STATEWIDE INDEPENDENT LIVING COUNCIL
May 21, 2025
1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
FULL SILC Meeting
IN-PERSON AND ZOOM

Members and Ex-Officios Attending: Chair Randy Pierce, First Vice-Chair Deborah Ritcey (Remote), Second Vice-Chair Ryan Witterschein, Secretary Sarah Sweeney (Remote), Immediate Past Chair Carrie Dudley, Member Jennifer Cook (Remote), Member Ryan Donnelly (Remote), Member Andrew Harmon, Member Joshua Gehling , Member Rob Kallin (Remote), Member Michelle McConaghy, Member Isadora Rodriguez-Legendre, and DSE Representative Scott Vittner. 
Staff: Jennifer Beaulieu (SILC Assistant)
Guests: Marcia Bagley (Remote, Chief Program Officer at GSIL), Peter Nye (Remote, Independent Living Officer for Region 1 at ACL), Chase Eagleson (Policy & Planning Coordinator at NHCDD), Matthew Greenwood (Member of the Public), and Amy Clark (Program Coordinator at DOE:SBVI)
Chair Randy Pierce called the SILC (Statewide Independent Living Council) meeting to order at 1:05pm.
*Quorum was reached. 

Approval of Minutes of Full SILC Meeting
Chair Randy Pierce noted that he will take a motion, if one exists, for the minutes of the past meeting in March. 
*Second Vice-Chair Ryan Witterschein motioned to approve.
Second: Member Andrew Harmon
Roll Call: 
•	Chair Randy Pierce: Aye
•	First Vice-Chair Deborah Ritcey: Aye
•	Second Vice-Chair Ryan Witterschein: Aye
•	Secretary Sarah Sweeney: Aye
•	Member Jennifer Cook: Aye
•	Member Ryan Donnelly: Aye
•	Member Andrew Harmon: Aye
•	Member Isadora Rodriguez-Legendre: Aye
•	Member Rob Kallin: Aye
•	Member Joshua Gehling: Aye
Discussion: Yes
All in Favor: No	Abstention: Immediate Past Chair Carrie Dudley, Member Michelle McConaghy, and Member Krystal Chase (Not in Attendance for Motion)
Motion Carried.

Andrew Harmon mentioned that there was a question that Randy Pierce asked the presenters at the last meeting. He didn’t see the answer included in the minutes and was wondering if we received an answer or the answer was just missing from the minutes. Randy Pierce noted the question was what their expectation of the role of the SILC was. Chuck Saia and Lorrie Ripley asked for time to think about it. He has since asked Chuck Saia twice for the answer and will  continue to inquire. The minutes can reflect that when he does get an answer, he will share it with everyone. 

SILC Education
Peter Nye introduced himself as the Independent Living Officer for Region 1 which includes NH. The most important thing he can tell everyone is to keep doing what you’re doing now which is coordinating and communicating between agencies. He noted making good use of training and technical assistance opportunities. He also encourages people to communicate with him anytime they have a question. 
Peter Nye went over the questions he received before today’s meeting. The questions were about the requirements of the DSE monitoring Part B vendors and CILs, what are ILP (Independent Living Plans) how to calculate FTEs (Full-Time Equivalent) in the PPR (Program Performance Report, and if ACL (Administration of Community Living) will fix the gender question in Section F of the PPR. He noted that the Rehab Act says the DSE (Designated State Entity) is required to monitor the CIL (Center for Independent Living). He noted that with other Part B grant recipients, because the DSE is giving them money, that funding needs to be monitored. Whether the monitoring needs to be in-person or remote, he doesn’t know if there is a strict requirement that it must be in-person, but he knows the benefits of in-person, so if it can be done in-person it ought to be. About the gender question, he knows that some people don’t identify as male or female and he knows that the categories of male and female don’t fully capture everyone. However, the instructions are how they are, and they need to work with it. They can always add an explanatory note. Amy Clark noted that in submitting the PPR report, she was under the impression that that two numbers needed to match to submit the report. Peter Nye noted that if that is the case, make the numbers match and include an explanatory note that they have these many people listed under female, but they are non-binary. He noted that a waiver means wavering an ILP for a consumer. He mentioned the importance of explaining the benefits of an ILP but still letting people know they are not required to have a plan to receive services. He noted that on the staffing with calculating FTEs, they need to look up the relevant labor regulations to see what work hour count it is. Peter Nye mentioned that if and when he is continuing to administer these grants and ACL no longer exists, he will let everyone know. 

Randy Pierce opened the floor for people to ask additional questions. Matthew Greenwood asked for more detail on what a waiver is. Peter Nye noted that what he means is that a consumer either develops an ILP or waives the requirement to develop a plan. Deborah Ritcey noted that GSIL has an ILP for almost every consumer they serve. They have some consumers that tell them they need help with this, but they don’t want to sign onto an ILP. GSIL will still work with the individual even if they don’t sign onto an ILP. Peter Nye mentioned that it is more important for the CIL to help the consumer beyond what the person is requesting because for so many people with disabilities who request help with one small thing, often they need help with other things. Jennifer Beaulieu asked if ex-officio members need to be appointed by the Governor. He asked her to email the question to him. Jennifer Beaulieu will email the question to him with Randy Pierce cc’ed in the email. 

Andrew Harmon asked what the best way would be to contact him. Peter Nye mentioned that the best way to contact him is via email. Marcia Bagley asked that once he reviews and approves the PPR report, where do the reports go from there. Peter Nye mentioned that most of them become success stories that are shared with congress or other policymakers. ACL also keeps them for future reference. He noted that the kind of success story that the Trump Administration is most interested in is helping people with disabilities get and keep competitive employment. Rob Kallin asked about additional opportunities that SILCs should be taking advantage of, specifically from ACL. Peter Nye responded that they don’t really have training from ACL, but he is available to be contacted. Carrie Dudley asked what ACL does with the information gathered from the additional training opportunities section of the PPR. Peter Nye noted that it goes to the Technical Assistance center. He noted that they can always ask him for the contact to the IL-TA&A center (Independent Living Training and Technical Assistance Center). Jennifer Beaulieu will include the links to the IL-TA&A center in the minutes. 

Update on the 50k and DSE’s Ideal for Bill Requests from Part B Vendors
Scott Vittner noted that what was going to have to happen was the contracts would have to be amended, which would mean that it would have to go before the governor and council. There was not enough time to do that. They looked into it and figured out you can move some of the funding back to a previous grant or forward to a grant that is upcoming. A grant is good for two years so that money is going to be used to pay the remaining billing that is going to come in from the vendors. Randy Pierce noted that we bill quarterly because we were asked to by the DSE prior to Scott Vittner being in that role. He noted that we will be discussing if there is a better timeline, and we will coordinate that with future DSEs. Discussion ensued. Scott Vittner noted what happened in the past was that not all the vendors were billing out their contracts, but the vendors didn’t know that. The vendors were never contacted and told they had this many funds remaining. That funding remained in the contract. He noted that won’t happen moving forward because VR now has a financial director.  

Deborah Ritcey noted that she would like to invoke their right to the financial records of the SILC and the DSE payments that come from ACL that we are entitled to see. The math doesn’t add up to her and she is not satisfied. She noted that we need to access our rights to the financial records now and this is her official request to do that according to 34 CFR Part 364.37. That is our right to access the financial records of the DSE when funding is sent to them from ACL. Randy Pierce noted that he hears her request and asked if it would require a motion or vote by the SILC. Deborah Ritcey responded that it does not because it is part of the responsibilities listed directly in the Council’s bylaws, that the Chair of the Governance Committee is responsible for the reviewing of financial information from the DSE. Randy Pierce noted that he heard the request, and it will be placed in the records. Discussion ensued. Scott Vittner noted that Whitney Vaillancourt would be more than happy to attend a Full SILC Meeting. Randy Pierce noted that he is going to follow up with Richard Sala in which he will carbon copy Scott Vittner and Deborah Ritcey as the Chair of the Governance Committee. 

Andrew Harmon asked if we still had that 30k available. Scott Vittner noted that he has been told that it will still be available. VR’s contract person will reach out to the vendors and tell them how much they have left. 

Discussion and Vote on Plan for Additional Funds
Randy Pierce moved onto the next agenda item which was about the 30k. He noted that at our last meeting we put that on a tentative hold so we can discuss it and because of the urgency of the 50k. It is his suggestion, but it’s still the council’s decision, that we wait till we  get some answers on the 50k because we may be talking about 30k or 80k. He would like that answer before we plan on how to use that funding. 

*Member Rob Kallin made a motion to table it.
Second: Second Vice-Chair Ryan Witterschein 
Roll Call: 
•	Chair Randy Pierce: Aye
•	First Vice-Chair Deborah Ritcey: Aye
•	Second Vice-Chair Ryan Witterschein: Aye
•	Secretary Sarah Sweeney: Aye
•	Immediate Past Chair Carrie Dudley: Aye
•	Member Jennifer Cook: Aye
•	Member Andrew Harmon: Aye
•	Member Michelle McConaghy: Aye
•	Member Isadora Rodriguez-Legendre: Aye
•	Member Rob Kallin: Aye
•	Member Joshua Gehling: Aye
Discussion: Chair Randy Pierce asked if it would be to table till the next Full SILC meeting. Member Rob Kallin responded yes, whether we hear back or not.
All in Favor: Yes	Abstention: Members Ryan Donnelly and Krystal Chase (Not in Attendance for Motion)
Motion Carried.

Committee Updates
Membership
Ryan Witterschein reported out for the Membership Committee. He noted that in terms of members, we are currently at full capacity. Carrie Dudley will be the next one to term off. The Committee is still missing a few completed surveys, so please complete them if you haven’t done so. Jennifer Beaulieu will be sending out an email to all who haven’t completed them. . Randy Pierce noted that when Carrie Dudley terms off, we would like to look at the skills matrix to see what we are losing and what we need in terms of skills. It’s hard to do that without that information. Andrew Harmon asked that when we finish the skills matrix, where will that information be. Ryan Witterschein noted that right now they are on a google drive so one could send out an email asking for it. 

Governance
Deborah Ritcey reported out for the Governance Committee. She noted that we are missing the skills matrix surveys from two people. What she can tell everyone is that they are going to use the matrix to bring in people and focus on people to fill some of the gaps we may have. With what completed skills matrix surveys she has, the two main gaps the council has in terms of skills is in housing and AI (Artificial Intelligence). Under housing, there is only one person who considers themselves kind of knowledgeable and can talk about housing. Under AI, there are two people who considers themselves kind of knowledgeable and can talk about AI. There were other categories that only had three people who identified as having that skill such as members who are knowledgeable and can talk about insurance. Once she has the two missing surveys, she will share it with Ryan Witterschein so he can put it in his membership packet. 

Deborah Ritcey went through the changes made to the bylaws. She noted that the Governance Committee as well as non-voting members of the public and members of the council have participated in these meetings. They are presenting what they believe is a strong valued proposal for changes in the bylaws. Most of the changes were non-material such as changing the capitalization of words, adding definitions, removing redundant sentences or words, changing the tense of words, adding clarification, and changing order of sentences or words. 

There were a few material changes. The first material change was that “…unless otherwise noted herein” was added to a sentence regarding voting at meetings because we have a few spots in the bylaws where a supermajority is required. Rob Kallin asked if we should change the sentence to “Voting may occur at any regular meeting..”  Deborah Ritcey noted that we would need to define regular meeting. Rob Kallin noted that he thinks we should define a regular meeting and a committee meeting. Deborah Ritcey suggested that he send her what edits he is looking for. The second material change was that the Committee allowed the Chair to announce what committees they will become a part of because they felt it was a heavy lift for a volunteer person to participate in all the committees. Before this change, the Chair had to serve on all committees. She noted it will assist with meeting quorum for committee meetings. The third material change was that the Committee removed the tiebreaker vote of the Chair because this could result in the Chair getting effectively two votes, but the bylaws are very specific on saying that each council member is entitled to one vote. The Committee had two options, either remove the ability of the Chair to vote unless a tie occurs or remove the sentence all together and let the tie stand. Randy Pierce noted he thinks a tie is a decision when you have a majority. The third material change was removing the additional powers from the Secretary. The Committee felt that the Secretary shouldn’t have any additional powers besides reviewing, editing, and approving the minutes. The fourth material change was changing the conflict-of-interest requirement to reflect how the work that ACL does was transferred from the U.S. Department of Education to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The last material change was adding the requirement that all members must file a Statement of Financial Interests form on an annual basis. 

Randy Pierce noted that at her request and his desire, he appointed Carrie Dudley to represent the SILC on the SRC (State Rehabilitation Council. He is wondering if she would still be an appointed member because she won’t be a member of the council in June. He asked if he would have to find a new designee. Deborah Ritcey responded yes. Deborah Ritcey noted that Carrie Dudley can remain as the Immediate Past Chair until the end of August because Randy Pierce became the new Chair on September 1st. She and Ryan Witterschein will discuss Carrie Dudley’s position offline. Deborah Ritcey lastly mentioned that she would be happy to answer any questions for those who abstained. 

Chair Randy Pierce asked if the Governance Committee is submitting these in motion of an approval of the council.
*First Vice-Chair Deborah Ritcey responded yes we are. 
Second: Member Rob Kallin
Roll Call:
•	Chair Randy Pierce: Aye
•	First Vice-Chair Deborah Ritcey: Aye
•	Second Vice-Chair Ryan Witterschein: Aye
•	Secretary Sarah Sweeney: Aye
•	Immediate Past Chair Carrie Dudley: Aye
•	Member Michelle McConaghy: Aye
•	Member Isadora Rodriguez-Legendre: Aye
•	Member Rob Kallin: Aye
•	Member Joshua Gehling: Aye
Discussion: Ryan Witterschein asked if we need to change the wording still because he and Deborah Ritcey still need to meet about the Ex-officio. Randy Pierce mentioned that the reason we are not answering that is because we are looking at these changes as progressive. We are making continuous improvements andwe will take these approvals knowing there may be  more to come. 
All in Favor: No	Abstention: Members Jennifer Cook, Andrew Harmon, Krystal Chase (Not in Attendance for Motion), and Ryan Donnelly (Not in Attendance for Motion)
Motion Carried.

Advocacy
Andrew Harmon reported out for the Advocacy Committee. They recently had a presentation from Jonathan Belmont about his work on benefits counseling. He wasn’t comfortable with doing a deeper dive into the topics we wanted to discuss, so he linked the Committee with another one of his colleagues Stephanie Choi. He sent her an invitation and has her tentatively scheduled for the committee meeting in June. Andrew Harmon noted that we made some progress on the script we have been working on for reaching out to agencies through 2-1-1. He lastly noted that they are making slow and steady progress on their objectives. 

SPIL Progress
Randy Pierce asked everyone who is in charge of one of the objectives in the SPIL, by the end of June, to give a two-sentence update on where they are on anything that is in-progress. If he receives nothing, he will assume that there was no progress. He is going to send that full list of updates out with the July’s agenda and minutes. 

Update on Skills Survey
Randy Pierce mentioned that he believes that we covered this earlier. He asked Deborah Ritcey if she had anything to add. She answered no. 

Other Business
Andrew Harmon noted that one of the various bills he has been watching went through the House and the Senate Judiciary Committee. The bill is HB 60 which would add a good cause for evicting people at the end of the term of their lease. He believes it is going up to the floor tomorrow for a vote. He would like to ask the SILC, but if the SILC doesn’t think it is appropriate then he would ask people individually to please reach out to their state senators to oppose this bill. Discussion ensued.

*Member Isadora Rodriguez-Legendre made a motion to take a position to oppose the bill HB60.
Second: Member Andrew Harmon
Discussion: Randy Pierce asked for clarification on if she is asking for the SILC to take a position to oppose the bill.
*Member Isadora Rodriguez-Legendre made a motion that the NH SILC take a position of opposition on HB 60.
Second: Member Andrew Harmon
Roll Call:
•	Chair Randy Pierce: Aye
•	First Vice-Chair Deborah Ritcey: No
•	Member Andrew Harmon: No
•	Member Isadora Rodriguez-Legendre: Aye
•	Member Rob Kallin: No
Discussion: Yes, in next paragraph
All in Favor: No 	Abstention: Second Vice-Chair Ryan Witterschein, Secretary Sarah Sweeney, Immediate Past Chair Carrie Dudley, Member Jennifer Cook, Member Michelle McConaghy, Member Joshua Gehling, Member Ryan Donnelly (Not in Attendance for Motion), and Member Krystal Chase (Not in Attendance for Motion)
Motion Failed to Carry.

Carrie Dudley mentioned that she thought we weren’t supposed to take any political positions. Randy Pierce noted that on policy we can take a position. We can’t take any partisan stances but if we believe a policy effects independent living and our role, we can take a stance on that. He expects from the motion and presentation, there is a belief that it would impact independent living. Andrew Harmon noted that we are in a housing crisis by everybody he heard testimony from. He feels that it would really impact people with disabilities’ ability to retain housing and not become homeless as a result of this bill. Isadora Rodriguez-Legendre noted that the DD council is reviewing the bill. Chase Eagleson noted that in 2004, the NH Supreme Court ruled over this type of eviction for several reasons, but mostly because they found it was being used to discriminate against people with disabilities and other minority groups. There was an amendment that would add a six-month time frame per eviction, and it won’t be labeled as a formal eviction. He noted that another part of the amendment would be that it won’t trigger automatically, it would only trigger with a 5% rental vacancy rate. Jennifer Cook noted that she agrees with Carrie Dudley, as horrible as the bill is, she doesn’t think as a council we take a political stance. Rob Kallin noted that he doesn’t think the motion is specific enough, it doesn’t have any action items. 

Adjournment
Chair Randy Pierce noted that he will accept a motion to adjourn.
*First Vice-Chair Deborah Ritcey moved.
Second: Member Andrew Harmon
Discussion: No
All in Favor: Yes	Abstention: Members Krystal Chase and Ryan Donnelly (Not in Attendance for Motion)
Motion Carried.

Meeting adjourned at 2:33pm. 

Meeting recorded by Jennifer Beaulieu.

Independent Living Training and Technical Assistance Center’s Website