Board Meeting Minutes Michigan Protection & Advocacy Service, Inc. November 19, 2019 at 11:00 a.m. MPAS Lansing office ______________________________________________________________________________ Attendance Council Members Present: Doug Olsen, Jill Busha, Marie Jackson, Mark Reinstein By phone: Selena Schmidt, Kevin Fischer Absent: MPAS Staff Present: Michelle Roberts, Mark McWilliams, Camilia Limas, Mark Cody, Michele Brand Guests: Johann Kaigler Call to Order: A meeting of the PAIMI Advisory Council of Michigan Protection and Advocacy Service, Inc. was called on Tuesday, November 19, 2019 at 11:05 a.m. by Chair Doug Olsen. Introductions took place. Approval of Agenda Mr. Olsen asked for approval of the Agenda. Board members were asked if there were any additions or corrections, and there were none. MOTION Mark Reinstein moved to approve and accept the Agenda. Marie Jackson seconded the motion. A vote was taken. Unanimous. Motion carried. Approval of Minutes Mr. Olsen asked for approval of the Minutes. Board members were asked if there were any additions or corrections, and there were none. MOTION Mark Reinstein moved to approve and accept the Agenda. Jill Busha seconded the motion. A vote was taken. Unanimous. Motion carried. Financial Report – Michele Brand Michele Brand referred to the PAIMI Financial Statement stating we came in around 6% under budget, which is good, but spent more than the grant award, which also is good as we have had some carryover over the years. We are hoping to keep PAIMI on an annual basis somewhere around $$850,000-$900,000 to keep it consistent and continue spending the carryover every year. Conferences and meetings were over because a lot of people went to the NDRN conference, we had a big training year, and we also spent $5,000 for PAC members to attend conferences. The PAC money is incorporated into the PAIMI spending. Michele asked for questions and stated that was the actual overall PAIMI spending. There were some grievances that took an extraordinary amount of time. Elmer, the previous Executive Director, Michelle Roberts and Theresa Diebolt spent a lot of time on them. Some of those things will hopefully drop off this coming year and there won’t be an overage. PAIMI had been under for so many years in their budgeting that it was nice to actually spend the budget plus some. That is a good thing, so there are no issues with it. When we budget for 2020, Michele asked how members want to budget for conferences, increase to $15,000 or keep it at $11,000 and cut conferences back to two next year instead of three for the overall. Normally it's one conference which was NDRN and this past year we decided to do more. PAIMI Grievance Update The grievance update was given by Michelle Roberts indicating it is for the period August 2019 through today. We started using this format to give you information about all grievances that were requested so you can see the comparison with all of the grants. Annual Forms Please get all signed forms to Theresa Diebolt if you haven’t already done so. Public Comment There was no public comment. Legislative Update Mark McWilliams gave an update on legislative issues. At the State level, Legislators submitted a budget to the Governor and some line items have been vetoed and some money was moved with the Administrative Board process that has caused some controversy. We supported the package to raise the minimum age of adult criminal prosecution from 17 to 18 and it was signed into law. Michigan joins approximately 47 other states with that law. The bills that would restrict the use of emotional support animals have been reintroduced, HB4910 & HB 4911, and three bills in the Senate, S608-610, both had hearings in respected committees. A number of people are opposed including the advocacy community. MPAS will sign on to letter in opposition with Poverty law program. There have been various regulatory proposals to limit the scope of practice or reimbursement for categories of professional and most recently licensed professional counselors. This could potentially put about 10,000 counselors out of business and restrict access to services. There was legislation introduced to preempt the regulations and re-expand the scope of practice which was passed and signed by the Governor. Update on Section 298 – it was in the budget and it was vetoed. The ideas behind it, financial integration, are not gone. The Department plans to move forward and redesign that will include financial integration. Andrea Rizor and Mark did a training for recipient rights a few weeks ago mostly on voting rights. Mark R brought up House Bill 5043 and 5044 that would allow CMH recipients who are dissatisfied with the planning and/or implementation of services/supports, if they choose, to take their complaint to mediation for a trained mediator. Program Performance Report Doug is working on the PPR and asked members for any programs they have attended that they have not yet told him about for October 1, 2018 through September 30, 2019. Old Business Membership – Marie is our newest member. Marie asked if we are interested in grassroots members here or mostly professionals as what we currently have as members. Members would like to see some changes in diversity and think it is very important for PAIMI to have folks that are in the trenches and more members who have personal experience with mental illness and in the community and their issues. And to find out what their particular issues are and maybe have a place in the agenda to share stories about how their mental health has impacted them. It was also mentioned that it would be nice to see more minorities as members. Michelle mentioned that it has been difficult to recruit new members. Jill Busha shared her experience of going to the Mental Health America conference in Washington, D.C. There was further discussion about this year’s conferences. New Business Substance abuse services and peer recovery approach. Discussions were held with members and Jill shared a little bit about the kinds of things happening in Alpena, Michigan. Mark Cody shared some of the things that are happening in our legal department, and also mentioned the importance of an Advisory Council. He stated there were two deaths at different facilities while they were in custody that could have been prevented. They both died with no family members to locate. Mark indicated that MPAS is proposing to do a proceeding on organizational standing, which is basically asking a judge to rule in your favor. The legal team has been researching this and reviewing other cases that have taken place. He went on to say that they believe the statute gives P&As organizational standing as it applies to PAIMI clients. We have to have a governing board, a grievance process, we have to set priorities and we have to have an advisory council. Courts have said with the presence of a PAIMI Advisory Council, it creates a greater type of standing for the P&A. And, the council must endorse our work especially relating to abuse and neglect of people with mental illness. Mark wanted to emphasize the importance of that because if MPAS were to go into court, it may be challenged. MOTION Mark Reinstein moved to endorse Michigan Protection & Advocacy Service, Inc. moving ahead with a suit or suits in its own name, if necessary, with recognition that such action would be consistent with the council’s already stated priorities. Marie Jackson seconded the motion. A vote was taken. Unanimous. Motion carried. Next meetings Mark your calendars for February 25, 2020 and plan to join us at the Legislative Luncheon. Lunch will be served between 11:15-1:15 and Legislators will be there if you want to meet and converse with them. The board meeting will be after the luncheon. Adjourn MOTION Mark Reinstein moved to adjourn the meeting at 12:54 pm. Selena Schmidt seconded the motion. A vote was taken. Unanimous. Motion carried.