Agenda

Virginia APBS Network Executive Steering Committee

4/29/2015

1-3

**Update version with minutes

Executive Steering Committee Members present: Jennifer Diehl, Daphne Weaver, Laura Sabados, Richard Kriner, Justin Creech, Peter Whang and VJ Petillo. Molly Dellinger-Wray and Darcy Creech from the VCU Partnership were also present.

  1. Review minutesThe minutes from the last meeting were approved by those present. VJ shared that he read the minutes and liked the mission and vision statements developed.
  1. Homework review if applicable/phone call update with Matt Enyart (Director of Kansas PBS) on 3/23/15
  • Molly requested to add an agenda item: She shared that she is exploring the idea of providing PBSF’s instruction/training on the topic of group facilitation. She met with a VCU instructor who has provided the training to DARS in the past. Richard expressed that those present found the training helpful. Molly identified wanting to offer this training as part of future PBS Facilitator Training courses; however, the fee for the training is $3500! All present felt that this was quite expensive. Those present also discussed offering the training to existing PBSF’s and having them pay to attend to defer the cost of the training itself. It was then agreed by all to defer any decision at this time. Sending out a survey monkey to PBSF’s and/or consulting with the CEA committee about their thoughts/ideas will help gather additional information about if/how to move forward.
  • Justin and Molly talked with Matt Enyart from Kansas about their PBS project. (Reference Justin’s previous email sent with more detailed, comprehensive information garnered from the call). Justin pointed out that Kansas has a different funding stream than we do in Virginia. They have had difficulty with billing in the last 1 ½ years and have been unable to bill. As a result, many of their facilitators have stopped practicing.
  • Justin then identified variations between our project and that of Kansas. They have paid mentors but their mentors actually go out into the field with their PBS candidates. They are considered contract employees and have signed agreements detailing their roles/duties as mentors.
  • The Kansas board has a lot of governance over their PBSF’s.
  • Our application process is more vigorous than Kansas’s.
  • Kansas has similar attrition problems in that not all of those that go through their training actually complete the process and become endorsed.
  • The group then discussed the overall processes of endorsement and mentoring at length. Barriers to the processes in Virginia were identified as: the amount of support that PBSF candidates do/do not get within their agencies; the impact of DBDHS and DOJ settlement on our practice; funding stream issues.
  • Justin summarized that he would love to see Virginia’s PBS project draw from Kansas’s model but that it will take “baby steps” to get there.
  • Molly shared that she was able to talk to Charlotte Hayes of the WVA PBS project. She reported that they are still in the process of organizing their project with hopes of getting up and running by June 2015. She added that they have all of their forms, etc developed but that they are not yet in use. Lastly, she indicated that WVA is spending a lot of time on their scoring sheet for the Endorsement Board process.
  • All present agreed that this steering committee finds it important to facilitate and maintain relationships with both the Kansas and WVA PBS projects.
  • Darcy shared that she has completed the sign-ups for each sub-committee. Each committee chair(s) agreed to link with those on their committee for initial contact and begin working on their projects.
  1. Initial subcommittee updates
  1. Training and Curriculum-Darcy shared that there was a lot of interest in this sub-committee.
  2. Justin has sent out the sub-committee’s Action Plan. Justin, Carol Schall and Molly will be meeting in the coming week to further explore the curriculum and to identify any changes/improvements.
  3. Molly expressed a desire to enhance the link between PBSF training and mentoring. She requested to have a meeting with current mentors and endorsement board members in the fall 2015 to further discuss this issue.
  4. Endorsement Board-Jennifer reported that she is continuing to research how Kansas and WVA PBS projects conduct their endorsement processes. She will meet with her committee and develop an Action Plan. She is also noted that she believes that the Ethics sub-committee takes priority at this time. The sub-committee was in support of this.
  5. Ethics-Jennifer and Daphne agreed that they will develop an Action Plan for this sub-committee. The initial focus item would involve sub-committee members to read the existing ethical codes for various related disciplines. The sub-committee will then convene and discuss their findings.
  6. Best Practices-Peter and VJ have reviewed the APBS Standards of practice and found this to be a good jumping off point for developing our own. They felt it was a comprehensive resource and speaks to much of what we do.
  1. Both explained that they want our standards to be of good quality: for PBSF's to be clear about what we do and for others to know what to expect from us.
  2. They also want to establish increased uniformity and accountability in PBS practice. They shared ideas of how to accomplish this: ie, PBSF's mentoring one another, a possible peer review process. This will be discussed in their committee.
  3. It was mentioned during the group discussion that best practices would also want to address the requirements and expectations for paperwork and for the structure of PBS plans. Molly added that she already plans on sending out the "Essential Elements of a PBS plan" to current PBSF's. Peter and VJ agreed to review this document prior to doing so and to get feedback to Molly by June 1.
  4. CEA- Laura plans on linking with her committee after today's meeting. She will focus initially on CEA's and then turn to other relevant topics later on in their work together.
  1. Molly clarified that we will be using CEA's versus CEU's.
  2. It was discussed that it might be helpful to link the PBS class syllabus with CEA's to identify relevant educational topics that will count towards CEA's.
  1. Exec committee rules/guidelines discussion (voting, term, attendance, etc.) This item will be tabled until the next meeting. However, it will be our first agenda item that day. Peter has sent the group a copy of the Human Rights Bylaws for our review.
  1. Review action plan and make any necessary changes-This item was tabled until the next meeting.
  1. Plan for disseminating minutes/updates to PBSF’s-All present agreed that the agenda and minutes from each Executive Steering committee meeting will be posted on the PBS website after approval of the committee.
  1. Closing
  2. Date/time of next meeting-The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 2 from 10:00am-12:00pm at the DARS office on 8004 Franklin Farms Drive in Richmond.