Find in Table of Contents:

External Program Review Committee (EPRC) agenda

Date of meeting: 2-4 p.m. on June 3, 2021

DSD liaisons: Stacie Enders and Ari Dionisopoulos

Type: Whole committee

Location: Remote only due to the COVID-19 health pandemic

Accommodations: If you need an accommodation for this meeting, you must notify a DSD liaison three days prior to the meeting by emailing PositiveSupports@state.mn.us or calling (651) 431-4300.

Common acronyms used by the committee

We ask committee members to avoid the use of acronyms. Here are common acronyms:

· BIRF: DHS form 5148: Behavioral Intervention Report Form

· CABC: Context, antecedent, behavior, consequence

· DHS: Minnesota Department of Human Services

· DSD: Disability Services Division

· EUMR: Emergency use of manual restraint

· FBA: Functional behavior assessment

· HCBS: Home and community-based services

· IRP: Interim Review Panel (Predecessor to the EPRC)

· MDH: Minnesota Department of Health

· PS Manual: DHS form 6810C: Guidelines for Positive Supports in DHS-Licensed Settings

· PSR: Positive Supports Rule: Minnesota Rule 9544

· PSTP: DHS form 6810: Positive Support Transition Plan

· RA or Request: DHS form 6810D: Request for Authorization of the Emergency use of Procedures

General reminders for committee members

· Before speaking, please state your name.

· Committee members are expected to:

o Be on time

o Read the minutes, agenda and supporting documents before each meeting

o Participate in ideas and conversations, as well as pause to allow others to share input

o Commit to spending the whole meeting time present and not engage in other activities during the meeting.

Technology

· The first few minutes of every meeting will be dedicated to addressing any connectivity issues, to ensure everyone can hear other meeting participants.

Agenda items

Public comments

The committee encourages public participants to share their thoughts and ask questions about committee activities at the beginning of each meeting. The committee will continue on to the next agenda item when either 1) 30 minutes have passed or 2) when there are no additional comments or questions, whichever comes first.

Vote

The committee will discuss the minutes from May and vote.

Updates to share

Simplification of incident reporting processes

DHS is exploring what it would take to simplify and streamline the incident reporting process, such as statute and rule changes, software and form enhancements, staff time, etc. Staff are also looking at what it would take to have a centralized database of all forms and information that might indicate a person’s need for additional intervention from DHS or specialists, such as service suspensions/terminations, monitoring technology requests, serious injury reports, behavior incident reports, maltreatment, etc.

Workforce shortage

The Disability Services Division has been working to better coordinate on workforce shortage issues, and has started four subgroups that will be focusing on:

· Exploring and documenting promising practices

· Considering new project and activity suggestions

· Communicating information to the public, as well as better internal communication across DHS

· Data to support decision making.

2022 legislative session

The committee is welcome, over the next several months, to recommend to the commissioner proposals for the next legislative session.

Updates from the subcommittees

· The Requests subcommittee is looking at how a person’s life has become more isolated, and what can be done to better support that person. This is common for people with autism spectrum disorders.

· The Emergency Use of Manual Restraint (EUMR) subcommittee did not have anything new to share. They are conducting business as usual and continue to support teams with developing positive support strategies and reducing the use of restraint.

Discussion

Positive Support Transition Plan (PSTP)-related documents

The committee will discuss progress with the new documents.

Review of the committee’s 2020 Olmstead recommendations

Committee members will review their 2020 Olmstead recommendations and consider if there are any additional steps that can be taken each month to achieve them:

· The EPRC recommends continuing the past recommendation to collaborate and build connections with expanded support teams, so committee members can continue to assist with the development of effective fading plans on mechanical restraint, emergency manual restraint and other targeted interventions listed in PSTPs.

· The committee continues to recommend helping service providers connect with other professionals that can inform supports and services.

· As opportunities for edits arise, it might help to review public communication related to increasing community participation/integration, to better communicate that community activities and interactions with other people should not be forced on a person, and to better communicate that community integration efforts should meet the preferences of the person.

· The EPRC recommends continuing to focus their technical assistance on each person’s wellness and quality of life. Improved quality of life has been shown to reduce the occurrence of interfering behaviors.

· When it is safe to do so, given the Covid-19 risk, EPRC members will increase their in-person technical assistance to service providers who are using mechanical restraint.

· The EPRC recommends continuing to offer service providers, beyond the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, the ability to connect with committee members and other support providers or team members electronically, using secure communication tools. These tools have a variety of benefits including access to expertise for people who live in remote areas, quicker response times, and flexibility for team members (such as family members) who might not have easy access to transportation (note: this is not a comprehensive list of all the potential benefits).

Community-Based Services Manual (CBSM)