STATEWIDE INDEPENDENT LIVING COUNCIL
November 16, 2022
1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
FULL SILC Meeting
IN-PERSON AND ZOOM

Members and Ex-Officios Attending: Chair Carrie Dudley, First Vice-Chair Deborah Ritcey, Second Vice-Chair Randy Pierce, Secretary and Immediate Past Chair Jeff Dickinson (Remote), Member Erin Hall (Remote), Member Michelle McConaghy, Member Sarah Sweeney, Member Ryan Witterschein, and DSE representative Daniel Frye.
Staff: Jennifer Beaulieu (SILC Assistant) 	
Guests: Matthew Greenwood (Member of the Public, Remote), Jennifer Cook (Nominee, Remote), Matthew Knee (Member of the Public, Remote), and Matthew Goodness (Member of the Public). 
Communication Access: Laurie Meyer (ASL Interpreter) and Patricia Stuart (ASL Interpreter)

The SILC meeting was called to order at 1:04 PM by Chair Carrie Dudley. Attendance was taken via roll call. 

*Quorum was reached. 

The Chair will follow the federal health emergency guidelines as it relates to the rising cases of COVID and allow this body to be remote with the ability to meet with quorum while being remote.

Approval of Minutes of 9/21 Full SILC Meetings
*Member Randy Pierce moved to approve the minutes. 
Second: 			First Vice-Chair Deborah Ritcey 
Discussion:			None				
All in Favor: 	Yes		Abstaining: None
Motion Carried.

Committee Updates
A.	Membership Committee Report
Carrie Dudley noted that yesterday the Membership Committee met without Jeff Dickinson. They went over items that were on the SPIL that the Membership Committee is responsible for. 

B.	Governance Committee Report 
Deborah Ritcey reported out for the Governance Committee. In August, the Committee and the Part B Vendors conducted surveys on consumer satisfaction. She noted that the questions used for the survey were the ones that have been used in the past. The results have been shared with the Executive and Governance Committees. Deborah Ritcey noted that the Committee and the Part B vendors had some discussions about how we want to conduct the surveys next year. She noted that with the way we did it this time, she has more unanswered questions than answered questions. She is not sure the survey is asking the right questions. They have talked to Daniel Frye on how the survey should look next year. At the Committee meeting in January, they will discuss how the surveys will be conducted next year. 

Deborah Ritcey reported on the results of the GSIL survey. GSIL sent out over 232 surveys and received a 25% return rate, a return rate result that is consistent with all their other surveys. The surveys were delivered via SurveyMonkey, paper, email, and telephone. Using Part B dollars, GSIL provides accessible transportation for social events, access modifications, reimbursement for transportation by family members or friends for social events, and service coordination. 91% of the survey takers rated the services they received as excellent, very good, or good. The last 8% to 9% of the survey takers rated the services they received as poor. One survey taker felt their needs weren’t met, while another survey taker couldn’t find a vendor in the North Country. She noted that she doesn’t know what needs weren’t met because she is unable to get in contact with the individual. She noted that GSIL has invested in customer service by providing staff trainings. She lastly mentioned that funds for these programs are limited and that individuals who receive transportation to social visits are limited to 2 social visits a month. 

Michelle McConaghy went over Northeast Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services, Inc.’s survey results. The survey was done through email. The surveys were separated by service provided. They sent the survey out to 100 consumers which covered three different services. The three services were SSP (Support Service Provider), communication access, and information and referral. 47 consumers completed the survey. She noted that with the SSP survey, 5 individuals completed the survey. With the communication access survey, 71% were completely satisfied, 14% were somewhat satisfied, 10% were neutral, and 5% were dissatisfied. The 5% didn’t explain why they were unhappy with the services they received. For information and referral, 74% were satisfied, 15% were somewhat satisfied, and 7% were neutral. 

Erin Hall reported out the results for BIA-NH. There was a low rate of participation. About 1% participated. She noticed that most of the 1% were satisfied with the services they received. She noted that the low participation rate may have been due to the surveys being sent back to the agency instead of a third party. 
Randy Pierce reported out the results for Future in Sight. They collected the data for the surveys using telephones. Out of 84 consumers who used services funded by Part B dollars, 64 participated in the survey. 100% said they were satisfied with the services they received. 94% said they were extremely satisfied. 
Discussion occurred over how survey participation can be impacted by confusion over what Part B is.
C.	Advocacy Committee Report
Carrie Dudley moved on to the next agenda item concerning the Advocacy Committee report. She asked Randy Pierce if he was still interested in Chairing the Advocacy Committee. He said yes. He was appointed to Chair the Committee. 

Jennifer Cook noted that she would be interested in participating in the Committee. Carrie Dudley noted that Matthew Goodness would also be interested in participating in the Committee as well. 

Carrie Dudley and Randy Pierce will talk about scheduling, expectations, etc. after the meeting.  

SPIL Progress
Discussion over SPIL progress was tabled due to there not being enough time. 

Part B Vendor Presentations
The presentations were tabled due to there not being enough time.  

Vote on Jennifer Cook’s Application for Membership
Carrie Dudley moved on to the agenda item regarding approving Jennifer Cook’s application for membership. Carrie Dudley asked if she wanted to say anything. Jennifer Cook mentioned that she is very passionate about this type of stuff. She also noted she could be of some assistance, she would really like to contribute, and feels this is the way she would like to contribute. 

There were some questions regarding if she would be able to attend the meetings. 

*Second Vice-Chair Randy Pierce made a motion to approve Jennifer Cook’s application. 
Second: 			Member Ryan Witterschein 
Discussion:			None				
All in Favor: 	Yes		Abstaining: None
Motion Carried.
Deborah Ritcey noted that Jennifer Cook needs to identify which membership category she falls into because she checked multiple boxes on the application. Jennifer Cook noted she would be okay with the membership category of person with a disability. 

Vote on Randy Pierce’s Appointment to the Executive Committee as Second Vice-Chair
*First Vice-Chair Deborah Ritcey moved to approve Randy Pierce’s appointment as Second Vice-Chair. 
Second: 			Member Sarah Sweeney 
Discussion:			None				
All in Favor: 	Yes		Abstaining: Second Vice-Chair Randy Pierce
Motion Carried.
Jennifer Beaulieu will send the Executive Committee meeting invite to Randy Pierce. 

Other Business 
Carrie Dudley asked if there could be a floating committee position, where one may assist on specific projects of the committees. Discussion ensued. Deborah Ritcey noted that these committees are working committees, she needs to know who she can rely on to do the work. She also noted that she thinks everyone should commit to a committee. Carrie noted that with the orientation manual, we have material, but we need someone to review and edit. Discussion ensued. Daniel Frye offered to review the materials. 

Carrie noted that we had a member pass away recently named Christopher Emerson. 

Deborah noted that there will be Executive Summaries from each of the Part B vendors on the survey results and it will be sent to the Full SILC. 

Discussion occurred over how many members we can have and quorum requirements.  Carrie Dudley noted that in the SPIL, it mentions creating an awareness and recruitment plan. She asked why we need a recruitment plan if we don’t want too many people at once. Both Erin Hall and Deborah Ritcey noted the importance of having a recruitment plan due to the fact there will always be members who leave the council for a variety of reasons. The number of members listed in the bylaws can be changed. Erin Hall noted that historically, the number used to be larger but was changed because we weren’t meeting quorum with the amount of members who consistently attended meetings. She also noted the need to be careful with the numbers because we could end up with a quorum issue. There were questions on if there are any federal laws or regulations that specify what the quorum of a SILC must be. Daniel Frye will go back to ACL to see if there are any regulations or laws concerning quorum. 
*First Vice-Chair Deborah Ritcey made a motion to adjourn the meeting. 
Second: 			Member Michelle McConaghy 
Discussion:			None				
All in Favor: 	Yes		Abstaining: None
Motion Carried.

Meeting adjourned at 2:27pm.

Minutes Recorded by Jennifer Beaulieu