STATEWIDE INDEPENDENT LIVING COUNCIL
 May 20, 2020
1:00pm – 2:30 pm
FULL SILC Meeting
ZOOM

Members and Ex-Officios Attending:  Jeff Dickinson, Gary Whitmarsh, Andrew Harmon, Shellie Lemelin, Susan Wolf-Downes, Erin Hall, Carrie Dudley, Marcia Golembeski, Joan Marcoux, Deborah Ritcey, Daniel Frye (Designated State Entity)
Staff: Jennifer Beaulieu (SILC Assistant) 
Guests: Lorrie Ripley (Client Assistance Program, Governor’s Commission on Disability) and Peter Marshall (Brain Injury Association of NH)
Communication Access: Donna Wells, CART Reporter

The SILC meeting was called to order at 1:05 PM by Chair Jeff Dickinson. Attendance was taken via roll call. 

*Quorum was reached.

Approval of New Officers
*Jeff Dickinson asked for a motion to approve the January 20, 2020 Minutes
Motion to Approve: 			Gary Whitmarsh
Seconded:				Andrew Harmon
All in Favor: Yes			Motion Carried

Election of New Officers
There was some concern over if there was quorum and if the SILC should follow the Rehab Act or the Bylaws in regards to the voting rights of Deborah Ritcey. The bylaws mention that the Director of the CIL which is Deborah, is a non-voting member while the Rehab Act mentions that the Director of the CIL is required to be a voting member. Discussion occurred around the subject.  Daniel mentioned we should follow the Rehab Act because at past executive committee meetings it was discussed that the bylaws need to be updated. He also noted that following the Rehab act would be in the spirit of full transparency and creating a good governance structure going forward. 
Jeff wanted to confirm with Gary that he doesn’t want to run for Chair due to his work with the Census. Gary confirmed with Jeff. Jeff mentioned that the slate of officers is Carrie Dudley for Chair, Christopher Emerson for 1st Vice-Chair, and Deborah Ritcey for 2nd Vice-Chair. He mentioned we don’t have a candidate for the secretary position. He asked if anyone was interested. No one mentioned they were interested. 
Jeff then mentioned his concerns over how we will vote for the slate of officers. Erin mentioned that if everyone agrees we could present the slate of candidates and vote by unanimous consent.  Discussion occurred on when the officers will start. It was mentioned that officers start right after the vote ends. 

Approval of New Officers
*Jeff Dickinson entertained a motion to hold the vote on the following slate of officers for the SILC: Carrie Dudley as Chair; Chris Emerson as First Vice-Chair, and Deb Ritcey as Second Vice-Chair  
Motion to Approve: 			Andrew Harmon
Seconded:				Gary Whitmarsh
All in Favor: Yes			Motion Carried
The above candidates were voted in as the new officers of the Executive Committee.  Jeff mentioned that he will still be serving on the Executive Committee as the Immediate Past Chair. 

Discussion on the 2021-2023 Draft SPIL
Jeff displayed the 2021-2023 Draft SPIL to the SILC. He mentioned that the draft includes information that was discussed at past Executive Committee meetings and SILC meetings. Public input was also included in the draft. The draft still needs a lot of work. He believes the SILC is in a rebuilding phase due to the changes in membership and changes with the DSE. Two of the goals reflect this idea of rebuilding, the other goal focuses on Independent Living services. 

Daniel highlighted we should vote on sharing the SPIL draft for public comment while we have a quorum. He mentioned that after an additional 30 days for public comment, we can be ready on the 20th of June to move forward with any minor amendments. Andrew mentioned that there are some typos in the SPIL that are purely grammatical. He was concerned about correcting the typos before its sent out to the public. Discussion occurred around the subject with Jeff mentioning this isn’t the final vote on the SPIL and Deborah mentioning we are more voting more on the principles of the goals than the SPIL in its entirely.  
As reported by Jeff, the entire document can be emailed directly to our regional support person He thinks they will likely send it back with some suggestions due to the change in oversight at the Independent Living Administration, so we will likely have some work to do over the summer to get it approved by September.
 
Approval of Publishing the Draft SPIL for Public Comment
*Deborah Ritcey made a motion to publish the Draft SPIL for public comment with edits just discussed
Motion to Approve: 			Deborah Ritcey
Seconded:				Andrew Harmon
All in Favor: Yes			Motion Carried
Jeff will create a clean copy of the document with the edits discussed and then will send it to Jen to share on social media and the SILC’s website.

•	Discussion on Section 1.4: Goals and Section 1.5: Objectives
Jeff went over each goal and summarized the objectives under each goal. Highlighting a few specific objectives and adding in additional information.
Jeff mentioned that the membership isn’t quite as strong as we want it to be with the amount of members we have and the percentage of members we have with disabilities. He also thinks we need to continue what we are doing with the Part B funding. 
Jeff went on to discuss what needs to be done with the bylaws. He mentioned that we need to update them to reflect how we do business today. We also need to look into using technology to assist with the operations of the SILC and somehow include that in the bylaws.
Jeff mentioned that in regards to our Part B vendors, the idea of having the RFP process every three years instead of every year to match with the term of the SPIL was discussed. Erin mentioned that the current RFPs are on a two-year term. Daniel concurred, adding that the current RFPs have a year left on them. 

•	Discussion on Section 1.4: Evaluation 
Jeff went on to discuss the section on evaluation. It’s a way to quantify the goals and objectives. This section allows us to track progress and confirm we met some of those measurable objectives. He ended the discussion by mentioning this section still needs a lot of work done before the SPIL is submitted.

•	Discussion on Section 2.2: Outreach
Jeff then went on the section about outreach. He thinks that it doesn’t need too many edits from the last SPIL. 
Jen mentioned that at a past Executive Committee meeting, Susan mentioned that the age range should be changed to 14 to 64 instead of 18-64. Jeff mentioned that we need to make sure the age range complies with the federal regulations while Daniel and Deborah mentioned the services their agency provides has a starting age that is less than 18. Deborah also mentioned that she thinks it was a study reflected in the section not federal regulations.
Carrie noted the sentences that mention minority group representation on VR counseling staff needs to be updated to reflect how it is now because some of those counselors have left. Jeff will remove the sentences for now and Daniel will look further into minority group representation on VR counseling staff. 

•	Discussion on Section 3: Network of Centers and Section 7: DSE Assurances
Jeff mentioned that the ACL are looking for the following in our next SPIL: 
•	How we as a SILC make the allocations we make to the vendors and the services we are providing.
•	What we do to make sure the vendors are providing the services that we are funding.
•	How we are using COVID-19 related funding.
•	Contingency planning. An example ACL mentioned is what the SILC will do to support and help a CIL continue their services if it is burned down or lost a significant piece of funding.
Jeff mentioned that if we don’t include this information in the SPIL it will likely be the thing that gets the ACL to kick back the SPIL to us. We could address the above through our work with revamping our policies and procedures.
Jeff noted that the checklist of items that the DSE agrees to is more stream-lined than in previous SPILs. 

•	Discussion on Section 8: Statewide Independent Living Council (SILC) Assurances and Indicators of Minimum Compliance and Section 9: Signatures 
Jeff reported that the last part requires signatures from the DSE, the director of the CIL, and the Chair of the SILC. The signatures and assurances for the SILC will need to be changed to have Carrie Dudley’s name and signature on this section instead of his.

Other Business
Jeff mentioned that he is working with Jen and Daniel to get the SILC its own ZOOM account. 
Daniel asked Jeff who will act as the Secretary. He offered to assist with the administration tasks that the Secretary does. Discussion occurred around the subject with Deborah mentioning she is willing to take on the work of the Secretary as well as the work of the 2nd Vice-Chair, highlighting that in the bylaws the Chair could assign two officer positions to one person. There was some concern over if there needs to be a motion on it with Deborah mentioning she thinks we only need a motion to see if an officer who was just appointed is willing to take on that role.
Daniel Frye mentioned that as the DSE, and he thinks that the state of NH and the people who benefited from independent living services would join him in acknowledging and thanking Jeff for his years of dedication and continuous support to this program in a voluntary capacity. He lastly mentioned that Jeff has done a good job and we are grateful for him for doing it.  
Jeff finished the meeting by giving members an update on our legislature. He mentioned that the House will be meeting at the Whittemore Center at UNH and the Senate will be meeting at the House Chamber at the beginning of June. He doesn’t know how it will exactly play out but wonders if during the sessions they will just go through everything and either pass, kill, or table bills so they can go back home to their districts. 

Approval for Adjournment of Meeting
*Jeff asked for a motion to adjourn
Motion to Approve: 			Deborah Ritcey
Seconded:				Andrew Harmon
All in Favor: Yes			Motion Carried

The meeting adjourned at 2:33pm. 

Minutes Recorded by Jennifer Beaulieu