before the Meeting:
· Agenda
· Minutes from March 11, 2008
Documents
Distributed At the Meeting:
·
Are You HIV Positive?,
·
Do You Need Help Navigating the HIV System?
·
MN-tel brochure
·
Emergency Financial Assistance SAR Summary
·
Food Bank/Home Delivered Meals SAR Summary
·
Legal Services SAR Summary
·
Committee Report Summaries
WJ/tds