IASSW BOARD MINUTES
Date: February 7, 2015
Clarion Hotel, Joliet, IL
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The Board meeting was called to order at 9:11a.m. on February7, 2015 by Tom Tebbe, President.
Roll Call: Jill Clodfelter
Quorum: 24 Sonja Collins-Fordson
Welcome: Tom Tebbe
Approval of Minutes: Jill Clodfelter
Rhonda Harris made a motion to approve the minutes. PASSED
President’s Report: Tom Tebbe
An ad in support of SSWAA was placed in SSWAA 18th Annual Conference Brochure. The 2015 SSWAA Annual Conference will be held April 15-18, 2015 in Nashville, Tennessee. Tamara Butler and I plan to attend the conference.
Advocacy Day will be on April 14, 2015 in Springfield. IASSW plans to have a statement in the brochure in addition to having our logo on the folder for the day.
On December 11, 2014 I attended the second day of the Community Behavioral Health Association Conference. There was much discussion about the need for advocacy from a panel experienced legislative liaisons. Another session offered research and practice models about Trauma Informed Care. This was an interesting session professionally and I think we may have a presenter for conference.
NASW had questions about completing the ISBE application for CPDH units. I forwarded the questions to Sonja Collins Fordson. Later I developed a contact with Illinois School Psychologist Association. They have completed the form successfully, so I sent that contact information to NASW.
On January 17, 2015 met with Phil Koehl, Phil Milsk and Tamara Butler and representatives from school support personnel. Phil Koehl convened the meeting, so he will provide details of this successful first meeting. There will be a follow-up go to meeting with three of this group on February 27 to discuss a position paper on the coordination of services within schools.
I drafted and sent a letter to Tracey Parker to support her efforts to educate school administrators about the role of school social workers. I sent a copy to everyone.
The next Midwest School Social Work Council meeting will be March 6 – 8, 2015. Tamara, Mary Bragg and I plan to attend.
Vice President Report: Rise’ Davis
On February 7, 2015 we had a regional rep in Jolie, IL and 13 of 18 regions were represented. During this meeting Scott Carchedi graciously presented information on how to access and use IASSW google docs. This will be a way to access the forms needed to run a workshop, download membership forms, IASSW logo, etc.
We also discussed ideas for SSW week including:
-hat day with money going to a charity or fund for children
-notifying superintendents, SEA’s, administrators and the public
-adding our special week to bulletin boards, staff, calendars/news or parent newsletters
-party with cake and celebrations/gatherings
-trivia contest/coloring contests with students
-$5 for staff jeans day-money going to a charity
-articles in local papers
-goodies for teachers thanking them for their support
All regional reps were asked to contact their regions to recognize our members in our special week.
Several regions; 7, 10, 11, 3, 15, 16, 17 have had or are preparing to have regional workshops others are encouraged to start planning theirs.
Treasurer’s Report: Donna Johnson-Schroeder
See attached sheets.
Executive Director’s Report: Phil Koehl
I will be representing IASSW at the Illinois Association for Gifted Children (IAGC) Conference in Naperville onFebruary 8-10, at the IAASE Conference in Springfield onFebruary 18-20, and at the NAMI PIAT North Conference in Oak Park onMarch 21. Gary Shaffer has graciously agreed to represent IASSW at the NAMI PIAT South Conference in Edwardsville onApril 10-11. While I am available to attend this conference, I believe it much more cost effect to have Gary attend as he lives in the area. I will at attending our Social Work Advocacy Day in Springfield OnApril 13-14.
I continue to work with the Membership/Newsletter/Public Relations/Technology joint committee. This committee meets every Friday before our Board meetings and all are welcome to attend. Your input is appreciated. One of the goals this group is to organize webinars for our members. Our first webinar is ready to go and will be on Erin’s Law. I am working with the presenters on a series of webinars on this topic.
SandieKopels and I continue to talk about proposing some changes to the Social Work Licensing Act. I have talked with several staff members at IDFPR and they seem to be receptive to the changes we would like to propose. So far we have talked about proposing the following changes: 1) Anyone seeking an LCSW must have an LSW; 2) Any LSW/LCSW applicant who was convicted of a drug offense, may be approved if the conviction was 10 or more years prior; and 3) Adding ASWB’s new Code of Ethics related to Electronic Communications/Social Media to the standards that social workers are held.
Speaking of IDFPR, the Social Work Licensing and Disciplinary Board has expressed concern to IDFPR about the lengthy time it has been taking for disciplinary cases to get investigated and resolved. The Board is seeing cases from as early as 2011 just now being resolved. Since the Board’s expression of concern, there has been a marked increase in cases being brought before the Board.
As I reported last meeting, I have been busy organizing a coalition of student service personnel professional organizations for the purpose of increasing dialogue among the groups and to collaborate on legislative and other educational issues. We had our first meeting on Saturday, January 17th at Maggianos Restaurant in Schaumburg. Fortunately, we had representatives from all the target groups, i.e., school counselors, school psychologists, school nurses, and speech/language specialists. Tom, Phil Milsk, Tamara, and I represented IASSW. It was a very spirited discussion with overwhelming support for the idea of establishing this coalition. The group decided on the name, “Speaking for Children”, as we all thought that the opinions of children are often not heard in Springfield. Our next meeting is set forMay 9. In the meantime, each group’s Legislative Liaison will meeting to discuss coordinated efforts on bills and several representatives will be meeting to author a joint brochure about the different functions of each profession. It is the goal of the group to be proactive rather than reactive.
Legislative Liaison: Phil Milsk
I. Spring 2015 Session
We are at the very beginning of session.Things will heat up after the Governor's budget address onFebruary 18.March will be a very busy month. Legislators continue to file new bills. About 1500 house bills and about 800 Senate bills have been filed so far. Many are "shell" bills.Expect another 3,000-4,000 bills to be filed this year. The bill filing deadline isFebruary 27in both the House and Senate.The deadline for bills to advance out of committee in the first chamber isMarch 27.
Bills of note so far:
-SB 1(Manar): School Funding Reform
-SB 113(Murphy): School Choice Bill (vouchers for CPS students)
-HB 1360(Gabel): Requires charter schools to comply with the health and safety requirements that public school must follow
-HB 1481: Another school "choice" bill
-HB 1493: Requires school boards to provide anger management services for students
The House now has 3 Elementary and Secondary Education Committees:(1) Charter School Policy (2) School Curriculum and Policies and (3) Licensing Oversight. Chairs are McAsey, Golar and Mayfield respectively.Senate Education Committee remains the same as last session with Sen. Delgado as chair.
II.Budget
There is a $1.5 billion hole in this year's budget, due to the rollback of the income tax rates onJanuary 1st. Some programs and services will run out of money soon, including DHS-subsidized child care which was created in the last 1990s as part of welfare reform and allows many low income parents to work or participate in education or training.Other services shorted in the current year's budget include community mental health and developmental disabilities.
The Governor wants emergency budget authority to move dollars around. The General Assembly probably will not give that authority.
III.Governor's State of the State Speech on February 4
He did not say anything about pensions. The 2013 reform package under review by the IL Supreme Court and it sounds as though the legislature and Governor are willing to wait for a court ruling on the constitutionality of the 2013 package before they do something.
He talked a lot about business reform, especially worker's compensation and unemployment insurance. His proposal to raise the minimum wage to $10/hour, but over 7 years,was not well-received.
He did not say how he would address the current budget shortfall.As for taxes, he talked about expanding the sales tax to include services that are not currently covered, and about reform of the Illinois tax system.He did not say anything about the income tax rates.
He promised to increase school funding and to increase funding for early childhood education. (His wife is CEO of the Ounce of Prevention Fund). However, he did not say where the money will come from.In addition, he wants to address high property taxes in Illinois, but Illinois provides a substantial amount of its school funding through property taxes (I believe we are either the highest in the US or close to the highest in terms of the percentage of school funding that comes from local property taxes.)
IV.State Board of Education
Former IL State Senator Rev. James Meeks was nominated as the chair of the State Board of Education, and is currently Acting Chair pending Senate confirmation.His nomination is opposed by LGBT groups and others because he has made public comments against homosexuality. He is also pro-charter schools and pro-vouchers ("choice").
Chris Koch is still State Superintendent, but he is likely on his way out. We don't know how far down the dismissals at ISBE will go once a new Superintendent is named.
STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS______
Awards Michelle Washington
The updated awards nomination form has been posted to the website. Scott has also helped me by posting a call for nominations on all of our social media accounts. An email to the membership and administrator organizations will be sent in the next week or so.
Conference 2014 KeliSwierczek
Reviewing the expenses from the 2014 conference to determine a budget for the 2015 conference by May.
Conference 2015KeliSwierczek
Sheri Olson designed the Save the Date for conference, this was sent out in the School Social Work Weekmailer. The keynote will be Thursday morning and will be Dr. Patrick Anderson who wrote the Kid in the Purple Pants and is a superintendent in southern Illinois. Lynn Sloan has designed a schedule for the conference, there will be 12.5 CEU’s offered for the 2 day conference. Hospitality and Registration will be open Wednesday evening. There is currently not a local arrangements person, if there is someone interested please let the conference chairs know.
Conference Development SonaChalian
Nearly all presenters have been paid at this point. I am waiting on travel receipts from 1-2 presenters, as well as a purchase order to be processed so School District 202 can be reimbursed $26.00 for a presenter discount. I have given a November 18 deadline for presenters to submit travel receipts. Program expenses are at $10,145.45 as of today before these payouts.
CEU Evaluation results have been sent to all presenters with the exception of the keynote speaker. In reviewing these evaluations, determining a positive evaluation would be at least 50% of these attendees giving a rating of 5, or a vast majority of attendees giving ratings of 4 or 5, 83% of the workshops were given a positive evaluation. Top ratings were given to the following:
Billy Kaplan: Connecting the Disconnected
Larry Thompson: Difficult Students: Becoming a Master of Challenging Moments
Holmberg and Malcome: Becoming an anti-racist social worker
Carolyn Strong: Black Girls Blues: An Examination of Intra Racial Bullying
Dwayne Williams: Rethinking Teaching and Instruction Prior to Qualifying African-American Students for ED Services
Moller and Koehler: The Application of Third Wave Evidence-Based Interventions for Anxiety within Schools
Eileen Klemm: Check and Connect: A Comprehensive Student Engagement and Dropout Prevention Intervention
Jason Washburn/Denise Styer: Nonsuicidal Self-Injury
Jackie Rhew/Patrick McGrath: Assessment and Intervention Strategies for Children and Adolescents Struggling with School Anxiety and School Refusal
SandieKopels: FOID Clear and Present Danger Act
ItedalShalabi: Understanding and Working with Arab/Muslim Students and their Parents
Dr. Michael Feld: Psychiatric Medication update for Children and Adolescents
Ali Hearn: Managing Change: The Role of the School-Based Clinician in a Multi-Tiered System of Support
Many presenters replied thanking us for giving them such prompt feedback.
I have taken notes on suggestions for improving the process for next year’s conference and have comments/suggestions from attendees as well as possible workshop topics.
-Lynn Sloan
-Exhibits and Sponsors:
The conference went very well. All exhibitors indicated they would return next year except for two who only provide services in the Chicago area. Concerns were made about the drawing at lunch so next year vendors will be asked to note when the drawings will be held and whether or not participants must be present to win. Over $7700 was collected for advertising, sponsorships and exhibiting.
-RiséDavis
-Local Arrangements:
Things went remarkably well during the conference. The biggest issue was ventilation in the breakout sessions that were out of our control. Attendees and presenters were very patient while waiting for technology glitches. There were a number of needs with AV and technology during the event. I believe having the technology person available for these needs was invaluable. This is should be evaluated to get incorporated into the budget line item for AV annually.
-SonaChalian and Sheri Olsen
Continuing Education Sonja Collins-Fordson
Region 16 has been approved for Ethics and Drug Trends. The workshop will be held March 13 in Mt. Vernon.
While making preparations for a region 7 workshop, Victoria Rivera found out that we can offer CEUs to psychologists.
Region 7 has been approved for an upcoming workshop.
She also discovered that they only need 24 hours every two years and do not have ethics or diversity requirements.
We need to reapply to be a Professional Development provider through ISBE. The application needs Tom’s signature and then will be sent off to ISBE for approval. The website lists organizations that have been approved. There are 28 associations/organizations approved by the state superintendent so far.
Finance Ellie Zoerink
It’s that time again to prepare for the IASSW budget for next year. So all Board members, who oversee a budget line item for expenditures of income, we will be bringing to the February 7th Board Meeting a 2015-2016 Budget Request Form for each of you to complete regarding your next year’s budget. Please be thinking about the goals and needs of your committee or position. In preparation, please review the current financial report provided for our Feb 7th Board Meeting relevant to you expenditures and income to date. Also, please bring a copy of your current Financial Register(s) to attach to the Budget Request Form.
Thanks in advance for your assistance to the Finance committees efforts to development of an accurate and balanced budget for 2015-2016.
The Finance Committee is also pleased to present to the Boardon Saturday, the IASSW Financial Policies 2015, for approval. This has been e-mailed to the Board and we thank everyone for their time and input on this document. The Committee will provide written copies of the Financial Policies 2015 at the board meeting.
Job Clearinghouse Scott Carchedi
No report.
Journal SandieKopels
The journal committee is discussing putting the journal online. They met with Chuck Cowgerwho is an editor for a small journal who advised of some ideas to help with this difficult process. There will be an upfront cost that will need to be discussed in the future.
Legislative Report Michael Langendorf
The new Illinois Legislature, Governor and constitutional Officers were all installed. Governor Rauner has promised major changes in Illinois. We will participate in Advocacy Day on April 14th in Springfield. We will review the new Governor's plans at the Legislative Committee meeting on Friday night at 8:30.
The IASSW PAC fund has about $11,800. We will be working with Tom Tebbe and other board members on a presentation to help promote the services and skills that school social workers can provide to children and schools.
Member Relations Gail Groff
The School Social Work Week Mailer went out today (February 4th). The mailer will include a poster and a save the date for the conference. Unfortunately, the pen that was to be the gift would have added an extra 1,000 dollars to the cost of the mailer so it will be added to the giveaways at conference registration. The website will be updated with all of the inserts that used to be included in the mailer plus many other resources for members to download and use to celebrate the week. With the change in governor, the proclamation will hopefully be added to thewebsite as there was not time to get that to include in the mailer. As soon as it is sent to me, I will work with Scott to get it on-line. Thank you to Scott for adding his flair to the website and making School Social Work Week a focus. School Social Work Week isMarch 1-8th 2015. Proceeds from the Dee Yeck Foundation made the School Social Work Week Mailer possible.