Brain and Spinal Injury Trust Fund Commission

Regular Commission Meeting

June 27, 2013

Draft Minutes

Commissioners attending in person:

JD Frazier (JDF), Henry Craig (HC), Hank Fielding (HF), Lisa Dawson (LD) - (joined the meeting at 11:00 a.m.)

Commissioners attending via teleconference:

Jane Warnock (JW),Randy Owens (RO),Tim Wall (TW), Andrew Dennison (AD), Bob Bauer (BB), Cheryl Harris (CH).

Commissioners - Absent:

Gina Gelinas, Barbara Richards, Brian Dowd.

Staff:

Craig Young (CY),Leslie McNely(LPM), Dionna Littlejohn (DBL), Stephanie Lotti (SPL), Dionne Braxton (DB), Keisha Pighee (KP),Michelle Carter (MC), Kelley Mautz (KM), Eve Shapiro (ES) – intern.

Guests:

Dr. Vergena Clark

Chairman JD Frazier calls the meeting to order at 10:35 a.m.

JDF–A quorum 9 is present.Approval of the minutes of the previous Commission meeting is first on the agenda.

1. Motion: to approve the minutes of the meeting of May 25, 2013
Motion by: HC Second by: TW
Vote: Unanimous

JDF – The Executive committee did not meet due to lack of quorum.

CY – Dionne Braxton and I met with Governor’s staff to update them on the Distribution policy changes that go into effect on July 1, 2013. The meeting also touched on the lower levels of funding available for the Commission’s FY2014 budget and its impact on the number of applications that can be funded. I have requested a follow-up meeting with the Governor’s staff regarding the surcharge priority list and the declining funding via the surcharge.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Distribution committee:

Chairman Henry Craig – we have no please discuss applications this month. There are 28 applicants on the grid for grants worth $202,000. Staff has done an excellent job getting applications ready for approval. CY – an additional five applications were sent to DCA for home mods this month. There were five Shepherd Center pilot program applicants on the June grid.

A quorum of 9 Commissioners is established. There are no questions regarding the June grid.

2. Motion: Approve the June 2013 distribution grid as submitted
Motion by: Distribution committee Second by:AD
Vote: Approved unanimously

Advisorycommittee:

BB – The Advisory committee met on Monday June 24, 2013. Attendance was down somewhat from the previous meeting. Claire Creech reported on the Children and Youth committee activities. Kelley Mautz presented the TBI and SCI Task Force activities for the previous quarter. Craig Young reported on the Georgia Concussion Coalition along with Jane Jackson who also updated the committee on the activities of the Brain Injury Association of Georgia. BIAG is extending its activities to further support veterans in Georgia. Jane reports that BIAG will continue to provide I&R services to the state of Georgia (as the Commission was not able to fund their program in FY2014). BIAG has a new board chairman and is refocusing their fundraising efforts.

Eve Shapiro (the Commission’s Emory University intern) provided a summary of the Emory University MPH student project needs assessment of children who are eligible or are applicants of the Commission. Eve has also produced a number of infographics for the Commission that provides information on the application process, costs of injury, fact sheets and resource utilization.

Craig Young gave an update on the Commission and the upcoming changes within the new distribution policies. Kelley Mautz updated the State Action Plan committee goals for FY2014. Craig and Kelley both discussed the future funding of the State Action Plan coordinator position which is expiring in September. In order to streamline the administration of these committees the decision is to have the TBI and SCI Task Forces serve as ad-hoc task forces. Committee members that have shown continued active leadership and participation will be invited to serve on the Advisory committee. Kelley gave an update on the applicant post-survey outcome questionnaire.

Executive Director’s Report:

CY – I have discussed dates with CHOA leadership for the application intake pilot at their location. We have some scheduling conflicts to work out.

The new home modification agreement/contract with DCA needs to be finalized. After discussions with staff and Ron at DCA we believe that the cap for home mods should go back up to $15,000 as we did under the old lifetime cap of $15,000.

I also recommend that instead of allocating 15% of the distribution budget for home mods we put them on equal footing with the other applicants and let the number of applications “float” or open-ended in terms of potential number of applicants and number of dollars. This could mean that we fund many more home mods than in the past. HC – I think this change in the contract needs to be looked at more closely for its impact on the rest of the distribution budget. A fifteen minute discussion ensued. JDF – we will look at the DCA contract and the two contract modifications (above) at the next Executive committee meeting in July.

RSC had two-half day training for staff for the new web site. Executive staff was shown how to make edits to the new web site, create new pages, articles, etc.

Shannon McGhee is resigning from the Attorney General’s office to accept a position with the Georgia Board of Regents. Until another attorney is appointed Denise Whiting-Pack will be providing legal counsel to the Commission. JDF – let’s send Shannon a letter of appreciation.

Central Registry calls have been heavy and Stephanie is looking at ways we might mitigate unnecessary calls.

The Commission offices will be closed on Thursday July 4th for the holiday.

Finance/Budget:

LPM – Estimated June collections have put us in the $1.55 million range for this years’ surcharge collections . This figure will be the base budget for our FY2015 budget.

State Action Plan:

KM –Mimi Gold and I presented at a conference of 671 special education teachers in June. SAP committees have been selecting their committee goals for FY2014.

New business:

JDF – I want to thank Michelle Carter for her service to the Commission as a member of the application team. CY – Thanks to our staff for the hard work they have done in June. JDF – I will not be able to attend the July Commission meeting. Cheryl Harris, Vice Chairman will preside.

Motion to adjourn meeting at 11:58 a.m. by (HC) approved without objection.

Next meeting will be on Thursday July 25, 2013 at 10:30 a.m. at the Commission offices – 2 Peachtree St NW Ste 26-121Atlanta, GA30303

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Minutes taken by: CY

Minutes approved on: