MN HIV Services Planning Council
Meeting Minutes for October 8, 2002
Division of Indian Work

 

 

 

I.                  Welcome and introductions; lighting of the candle

Paul called the meeting to order at 12:35.  He began by lighting the candle and sharing that this is a new year and we have many new members.  He continued by saying there is an important mission that we try to accomplish through the work we do.  He lit the candle as a reminder of those we are here to work for.  Introductions were made.

 

II.Review the minutes and proposed agenda

Sarah moved Nick seconded approval of the minutes.  Dave Rompa inquired why the motion he made in the last meeting directing a discussion on the relationship between prioritization, allocations and the budget was not on this agenda.  Sarah Rybciki responded that in the meeting held on Oct. 1, those in attendance agreed to hold the discussion in the November Planning Council meeting to allow the grantee time to prepare the necessary information.  Dave was in accord with this plan.

 

III.   Open forum

David Bergquist expressed his concern over expenses covered by Every Penny Counts (EPC).  He would like to have a response as to why EPC does not cover garbage removal in Greater Minnesota.  This will be referred to the case manager, but in general, when a consumer has a question or grievance with a provider they should file the grievance there.

 

IV.             Co-chair update

Sarah shared information about a meeting regarding the prioritization process that was held on October 1^st.  This included discussion about the Minority AIDS Initiative (MAI) portions of funding that we receive and how that relates to the proposed budget that was presented at September’s meeting.  At the meeting it was decided to defer the discussion to the November 12^th meeting.  She requested that staff circulate the minutes from the October 1 meeting to all Planning Council members.  Bob asked for clarification of the discussion at the November 12^th meeting.  Sarah clarified that we will open up the discussion for the full Planning Council in November when all Planning Council members have had a chance to look at the MAI background information.  The discussion will include a history of the MAI funds and how they have been distributed in the past.  Sarah also asked that the MAI information be sent to members in advance of the meeting.  MOTION:  Dave R. moved David B. seconded that the minutes from the October 1^st meeting be distributed to all Planning Council members this week and requested that questions be addressed to the Grantees be given to Mary Doyle by November 1^st and that this discussion by tabled until the November 12^th meeting.  Megan amended the motion to add that the information distributed include any questions and comments that Planning Council members submit.  Passed unanimously.

 

Sarah then said that we hope to review unanimous consent when the new Rules for Order are developed and we will look toward using it in the future.

 

V.       “Out of Care” study review

          Juan Jackson and Becky Kroll, CLEAR

Juan presented an overview of the out of care study that he and Becky conducted this summer.  In working with the Needs Assessment committee they decided to look at individuals who hadn’t been in care for the last 12 months.  They also looked at other studies done – Oregon was one that they looked at.  Oregon found about 10% who are out of care.  The state department of health there doesn’t have name-based reporting.  We are different because we do have name-based reporting.  Tracy Sides told them they could access information about CD4 and viral load counts from statewide MD’s to MDH.  Because this information is reported every year it makes it much easier to estimate the numbers of those who are out of care.  There are some limitations to looking at the data this way.  For example, if a CD4 or viral load count is taken in November or December there may be a delay in getting the information to MDH.  Because of this they looked at a 15-month period of test results.  Tracy clarified that reporting of all detectable viral load counts is mandated but there is no mandate for CD4 count reporting.  HCMC, Allina Health Clinics and the Veterans Administration (VA) and possibly other small private MD offices do not report CD4 counts and viral load to MDH.  CLEAR was able to get the information from HCMC and the VA clinics on their patients.  They still have not gotten information from the Allina clinics.  Juan and Becky estimated the number for the Allina clinics and it was very close to the estimate made by MDH.  Juan described how the number in care was arrived at; it was subtracted form the total number of cases resulting in the number out of care, 1550 or 38%.  Juan continued a brief review of the findings concentrating on the reasons those interviewed gave for not entering care.  The final draft of the study report will be available in the future.

 

VI.             Linkage work group update

Nick Metcalf                        

Nick began by explaining the charge of the Linkages Work Group.  It is to identify overlaps in the systems of prevention and service.  Julie Hanson, Kevin Sitter and Nick Metcalf are the co-chairs.  Service providers were invited in to discuss their programs from both the prevention and service perspectives.  They have discussed counseling and testing, information and referral, health education, case management, etc.  Tomorrow’s meeting will be to discuss childcare, transportation, and interpretation.  Some of the many recommendations are to offer joint training for the Task Force and Planning Council develop a joint risk assessment for mental health, etc.  The work group has identified that outreach workers provide a lot of support to the system and need to be trained better.  This could be done jointly.  The system is also working towards ongoing points of entry to create a standardized referral system.

 

A joint RFP process for prevention and services is under consideration.  Next steps will be to meet in November and December, they will synthesize the information collected in January and Debra will be present a final report to the Planning Council.

 

VII.        Title II update

Jeff Buckles

Jeff gave the Title II report.  The carryover proposal has been submitted – the Title II amount is $102,693 and the ADAP carryover is approx. $1.5 million (accumulated over several years).  We have new staff at DHS – Michelle Sims is Case Management coordinator, Redwan Hamza is working with the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) grant and Brian Jorgenson is our new insurance specialist.  The application guidelines from HRSA are in early which will give us time to work on it.  The ORR grant is official now.  Unfortunately we did not get the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) grant that was submitted.  There are no local agencies that received the award.  Tim asked that any feedback on the SAMHSA grant given to DHS be distributed to the Planning Council.

 

Michelle announced an RFP for an access to care study.  It will be looking at the systems of care in Minnesota, case management, care advocacy and outreach.  Staff will also travel to other states to see how their systems of care are working.  This is a twelve-month award for $60,000 that is due on October 16^th.  Any further questions please call her at 651-582-1980 or email michelle.sims@state.mn.us.

 

VIII.    Task Force Report

Julie gave the report.  She is staff for the Task Force and is wearing that hat for this report.  The Task Force just completed the Prevention Comprehensive Plan.  She passed a copy around for people to look at and a form to fill in if members would like a copy of the Plan.

IX.          MHSPC Staff updates

Mary Doyle gave the update.  Staff will be assigning mentors for new members at the orientation on October 29^th. 

 

X.          Committee reports

 

A.             Operations Committee

 

Dave gave the report beginning with acknowledgements to Efren for helping shape a very productive meeting.  The committee reviewed their roles and responsibilities in the by-laws to determine their role and to help with developing a workplan for the year.  Their duties are archival responsibilities, recruiting and interviewing members, the election process and committee member assignments for new members.  Mary Dwyer will draft a workplan for the committee.

 

B.              Needs Assessment and Evaluation Committee

Sarah S. gave the report.  We spent much time going over the out of care report.  We also discussed using the Rapid Assessment Response E (RARE) method for assessments and using this in cooperation with other studies produced by CLEAR.  Needs Assessment and Evaluation Committee will convene a subcommittee to consider the RARE in more detail.  We also briefly discussed the upcoming comprehensive needs assessment.  Now is the time to get input into that process.

 

C.              Community Participation Committee

                  Communication plan

                  Deferred to next meeting.  Bob Tracy unable to attend.

 

MOTION:  Bob Olander moved, Debra seconded, that the Planning Council explore securing computers and a stipend for an internet service provider for all members who don’t have them in a convenient place by the December meeting.  Some discussion, passed unanimously.

 

MOTION:  Bob Olander moved, Megan seconded, that at every other meeting we devote thirty minutes for discussion on a substantive item, as determined by the Executive Committee, with feedback from members about content.  Passed unanimously.

 

MOTION:  Bob Olander moved, Efren seconded, that the Executive Committee of the Planning Council explores developing a legislative/advocacy role by December for the next legislative session beginning in January.  Much discussion continued.  Passed unanimously.

 

Charles asked if there is a way for the Planning Council to assess their impact on the community.  Becky Kroll of CLEAR said we have feedback about which populations the services reach, we have information on what consumers think about the services and and what outcomes they produce. If Charles’ question is about how we work as a group there is nothing that she knows of.  Megan suggested that is a topic that should be covered in one of our thirty minute discussions – what is our impact, what do we see going on in the community?

 

D.             HIV Positive Committee

Randy gave the report.  Today was his first day as co-chair.  We welcomed the new members and introduced ourselves to them.  Some members shared stories about how HIV has impacted their lives.  Mary Doyle gave a presentation about how the Planning Council Committees are structured.  We also discussed the workplan and what needs to be included.  The next meeting we are going to continue discussion of the workplan.

 

E.              Planning & Priorities Committee

Megan gave the report.  Our first meeting of the month was breakfast at Maria’s to celebrate finishing the prioritization process and we followed up with discussion about how the process went.  The second meeting included discussion about the workplan for the next two years including monitoring the objectives of the Comprehensive Plan.  We also discussed the role of the committee in terms of emerging issues.

 

XI.            Title I update – Meg Hargreaves

Meg handed out information including the carryover plan and initial information about the Minority AIDS Initiative (MAI) funding.  The rest of the staff sends their apologies for not being here – they are finalizing the grant that will be submitted tomorrow.

 

September 25^th was a third training on collaboration in a series and was very well reviewed.  The training covered facilitation and conflict resolution.

 

XII.          Meeting Evaluation, Announcements, next agenda

MOTION:  David B. moved Debra seconded adjournment of the meeting.  Passed unanimously.

 

Adjourned at 3:30 p.m.