MN HIV Services Planning Council Meeting

February 14, 2006

9:00 am to 12:00 noon (or earlier)

Redeemer Missionary Baptist Church

116 East 32nd St, Minneapolis

Minutes

 

Council Members Present:

 

Randy Hornstine

Dean Halland

Dan Chapouch

LeMonte Graham

Antonio Marante

Lee Lewis
Bob Hansen

Pat Kramme

Jim Lawser

Ama Sabah

Gwen Velez

Susanne Pfeil

Gary Novotny

John Cyzon

Sarah Senseman

Rae Eden Frank

Paul Eknes-Tucker

Francis Mark

Aaron Keith Stewart

Ephraim Olani

Andy Ansell

Eric Meininger

 

 

 

 

Council Members Absent:

 

Lois Crenshaw (LOA)

Gilbert Achay (Unexcused)

Ron Schut (Excused)

Willie Wesley (Unexcused)

 

 

Consultant:

 

Becky Kroll

 

 

 

Guests:

 

Luisa Pessoa-Brando

Oju Olagbaju

 

 

G-HAT:

 

Jonathan Hanft

Julie Hanson Perez

Dave Rompa

Eduardo Parra

Redwan Hamza

 

 

 


Staff:

 

Lori Lippert

Wendi Kistner

 

I.          Welcome and introductions; lighting of the candle                                       

The meeting was called to order at 9:00am.  Gary lit the candle for his mother and for all mothers who have been supportive of their children.

 

II.         Review the minutes and proposed agenda                                                   

Ama Sabah was in attendance at last meeting. Minutes, with attendance edit, were accepted by unanimous consent.  Agenda was accepted by unanimous consent.

 

III.       Open Forum    

            No items                                                                       

 

IV.        Co-chairs Update, Andy Ansell and Aaron Keith Stewart                                                     

            Andy Ansell gave a report on his recent lobbying trip to Washington D.C. regarding health care appropriations.  He reported that MN Senator Norm Coleman was considered a swing voter in the effort to stop Medicaid/Medicare spending cuts but ended up voting for the bill.  Andy urged Council members to remain vigilant and active on these issues.

This was the final meeting for retiring Council members Randy Hornstine and Paul Eknes-Tucker. The Council recognized and thanked them for their contributions.

Co-chairs are working with Title I grantee on filling Planning Council Coordinator position.  This hiring process will be the first test to see how the new MOU works.  Andy and Aaron are confident on the process for hiring.

 

V.         Staff Update, Lori Lippert                                                                                                      

            Wendi Kistner has been hired to fill the Administrative Specialist position previously held by Mary Dwyer. 

            Lee Lewis is Chair of the Housing Coalition and invited Lori to come to a meeting last month.  Lori attending this meeting and gave an overview of the Planning Council.  They are interested in keeping in communication with the Council.  Lori recommends that the Planning Council co-chairs, CCHAP, and the leaders of the Housing Coalition meet three times per year.  No vote was taken but general agreement with this idea was expressed by Council members.

            At each meeting there will be a sign-in sheet.  Sign in so PC staff can keep accurate records.          

                                               

VI.        Committee written reports                            

A.         Please refer to written reports for CVC and Needs Assessment & Evaluation.

B.          Operations Committee, Jim Lawser, committee co-chair

·         Council Member Election – Committee reported on its nomination process.  In order to maintain representativeness, only one new member is being nominated.  There were not enough applicants that met Council’s representation needs.  Jim reminded members that PC by-laws were recently amended to allow term limits to be suspended for members who represent other CARE Act Titles (which have required representation on the Council) if no other candidates are available.  Thus Sarah Senseman was nominated, even though this would be her third term.  Election was held and Oju Olagbaju and Sarah Senseman were elected.

·         A brief plea for recruiting new candidates for the September election was made.  A handout regarding HRSA’s rules regarding representation has been included in today’s packet.  Thirty-three percent of Council members need to be “unaligned consumers”. 

C.          Planning and Priorities Committee

1.      Prioritization and Allocation (P&A) Kick-Off! – This month marks the beginning of the training process for prioritization and allocation. 

a)      Overview of P&A responsibilities

·         Legislative requirements – (Jonathan & Lori) Six factors need to be considered in prioritization: size and demographics of the epidemic; cost and outcome effectiveness of each service; priorities of the community; coordination between services; availability of other governmental and nongovernmental resources; and, capacity development needs resulting from disparities.  The prioritization and allocation process is a legal responsibility and it is very important to follow this process because we are held liable for this process.

·         How this activity fits in with the whole of Council responsibilities – (Andy) Andy reviewed overview of all Council responsibilities. 

·         Explanation of MAI funds – (Aaron Keith) MAI stands for Minority AIDS Initiative.  This is money within the Title I and Title II grants that is set-aside to go to agencies that serve the needs of minority communities.  Aaron Keith explained the difference between MAI and “culturally appropriate” service categories (which is a Minnesota method of ensuring that funds will go to services that are culturally appropriate).  He gave a history of MAI and CA expenditures.  In the upcoming prioritization process we will be following the same process that was followed two years ago.

Q:  Are MAI funds separate from the total funds we get?

A:  It is part of the total grant, but it is a “set-aside” which means it can only got to ‘MAI eligible’ services.. 

Q:  Will the Council prioritize them at the same time? 

A:  Yes, there will be a separate prioritization sheet for MAI funds and a separate allocation process held on the same day as the rest of the allocations.

Q:  How is the MAI amount determined?

A:   It’s based on a formula by Congress.   MAI funds are only 6% of the total award amount, but it is not the only money that the Council allocates to services for people of color.

Q:   What is meant by saying the agencies that are minority-operated get “special consideration” for MAI funding.

A:  Congress did not make it a strict requirement that MAI funds go to minority-operated services, but strongly encourages it.  In Minnesota extra points are given to proposals that come from minority-operated services.

Q:  Is MAI is specifically for African Americans? 

A:  No, the MAI is for all communities of color.  Our own needs assessments in Minnesota have led the Council to identify populations of especially high need, including in recent years identifying the special needs of African-born. 

Q:  Why aren’t Native Americans included in the list of funded services?

A:  The providers on the list came through the granting process.  It could be that providers that serve Native Americans did apply or they applied and were not selected.  Also, those agencies that got MAI funds are not the only agencies that got funding.  There are programs that provide services to Native Americans that get CARE Act funding but they may not receive MAI funds. Remember, MAI funds support only a fraction of the services in Minnesota that are culturally appropriate, or that serve people of color.

Q:  How are the target populations determined?

A:   The Needs Assessment and Evaluation committee determines which populations will be target in the granting process.

 

b)      Introduction to P&A process

·         Process from here to August – (Dan Capouch) Dan reviewed the entire P&A process.  In August there will be two Planning Council meetings to do allocations:  August 8th, 8:30-4:30, and August 9th 8:30 to noon.  We are doing it this way because two years ago Council members felt one day wasn’t enough time. 

·         How we do P&A (practice sheets) – (Paul) Prioritization and allocation are two different processes and there are different focuses for each.  The focus for prioritization is which services are most important (don’t think about the budget, just the relative importance of each service).  The focus of allocation is how much money should be distributed to each service.  Prioritization forms will be handed out after the June Planning Council meeting and everyone will have two weeks to get them back to the Planning Council staff.  Results will be shared at the July Planning Council meeting. Then at the August Planning Council meeting we will focus on the allocation of funds.  It is important to remember that the ranking on the list does automatically determine the level of funding for a service.  (It doesn’t mean that the top rankers get the most money.)  The money a service area receives is based on how much money it takes to provide the service, if there are other sources of funding for the service, etc. 

·         ACTION ITEMS

·         ACTION ITEM: Approval of Allocations Process (Francis) – Planning & Priorities committee developed this process for doing allocations (very similar to the process two years ago).  The Executive committee recommends approval of this item.  Approved by unanimous consent

·         ACTION ITEM: Approval of Budget Principles and Criteria (Francis) – Planning & Priorities committee developed these principles/criteria for doing allocations (very similar to those used two years ago). These are the guidelines that the Council will follow in making allocations decisions.  The biggest change from two years ago is the 2% funding increase to all services across the board.  There have been no cost-of-living or inflationary increases to providers in the last three years.  The Executive committee recommends approval of this item.  Approved by unanimous consent.

·         ACTION ITEM: Approval of list of MAI eligible service areas – (Francis) Planning & Priorities committee developed this list of services that will be eligible for MAI funding (one item out of the list of five is changed from two years ago). Health insurance counseling has been removed from the list because in the past is it wasn’t being utilized.  Health Education and Risk Reduction has been added as a replacement.  The Executive committees recommends approval of this item.  Approved by unanimous consent.

 

VII.      Epidemiology Training, Luisa Pessoa-Brando, MDH

            2004 data is what is being presented on.  2005 data will be available in June.  Presentation handouts will be given at the next Planning Council meeting.               

 

VIII.     Title I Update, Jonathan Hanft, Hennepin County                                                                 

o        Staffing Update – Jonathan gave update on progress of interviews and invited members to hear presentations by the finalist candidate(s).

o        Notice of Grant Award Delayed – We don’t expect to see the grant award funds until after the fiscal year ends in March.

o        Technical Assistance Update – HRSA denied our request for TA.  Jonathan is going to appeal. 

o        Expenditure Report (3rd quarter) – Totals include carryover funding which is usually spent during the last few months of the year.  Someone asked for clarification on the mental health funding.  Virtually no funds have been spent but there appear to be billing difficulties.  DHS and HC are working on straightening out billing and access problems.  There will be trainings for providers. 

o        Upcoming trainings – Quality Management Training for Providers: Part 4, Feb 17th 8:30 – noon at the Harriet Tubman Alliance.  Please contact Diane Knust for more information.  This is the final meeting.

 

IX.               Title II and ADAP update, Dave Rompa, MN Dept of Human Services

The Title II representatives left the Planning Council meeting early because of a previous engagement.  No update on Title II and ADAP was given.

 

X.                  Announcements, evaluation, next agenda

·         Discussion of meeting space.  RMBC has decided to raise their rates from $50 to $200 per session.  Planning Council staff have been looking at other spaces that meet our needs.  Please pay close attention to the next meeting notice as the location may change.

·         Ama has asked that all supplemental materials be emailed to Planning Council members after the meeting so members don’t need to keep paper copies of the extra handouts.

 

Meeting adjourned at 11:59

 

Meeting Summary:

·         Randy Hornstine and Paul Eknes-Tucker attended their final Planning Council meeting today.

·         Wendi Kistner was hired to fill the Administrative Specialist position for the Planning Council.

·         Oju Olagbaju was voted on as a Planning Council member.  Sarah Senseman will continue as a Planning Council Member for another year.

·         ACTION ITEM: The allocation process was approved.

·         ACTION ITEM: The budget principles and criteria was approved.

·         ACTION ITEM: The list of MAI eligible service areas was approved.

·         The final two or three candidates for the Planning Council Coordinator will give a presentation at the next Executive Committee meeting.  Any Planning Council member who is interested in attending can do so.

 

Documents distributed at or before the meeting:

·         Agenda

·         Minutes from January 11, 2006 Planning Council meeting

·         Background on Minority AIDS Initiative

·         Meeting summaries for CVC and Needs Assessment committee meetings

·         Action items for 2006 allocation process; 2006 MAI funding services; and 2006 requirements, values and criteria to guide prioritization and allocations process

·         MAI funding 1999-2005

·         Service activities funded with MAI money

·         2002-2005 allocations

·         Prioritization and allocation process guide

·         Proposed allocations process

·         MN HIV Planning Council duties

·         Forced choice sheet

·         Action item for member election and member reappointment

·         Personal statement of nominated candidate

·         Appointment ballot

·         Prioritization and allocation plan from here to August

·         3rd Quarter financial report

·         Title I requirements for priority setting and resource allocation

·         Title I update

·         Priority setting and resource allocation (six things to consider)

 

Planning Council office 612-596.7894, or toll-free 888-638-3224 – web address is www.mnhivplanningcouncil.org

MDH’s website address for Epi data is www.health.state.mn.us/divs/idepc/diseases/hiv/index.html or call 612-676-5414

 

WK