STATEWIDE INDEPENDENT LIVING COUNCIL
March 15, 2023
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 (Remote) Secretary and Immediate Past Chair Jeff Dickinson (Remote), Member Michelle McConaughy, Member Sarah Sweeney (Remote), Member Ryan Witterschien and DSE representative Lisa Hatz.
Staff: Jennifer Beaulieu (SILC Assistant) 	
Guests: Matthew Greenwood (Member of the Public), Jennifer Cook (Nominee, Remote) and Matthew Goodness (Nominee, Remote)
Communication Access: Laurie Meyer (ASL Interpreter) and Rebekah Mallory-Patten (ASL Interpreter)

The SILC meeting was called to order at 1:07 PM by Chair Carrie Dudley.

*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 1/17 Full SILC Meetings
* Member Sarah Sweeney made a motion to approve the 1/17 Full SILC Meeting Minutes
Second: 			Immediate Past Chair and Secretary Jeff Dickinson   
Discussion:			None				
All in Favor: 	Yes		Abstaining: Chair Carrie Dudley and First Vice-Chair Deborah Ritcey
Motion Carried.

Committee Updates
A.	Membership Committee Report
Jeff Dickinson reported out for the Membership Committee. He canceled February’s meeting, but there will be a meeting next week. The committee will finish up the review of the orientation materials or at least most of them. Carrie Dudley asked how close the committee is to having something cohesive for new members. Jeff Dickinson noted that he thinks the committee will be prepared to share the materials at the next council meeting. He asked for there to be an item on the next meetings’ agenda regarding the orientation material. 

B.	Governance Committee Report 
Deborah Ritcey reported out for the Governance Committee. She noted that the committee had a slight delay because of some of the tasks that Daniel Frye was going to work on weren’t completed, but Lisa Hatz picked up from where Daniel Frye left off. She noted that the focus for the committee has primarily been on the annual consumer satisfaction survey for Part B funded services. Last year, the Part B vendors conducted the surveys. One of the things the committee has struggled with is how to cater the survey to the populations we serve. The committee found that there were some disparities in how the Part B vendors were conducting the survey and gathering data. Erin Hall brought up the idea of having a state agency conduct the surveys like how DHHS conducts heir surveys. Lisa Hatz introduced the idea of using an RFP that she is already submitting for VR to find a third-party vendor to conduct the surveys.  Lisa Hatz noted that they are getting close to being able to release the RFP. She offered to send the language to the full council or the EC so they can mold the language to fit the needs of the council. Deborah Ritcey noted that the Governance Committee has been tasked with the surveys and there would likely be no changes. She further noted the importance of having access to the vendor when it is time to create the tool we will be using for the surveys.  

The other thing that the committee has been focusing on is adding and updating the governance documents.  There have been some suggestions to update the policies and procedures to include the following: (1) The on-boarding process; (2) A list of voting member and members of the community; and (3) Clarifying majorities and quorums. 

C.	Advocacy Committee Report
Jennifer Cook reported out for the Advocacy Committee. She reported that the committee has started to identify items that are vital and important to independent living. She also reported that the committee is working on creating a mission and vision statement for their committee. The committee felt they needed to clarify their role. Deborah Ritcey noted that this could be a catalyst for the SILC’s mission statement. 

SPIL Progress
Carrie Dudley moved on to the discussion about SPIL progress. She noted that Lisa Hatz found out that the current SPIL has been extended for another year. One of the things they had trouble with is discerning the roles of the Advocacy Committee and Membership Committee regarding outreach. Jennifer Beaulieu mentioned that at the last committee meeting, it was noted that the Advocacy Committee will focus more on advocating for IL services and the Membership Committee will focus more on getting new members. Deborah Ritcey noted that when the current SPIL was developed three years ago, the intent was to rebuild the council and have a double-digit number of members. Forming the Membership and Outreach Committees was really an effort to educate people about the council. She also noted that this isn’t a typical SPIL; we made a case to ACL about all the changes that happened to our council and how we wanted to focus on rebuilding it.  We didn’t form an Outreach and Membership Committee because we already have a Membership Committee that is listed in our bylaws. 

Carrie Dudley asked everyone what they think is the next pressing part of the SPIL we should accomplish? Deborah Ritcey noted that in her eyes it’s the recruitment plan and orientation. She further noted that we need to make the orientation process better for the new people coming in. 
Lisa Hatz provided a suggestion to issue an RFP for an entity to assist the SILC in the development of the SPIL. Deborah Ritcey agreed with the idea because it is hard to both facilitate and be an active participant in the process.  Jeff Dickinson agreed as well and noted that we had something like that in the past.  Lisa Hatz mentioned that they just finished the budget for the next contract with the Governor’s Commission on Disability and she will send it to Jennifer Beaulieu to share with the voting membership.

Lisa Hatz noted there are orientation resources on ILRU. Jennifer Beaulieu noted that there are national organizations for SILCs such as NCIL (National Council on Independent Living) and NASILC (National Association on SILCs).  Lisa Hatz mentioned the idea of having Jennifer Beaulieu and the Executive Committee do some research on the type of training resources that are available. Lisa Hatz further noted there is a course online that one can sign up for that goes over things such as laws and regulations, collaborating with CILs, building relationships with other disability organizations, accessing the needs of the IL community, developing and implementing the SPIL, recruiting and supporting new members, outreach, and resource and development. Lisa Hatz will send Jennifer Beaulieu the link to the website to share with the membership. 

Discussion on In-Person Quorum and RSA 91-A
Carrie Dudley moved on to the discussion about in-person quorum and RSA 91-A. Jeff Dickinson asked for a moment to report to the council on where we are legislatively. He reported that there are two bills this year regarding remote participation. One bill was voted down and died in committee, but the other bill has passed the House and will be sent to the Senate’s Judiciary Committee. The bill is titled HB 308 and is basically a permissive bill that allows boards to allow remote participation. The bill also makes changes to RSA 91-A, which is about freedom of information and transparency at meetings. The bill will amend the law to require one-third of the board to be physically present. Discussion ensued on if this could affect the council for the May meeting. Jeff Dickinson noted that the bill could pass by then and he will keep everyone up to date on the bill’s progress. 

Revisit Audio and Video Quality of New Location
Deborah Ritcey started the discussion on audio and video quality of the new location by asking if she could unreserve the room at GSIL for the upcoming council meeting. Carrie Dudley mentioned that would depend on if individuals are able to see and hear all participants. Deborah Ritcey asked that if anyone who had pervious problems with the audio and video quality can opine. Discussion ensued. Everyone agreed that the audio and video qualify were better at this location than at GSIL. Future meetings will take place at this location. Carrie Dudley noted that Daniel Frye has booked this location for the whole year [for the council], so she is safe to unreserve the room at GSIL for the council. There were questions about how to setup the equipment for the meeting. Jennifer Beaulieu asked if there is a way for her to be co-host. Lisa Hatz noted that she will work with Chrissy and Chris to make Jennifer Beaulieu the co-host. She will also look into some training for them. There were some concerns over if the invitations would go down because they were sent by Daniel Frye who is no longer the DSE. Lisa Hatz noted that she will have a meeting with Chrissy and Jennifer Beaulieu to send out the meeting invitations. 

Other Business
Carrie Dudley noted that Daniel Frye is no longer our DSE representative, and Lisa Hatz is sitting in for the position. Daniel was the SBVI administrator and the DSE for the Part B funds. 

Jennifer Cook had some questions on when she could expect her application to be approved. Carrie Dudley noted the idea of putting something in orientation that if someone is waiting a while for their letter, they can start training. Deborah Ritcey noted that she will contact the Governor’s Appointment Officer and ask what the timeline for appointment is because there have been some things that have been sent out relatively quickly for us and other things that haven’t. She would be more than happy to ask for what we should expect for the timeline so we can better set expectations for people who have waited to get on. She asked Jennifer Beaulieu to send her the date Jennifer Cook’s appointment letter was sent. 

Matthew Greenwood asked if transportation would be something in purview of the advocacy committee. Jennifer Cook noted that the when the committee talked about vital things regarding independent living, transportation was one of them. Carrie Dudley noted that we have established a connection with COAST, the seacoast area public transit. Jennifer Beaulieu noted there is also the State Coordinating Council for Community Transportation (SCC). Deborah Ritcey noted that she is the First Vice-Chair of the SCC and she could have the mobility manager come in to talk to us about transportation. 

Jennifer Beaulieu noted that she recently found out that Peggy Teravainen has passed away. She used to be a member of the SILC and used to work for VR as a rehab counselor. 

*First Vice-Chair Deborah Ritcey made a motion to adjourn.  
Second: 			Member Michelle McConaghy 
Discussion:			None				
All in Favor: 	Yes		Abstaining: None
Motion Carried.

Meeting adjourned at 2:20pm. 

Minutes Recorded by Jennifer Beaulieu