HCRS JOINT STANDING COMMITTEE MEETING
MINUTES
Springfield, Vermont
December 10, 2013
Present: HCRS Staff: George Karabakakis (Facilitator), Will Shakespeare, Steve Klein, Bill Metcalfe,Sue Hennessey, and Karen Aldrich Client/Community Representation: Barbara G., Aaron G., Angelea G., Crissy C., Sherry L., Grace Z., Katie B., William V., and Sherry H.
Present by Video Conferencing: BrattleboroElm – Lori Lintner, Julie Kelly, Ashely B., Mike B., Caroline M., and Annie C. BrattleboroFairview – Tony Parmenter, Kirk B., and Kelley M.
Karen Aldrich, Recorder
Welcome: At 12:00 PM, George Karabakakis welcomedeveryone to the meeting. Introductions were made including those participating via video conferencing.
Joint Standing Committee Minutes: The September 10, 2013Joint Standing Committee Meeting were approved previously at the individual Local Standing Committee meetings. These minutes have been posted to the HCRS Internet Site.The Internet website is:
Update on Agency Changes: George Karabakakis spoke about Judith Hayward’s retirement as CEO and as of January 1, 2014 George will be taking on that position. Judith’s official retirement will be at the end of June so she will be working closely with George during this transition time.
Board Members on Individual Committees: The Board Members for each committee were reviewed.
DS Standing Committee:Irene Burtis
Adult Standing Committee:Carlotta Gladding and Ginny Jenks
Children’s Standing Committee:Sarah Carter and Greg Kennedy
COMMITTEE UPDATES:
DS Standing Committee: Lori talked about the committee meeting and they discussed community services. The group looked at community supports and what is important to the group. Lori also mentioned that at their next meeting they will be work on a group mission statement.
A group of clients, mostly from BellowsFalls, went to Killington for the 20th anniversary of the closing of the BrandonTraining School. It was a great event and gave an opportunity for friends to reconnect.
Bill brought up that Lori has been taking a group up to the State Standing Committee which has been great to see the participation.
DS had a cut in funding of $207,000.00 that needed to be reviewed and budget adjusted. He reports that this was able to do without affecting client services. The increase in services that were planned for some clients could not happen. Bill will be doing a letter to families that this adjustment has been made and will include the appeal. Bill stated that over the past few years there has been a total of $13 million dollars cut from DS services and we have tried to minimize the impact on client services as much as possible.
Bill went over the system of care and how every 3 years it needs to be reviewed. There are a host of questions asked about services – what is working, what is not and what could be better, how to sustain in a time of needing to cut budgets. Bill did want to note the collaboration with other programs on gathering this information.
Special Olympics soccer won a silver metal. Any one interested in volunteering for upcoming events please contact Bill Metcalf.
Adult Standing Committee: Barbara (chair) not in today. Steve spoke for the group. The Adult standing committee has been trying to increase membership. There have been some new members from Brattleboro.
The group has been concerned about people going into the emergency rooms and having to wait a very long time before an inpatient bed can open. They have discussed options such as support by peer counseling to help during the wait period. Barbara wrote a letter to the Commissioner of Mental Health expressing concern about the wait times. The Commissioner wrote back stating that they are working on ways to try to help alleviate this problem.
George stated that he will be attending a meeting at BrattleboroMemorialHospital regarding wait time in the emergency rooms. The issue at hand is that there are not enough inpatient hospital beds. The State is looking into other alternatives and will be expanding bed availability by July of 2014.
Some questions followed: Q: Will the WindhamCenter get more beds? George stated that WindhamCenter is part of Springfield Medical Care System and because it is a critical access hospital there are restrictions on how many beds they can have and 10 is the limit. WindhamCenter is currently at the 10 bed limit. Q: Have theCrisis Care Centers helped with this issue at all? The Crisis Care Centers have been making a difference for anyone going inpatient. A closer connection to the hospital would help in many ways. Q: Would Obama care help with this at all? No one is sure how this might affect the emergency room wait time.
Angelea said she saw a posting on the Springfield Police Department’s Facebook page regarding the waiting time in the emergency rooms and that it is not only affecting the hospital but also the Sheriff’s Department as they have to have coverage during the time a person is in the emergency room. So it is actually costing the State more than if there were more beds available.
HCRS is trying to develop a plan for more family involvement. Resources to help make that happen could be NAMI, Morgan Brown, or Ann Donahue from Counterpoint.
Sherry reported that the art program is going very well and that there are a couple of new people starting. Because the floral arranging is such a popular activity they will be scheduling another session soon, again with the help of Woodbury Florist. Art supplies have just been picked up. There is a clay sculpting project in the works and Sherry will follow up with Steve on this.
Children’s Standing Committee: This group has elected new officers. Aaron G. has been the Committee Chair and the new Committee Chair is now Crissy C. The group also worked on better defining membership to this committee.
The group has completed it’s 3rd year from the system of care plan and is now moving towards a new plan. The January meeting will be review and how to frame the new plan. Will stated that during the 3 year period HCRS has started the First Stop program which is a central point for children’s intakes to come through and Operation Kids which is a collaboration with DS and having First Stop be the initial point of entry for any child.
Family stress moments happen at any time. When the office is not open there needs to be a way for de-escalation of a behavioral issue vs. hospitalization. DS has the SAFE Team on call and Will has worked with the State to shift some funding around to be able to buy some of the SAFE Team time for these types of situations. The structure of how this is going to look is currently being worked on.
All the areas are back up to staff for doctors: 2 new part-time doctors in Hartford, Dr. Reed and Dr. McCormick; Dr. Biesheuvel in Springfield and Dr. Boutin in Brattleboro.
Other: George wanted to make note that the Legislature goes back into session in January. Legislative breakfasts will be starting again as well and this will be a great opportunity to put out what the needs are. The Legislators want to hear about what can make a different to people.
Next meeting: The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 11, 2014 at 12:00 PM. Lunch will be provided.
Minutes by Karen Aldrich, Recorder
1