SCLARC Self-Determination Local Advisory Committee Meeting

Meeting Minutes

May 11, 2016

  1. Call to Order

Terrence Payne, SDP Chair, initiated the Self-Determination Local Advisory Committee Meeting at 6:13 p.m. on May 11, 2016 at SCLARC’s Legacy Building, Room 432.

  1. Introductions/Roll Call

Mr. Payne initiated a roll call. The following were present:

Terrence Payne

Mary Melendrez

Cindy Chiu

Reuben Lee

Crystal Smith

Lillian Zazueta

Yvette Torres

Dr. Monique Watts

Chanika Clark

Ebony Montgomery

Ana Da Silva

Veronica Moser

Antwan Jones

Sherry Johnson

Marsha Mitchell-Bray

  1. Waiver Update

Mr. Payne requested that Ms. Chiufrom the State Council on Developmental Disabilities (SCDD)LA Regional Office update those present regarding the status of theHCBS Self-Determination Program (SDP) waiver. Ms. Chiu gave the following update:

1.The Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS)SDP under HCBS 1915 (c) Waiver is still pending, asa response to questions from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) from on December 11, 2015, is being drafted by a Statewide SDP workgroup with Department of Developmental Services (DDS) from the SCDD. The draft was expected to have been submitted by May 10, 2016, but it has since been postponed until this Friday, May 13th.The waiver is currently over 200 pages long. The goal is to formally submit the waiver to CMS by August 22, 2016.Ms. Chiu reminded those present that no additional funding will be provided to regional centers for the Self-Determination Program (SDP), hence the wait for SDP to be approved.

  1. Because the dual process between the state State Transition Plan (STP) and the SDP is very complex – considering SDP is self-operating but still very interrelated – SCDD is holding trainings in order to educate and prepare people for the new shift. Liz Harrell, an original staff member on ELARC’s Self-Determination pilot project, will be the speaker at the next training, which will take place on Saturday, June 25th from 10 a.m. to 12 noon in Torrance. Training flyer was provided.
  2. A Grant proposalsrequest from SCDD LA Office for Housing or Health and Safety- focused projectswasarepresently being accepted by SCDDshared. The deadline to apply for the up to $20,000 available RFP is May 31, 2016.
  3. Ms. Chiu invited committee members to remain up to date on SDP by visiting and The latter link allows viewers to, where anyone can track a state’s the waiver status from every state in the nation. She also shared the information regarding the next statewide SDP workgroup meeting which is scheduled from 10 AM on, and by joining the May 25th telephone conference from 10 a.m. to 12 noon by dialing 888-713-3595. No participant code will be required. The conference will have a call-in number for the public to call and listen.
  4. Ms. Chiu also suggested encouraged those present to sign up for the State Council’sSCDD LA Office E- newsletters by emailing to be updatedon upcoming events, Self-Determination law, etc.
  1. Feedback on Recent Events

Mrs. Mitchell-Bray stated that the service coordinators were very happy to have attended the Self-Determination Conference at California State University, Northridge. They learned a lot of new information. Mrs. Mitchell-Bray added that there are 4 upcoming Self-Determination trainings with the State CouncilSCDD LA Office (who have been very helpful); two will be held at SCLARC, and two will be held at LA Care.

  1. Review of New SDP Collateral Material

A new Self-Determination fact sheet mailer, based onState Council’sthe information developed by SCDD LA Regional Office, has been drafted. There is also a new, much simpler flyer as a result of feedback indicating that the Harbor Regional Center’s flyer was a bit confusing. Pending any corrections, the flyer can be included in mailings and distributed at fairs with a new picture each month. By the next committee meeting it can be mailed to the 107 families interested in SDP. The goal is to send monthly mailings to the families to keep them interested in the program. Mrs. Mitchell-Bray asked that any feedback or corrections be emailed to her and suggested that while there is no progress, we need to distribute informational documents to keep the public informed and interested. One suggestion is a one-pager about the SDP approval timeline. Mrs. Mitchell-Bray stressed the importance of being proactive rather than reactive and reiterated the need for trainings to take place prior to the approval of SDP.

  1. Discussion of Revised Meeting Times

Terrence Payne asked the group whether it would be feasible to move to a bimonthly or quarterly meeting schedule while there is no frequent activity—at least until the draft is submitted. Ms. Chiu responded that other regional centers meet monthly in order to keep the community engaged and promote brainstorming as there is a lot to do before the approval of SDP, saying they don’t want people to“just sit and wait.” Ms. Chiu went on to say we need to advise and be leaders in the community, and quarterly meetings are too infrequent. Although it’s ultimately up to committee members to decide, State Council wants to keep the meetings going. Mr. Payne agreed that no one wants to fall behind.

Mrs. Mitchell-Bray noted that in the last three meetings, only half of the committee members have attended and, as an alternative, suggested keeping everyone informed through email updates or informational packets in order to avoid burning out the committee members with meetings and long workdays. If those interested have questions or concerns between bimonthly meetings, they can always email Mr. Payne or any of the co-chairs. If meetings are less frequent, there will likely be better participation. Otherwise, we need suggestions for how to keep people engaged since membership is dwindling. Mr. Payne suggested suspending the next meeting until July.

Ms. Chiu stated that although she sees both sides of the issue, this concerns the public as well. Ms. Chiu went on to suggest holding public meetings with more notifications for the public to attend. She also stated that email exchanges don’t allow for committee members to voteoutside the meeting would be in violation of the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act.. Mrs. Mitchell-Bray recommended that both sides have a pool of committee members to be able to properly conduct business at meetings. Ms. Da Silva mentioned similar concerns regarding meeting attendance. Mrs. Mitchell-Bray suggested they come back to the issue later and keep next month’s meeting tentative for now, pending more information via email.

  1. Announcements
  1. Fiesta Educativa’s Annual Conference will be held on Friday, September 30, 2016 at California State University, Los Angeles. Because the topic for the conference is self-advocacy, more information will be disseminated to the committee electronically.
  2. USC UCEDD’s free webinar on Person-Centered Planning and Self-Determination presented by SCDD LA Office will take place on Thursday, May 26, 2016 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. SCLARC staff will be taking notes on the webinar in order to distribute them to those interested and unable to watch.
  3. The PAC will be scheduling trainings in Downey, the information for which should be distributed by committee members. All events will be scheduled on the SCLARC calendar. Mrs. Mitchell-Bray mentioned that there will be trainings regardless of the number of people in attendance. Ms. Chiu added that SCDD LA Office prefers to have groups of at least 11 people in attendance.
  1. Adjournment

Mr. Payne adjourned the meeting at 6:50 p.m. and advised committee members to check their email for an update regarding the scheduling of thenext meeting.