STATEWIDE INDEPENDENT LIVING COUNCIL
July 17, 2024
1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
FULL SILC Meeting
IN-PERSON AND ZOOM

Members and Ex-Officios Attending: Chair Carrie Dudley, Second Vice-Chair Randy Pierce, Secretary Sarah Sweeney, Member Jennifer Cook (Remote), Member Ryan Donnelly (Remote), Member Andrew Harmon, Member Michelle McConaughy, Member Deborah Ritcey, and Member Ryan Witterschein  
Staff: Jennifer Beaulieu (SILC Assistant), Amy Clark (Older Blind Program Representative), and Scott Vittner (DSE Representative)  	
Guests: Matthew Greenwood (Member of the Public, Remote), Isadora Rodriguez-Legendre (Applicant), Krystal Chase (Applicant, Remote), Steph Underwood (Applicant), and Chase Eagleson (Member of the Public)
Communication Access: Alyssa Gagnon (ASL Interpreter) and Emily Timm (ASL Interpreter) 

The SILC (Statewide Independent Living Council) meeting was called to order at 1:08pm. 

*Quorum was reached. 

Approval of Minutes of 5/15 Full SILC Meetings
*Member Deborah Ritcey made a motion to approve the minutes.
Second: 				Member Randy Pierce  

Roll Call:
•	Chair Carrie Dudley: Yes
•	Second Vice-Chair Randy Pierce: Yes
•	Secretary Sarah Sweeney: Yes
•	Member Andrew Harmon: Abstain 
•	Member Ryan Donnelly: Yes
•	Member Michelle McConaghy:
•	Member Deborah Ritcey: Yes
•	Member Ryan Witterschein: Yes
Discussion: 				None
All in Favor: Yes			Abstention: Member Andrew Harmon
Motion Carried.

Vote on Officer Slate
Carrie Dudley noted that we need to vote on the slate of officers. She noted the slate as the following:
•	Chair: Randy Pierce 
•	First Vice-Chair: Deborah Ritcey
•	Second Vice-Chair: Open for floor nominations 
•	Secretary: Sarah Sweeney. 

*Chair Carrie Dudley noted that she would like to make a motion from the floor for Second Vice-Chair for Ryan Witterschein.  
Second: 				Member Deborah Ritcey 

Roll Call:
•	Chair Carrie Dudley: Yes
•	Second Vice-Chair Randy Pierce: Yes
•	Secretary Sarah Sweeney: Yes
•	Member Andrew Harmon: Yes
•	Member Ryan Donnelly: Yes
•	Member Michelle McConaghy: Yes
•	Member Deborah Ritcey: Yes
•	Member Ryan Witterschein: Abstain
Discussion: Second Vice-Chair Randy Pierce asked Member Ryan Witterschein was okay with the position, knowing that the position is progressive. Member Ryan Witterschein noted that it aligns with his timeline.
All in Favor: Yes		Abstentions: Member Ryan Witterschein 
Motion Carried.
*Second Vice-Chair Randy Pierce noted that he would like to move the slate.  
Second: 				Member Andrew Harmon

Member Deborah Ritcey asked for the motion to be modified to make sure it’s accurate and timely and the motion is to approve the slate of officers as presented with Ryan Witterschein added on as Second Vice-Chair, all to be effective on September 1st.
Member Jennifer Cook moved to do that. 

*Modified Motion: Member Jennifer Cook moved to do that.  	
			
Second: 				Member Deborah Ritcey
Roll Call:
•	Chair Carrie Dudley: Yes
•	Second Vice-Chair Randy Pierce: Yes
•	Secretary Sarah Sweeney: Yes
•	Member Andrew Harmon: Yes
•	Member Ryan Donnelly: Yes
•	Member Michelle McConaghy: Yes
•	Member Deborah Ritcey: Abstain 
•	Member Ryan Witterschein: Abstain

Discussion: Member Deborah Ritcey asked if Secretary Sarah Sweeney is okay with still being the Secretary. Secretary Sarah Sweeney noted that she is good. 

All in Favor: Yes			Abstentions: Member Ryan Witterschein and Member Deborah Ritcey. 

Motion Carried. 

Vote on Applicants; Isadora Rodriguez-Legendre and Krystal Chase
Carrie Dudley explained that as part of the appointment process, applicants are given the opportunity to talk about themselves, ask questions of the council members, and answer questions posed by council members. The vote will occur in an executive session. 

Carrie Dudley asked Isadora Rodriguez-Legendre what brought her to the council, how she heard about us, and what work of the council she is most interested in.  Isadora Rodriguez-Legendre mentioned that Carrie Dudley has been talking about the council during the SRC (State Rehabilitation Council) meetings which is she sits on. She noted her commitment to improving supportive services in NH for people with disabilities. Too often, she feels that agencies with similar goals are siloed from one another. She sees herself as a bridge builder and a connector to improve the lived experiences of people with all kinds of disabilities in our state. For a long time, she was unable to add another council to her workload because of the other commitments she had. She thinks now the time is right to consider becoming a member and learning more about the council. She was involved in the SPIL (Statewide Plan for Independent Living) development process which she found to be very interesting. It helped her better understand the goals and objectives that the council has for the future. She lastly noted that her organization and the council have similar commitments to making sure people get the supports and services they need to participate in their communities in a meaningful way. 

The floor was then opened for questions from the council. Deborah Ritcey asked about Isadora Rodriguez-Legendre’s commitment to attending meetings regularly. She then reminded everyone of 91-A and our commitment to being able to have a quorum in person. There have been  issues in the past with meeting the in-person quorum requirement. Isadora responded that she would commit that if she is unable to attend in-person, she would have an alternate attend in her place, so we don’t have a quorum issue. Her last question was on what committee Isadora Rodriguez-Legendre would like to join. Isadora Rodriguez-Legendre answered she is leaning towards the Advocacy Committee but which committee she joins depends on what makes sense for her schedule. Deborah Ritcey added that one would need to be appointed to the committee to vote on said committee. Appointments to a committee will affect the quorum of said committee. Randy Pierce asked what her response time would be. He noted how timely responses are important to making sure we either have a quorum or not. If we know we won’t have a quorum, we can raise the issue and plan accordingly. Isadora Rodriguez-Legendre responded that it depends on if she had council related activities, but she is quite responsive and doesn’t like it when people are waiting on her to push business forward. If she is notified that the issue is pressing, she will get in touch within a couple of days. Andrew Harmon asked what she would say to someone who is interested in the SILC. She responded that she would like to be a part of the council for a little longer before she can provide an elevator pitch to someone who is interested in the SILC. Jennifer Beaulieu asked how much the NHCDD (NH Council on Developmental Disabilities) knows about the NH SILC. She answered that the NHCDD has been involved in many groups that are SILC adjacent like GCD (Governor’s Commission on Disability), GSIL (Granite State Independent Living), and the SRC. She noted that the NHCDD is in a place now, with a lot of changes happening in the state, that it makes sense to be more collaborative and work together with other disability agencies to improve the system as a whole for everybody. It was noted that the NHCDD is a state agency. Carrie Dudley noted that with the last PPR (Program Performance Report), the council was asked why there weren’t any other state agency representatives. Isadora Rodriguez-Legendre mentioned that even through the NHCDD focuses mainly on developmental disabilities, they have other commitments such as creating spaces that welcome people with any kind of disability.  

Isadora Rodriguez-Legendre asked what the council feels has a negative impact for making systemic change. Carrie Dudley noted struggles with having enough members especially during COVID. Deborah Ritcey responded that the biggest challenge is that we are waiting on a SPIL that hasn’t been approved yet, but it’s also our biggest opportunity because the new SPIL requires a lot of work outside of council meetings. The September meeting will be about how we set up a schedule to achieves the objectives and goals of the SPIL. 

Jennifer Cook noted Isadora Rodriguez-Legendre can help us make sure members know how to write more formally.  

Carrie Dudley moved on to have Krystal Chase introduce herself. Krystal Chase noted that she is the Director of Programs and Services at BIA-NH (Brain Injury Association of NH) and has been working there for several years. Prior to her work for BIA-NH, she worked in inpatient medical hospitals, inpatient psych, and community mental health. She has been in the field for a total of 14 years. She is a LICS and has a Masters’ from UNH. Part of her work is to oversee BIA-NH’s ABD (Acquired Brain Disorder), DD (Developmental Disabilities), and CFI (Choices for Independence) waiver programs which serves around 700 individuals. She oversees the work of 17 to 18 case managers who support individuals on the waiver programs.  Most of her work focuses on service delivery and quality service coordination for individuals on the waivers. She helps with the other work of the BIA-NH such as with fundraising. She is also on the  Developmental Services Quality Council as well. She knows there was a question about the commitment to the SILC, but she has no problems attending in-person to the meetings. In her work with Erin Hall as her direct supervisor, she learned the many things that the SILC has been involved with. Erin Hall will be transitioning off the SILC and Krystal Chase will take her position as representative of BIA-NH. She noted that through she is taking the place of Erin Hall, she would still share Erin Hall’s thoughts and perspectives to the council. Jennifer Beaulieu mentioned that the reason for the transition is that Erin Hall’s second term will be ending in the Fall.

The floor was then opened for questions from the council. There were questions on how the transition would affect the contact person for BIA-NH for financial reports and the PPR. She responded that Erin Hall would still be the contact person as far as she knows. Andrew Harmon asked what her primary focus would be with the council’s work. Krystal Chase responded that it she would need to attend a few more meeting to get a sense of the work the council is doing. She noted that a lot of her work is centered around assisting people access services they need to live independently. Andrew Harmon then asked what she would like to see the SILC to attend to. Krystal Chase answered that she would like to know what the council worked on in the past, so she isn’t repeating the work the council have already done. She noted that on her application she wrote that she is passionate about access to mental health care as well as housing insecurity. Housing insecurity is something that a lot of her clients on the waiver programs deal with. Many of her clients on the CFI waiver are experiencing homelessness. She thinks it’s jarring that there aren’t many resources out there for those populations. Andrew Harmon mentioned that housing is a goal in the upcoming SPIL. Randy Pierce asked what her response time would be. Krystal Chase answered that she prides herself on getting back to people the same day or the next day. She noted that she is responsive to emails but it’s a little harder for her to make phone calls. Deborah Ritcey asked what committee she would like to join. Krystal Chase expressed interest in the Advocacy Committee but is flexible if there is need for her to be on any of the other committees. 

Deborah Ritcey asked for confirmation that the resume wasn’t included for Krystal Chase. Jennifer Beaulieu noted that some people don’t give their resumes. Deborah Ritcey noted that it should be a requirement. Discussion ensued. Krystal Chase will send her resume to the council members. 

Concerns were raised around the accessibility of Krystal Chase’s application. Carrie Dudley mentioned the importance of making sure the documents are accessible for everyone. 

Committee Updates,
Membership
Ryan Witterschein reported out for the Membership Committee. He noted that the committee were unable to meet last month and this month. He mentioned that he has been talking with the Bureau of Developmental Services and they are interested in potentially joining the council. 

Andrew Harmon was appointed to the Membership Committee.

Advocacy 
Randy Pierce reported out for the Advocacy Committee. He first noted that HB 1264 which concerns accessible voting for all elections, was signed into law.  One of the initiatives of the committee is to understand our connection to other disability-related organizations. The committee started reaching out to those organizations and will continue to do so in the coming year. The committee also discussed what aspects of the upcoming SPIL align with the goals of the committee. Lastly, he noted that if he becomes the chair of the council, he will need to step down from his position as Advocacy Committee chair. There are two individuals who are interested in chairing the committee. 

Governance
Deborah Ritcey reported out for the Governance Committee. She noted that the committee haven’t had any summer meetings, but they plan to start meeting again in September. The committee’s primary focus is on updating the governance documents and holding people accountable to the SPIL.  

Other 
Krystal Chase noted that she and Erin Hall will be giving a presentation in another state, so they won’t be attending the next Full SILC meeting. 

Adjournment 
The Council went into executive session at 2:21pm. Staff Support and Members of the Public were asked to leave the room. 

Minutes Recorded by Jennifer Beaulieu