Chambana Sun

Champaign County Board for the Care & Treatment of Persons with a Developmental Disability met June 23.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

MEMBERS PRESENT: Gail Kennedy, Anne Robin, Deb Ruesch, Sue Suter, Georgiana Schuster

STAFF PRESENT: Kim Bowdry, Leon Bryson, Lynn Canfield, Stephanie Howard Gallo, Shandra Summerville, Chris Wilson

OTHERS PRESENT: Josh Cornwell, Patty Walters, Greg Schroeder, Danielle Matthews, Laura Bennett, Annette Becherer, DSC; Becca Obuchowski, Hannah Sheets, Community Choices; Mel Liong, PACE; Elise Belknap, Head Start; Katie Harmon, Regional Planning Commission

Dr. Robin called the meeting to order at 9:01 a.m.

ROLL CALL:

Roll call was taken and a quorum was present. Executive Director Canfield was present at the Brookens Administrative Center per the Open Meetings Act.

ZOOM INSTRUCTIONS:

Instructions were included in the packet.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA:

The agenda was in the packet for review. The agenda was approved unanimously by a roll call vote.

CITIZEN INPUT/AGENCY INFORMATION:

None.

PRESIDENT’S COMMENTS:

Dr. Robin thanked staff for all of their work.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S COMMENTS:

Ms. Canfield reviewed the agenda. She reviewed state wage increases.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

Minutes from the 05/19/21 board meeting were included in the packet.

MOTION: Ms. Ruesch moved to approve the minutes from the May 19, 2021 meeting. Ms. Suter seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously.

EXPENDITURE LIST:

An “Expenditure Approval List” was included in the packet.

MOTION: Ms. Schuster moved to accept the Expenditure

Approval List as presented in the packet. Ms. Ruesch seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously.

NEW BUSINESS:

DRAFT Fiscal Year (Calendar Year) 2022 Budgets:

A Decision Memorandum, proposed 2022 budgets for the MHB, DDB, and CILA funds, and background information on each, were included for review and approval.

MOTION: Ms. Suter moved to approve the 2022 CCDDB Budget, with anticipated revenues and expenditures of $4,511,506. Ms. Schuster seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously.

MOTION: Dr. Kennedy moved to approve the 2022 CILA Fund Budget, with anticipated revenues and expenditures of $67,000. Payment to this fund is consistent with the terms of the Intergovernmental Agreement between the CCDDB and CCMHB and full approval is contingent on CCMHB action.

Ms. Ruesch seconded. A roll call vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously.

Updated Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) with United Way:

The packet contained a Decision Memorandum and revised MOU with the United Way of Champaign County and the CCDDB for continuation of funding for 211 Information and Referral Services. Ms. Schuster requested some history on 211 and Ms. Canfield provided it.

MOTION: Ms. Ruesch moved to approve the Draft Memorandum of Understanding with United Way of Champaign County and the CCMHB and the CCDDB: 2-1-1 Information and Referral Services contingent on approval by the CCMHB. Dr. Kennedy seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously.

Revised CCDDB By-Laws:

Included for review and approval was a Decision Memorandum and DRAFT of proposed revisions to the Board’s By-Laws. For reference, the packet also contained the full texts of the Illinois Community Care for Persons with Developmental Disabilities Act, Illinois Open Meetings Act, and the Champaign County Code of Ethics.

MOTION: Ms. Ruesch moved to approve the draft of revised CCDDB By-Laws. Upon approval, strikethroughs, highlights, and bracketed comments will be removed from the final version. Ms. Suter seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously.

Staff Recommendations on CILA Facilities Project:

A Decision Memorandum was included in the packet. During 2014, the CCMHB and CCDDB established a shared CILA Facilities Project in order to develop additional small group home capacity for persons with Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities, within the County.

This local project was a response to parent advocates’ coordinated message and request. A growing number of people with complex service needs, who were eligible for CILA services and willing to accept services as described and funded by the State under its Medicaid Waiver program, had been unable to secure placement close to home. With encouragement from the Governor’s office and support from the Champaign County Administrator, the Boards issued a Request for Proposals to purchase up to four homes suitable for up to four individuals each and identify an appropriate provider. Three responses were submitted. In fall 2014, Individual Advocacy Group (IAG) was selected as the provider, and two houses were purchased and renovated for compliance with State CILA Rules.

From 2015 through 2019, both homes were operational and served residents as planned. IAG experienced the same funding and workforce challenges that have threatened community-based provider capacity across Illinois and the country. Additional homes were not purchased due to the higher cost of the first two. To address the workforce and revenue issues, expansion of nontraditional day program services or increased client base through host home, family, and intermittent CILA were explored with the families of eligible people, the Independent Service Coordination unit, and the state’s Division of DD. We reviewed and revised all agreements, between the two Boards, the provider, and the property manager, JoelWard Homes, and at the beginning of 2020, had some hope of keeping the project going.

COVID-19 and mitigation efforts impacted I/DD operations early in 2020, adding to the staffing shortage. In the summer of 2020, the IAG homes were further rocked by the loss of a key staff person to gun violence. At that time, their CEO expressed concern that she would not be able to expand Champaign County operations enough to continue here. In December of 2020, residents of the first home found CILA placements out of county. At the end of this month, the second home will be vacant, as residents have secured placements out of county (one with IAG).

Kim Bowdry, Associate Director for Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities, has engaged a number of CILA providers in serious discussion about establishing a presence in Champaign County, either to ‘take over’ our CILA homes or to serve the residents in other local homes. She consulted with Ed McManus about best options and followed up on his suggestions. Importantly, both Ed and the final CILA provider commented that IAG was the best option for projects such as this one, and that if they could not make this work, it was probably not doable.

Given the poor outlook, staff will not recommend re-issuing an RFP seeking a provider to continue this project, although we have prepared such a draft. Instead, we recommend that the Boards seek to sell each property, as the market is favorable to sellers.

CCDDB members expressed their disappointment in having to sell the homes. Dr. Kennedy requested staff to research the cost of keeping the empty houses for a year or more.

MOTION: Ms. Ruesch moved, pending appraisal and similar approval by the CCDDB, to authorize the Executive Director to obtain at least three proposals from local, licensed realtors who are interested in listing each CILA house for sale. The proposal is to include the realtor’s qualifications and experience, the realtor’s plan to market the property or properties, the realtor’s commission and any other expenses the Board would incur regarding the realtor, and the realtor’s proposed reasonable selling price along with their method of making such a determination. The Boards shall select the realtor who offers the best value to the Boards and set the initial asking price. The Board reserves the right to reject any and all proposals. Ms. Suter seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken and the motion passed.

Successes and Other Agency Information:

Hannah Sheets from Community Choices and Annette Becherer from DSC provided updates. OLD BUSNIESS:

Update of 2021 Disability Resource Expo:

A Briefing Memorandum was included in the packet. The Expo Steering Committee voted to not have an event in-person this year.

CCDDB and CCMHB Schedules and CCDDB Timeline:

Meeting schedules were included in the Board packet.

Acronyms and Glossary:

A list of commonly used acronyms was included for information.

CCMHB Input:

The CCMHB will meet this evening with many of the same agenda items as the CCDDB.

Staff Reports:

Included in the board packet for information only were reports from Kim Bowdry, Leon Bryson, Stephanie Howard-Gallo, Shandra Summerville, and Chris Wilson.

BOARD ANNOUNCEMENTS:

None.

ADJOURNMENT:

The meeting adjourned at 9:55 a.m.

https://www.co.champaign.il.us/MHBDDB/agendas/ddb/2021/210623_Meeting/210623_minutes.pdf