External Program Review Committee (EPRC) minutes
Date of meeting: Feb. 4, 2021
DSD liaison: Stacie Enders, Linda Wolford and Ari Dionisopoulos
Type: Whole committee
Location: Remote only due to the COVID-19 health pandemic
Attendees: Jodi Greenstein, Dan Baker, Kim Frost, Laura Daire, Lindsay Nash, Tatiana Kerestesh, Liz Harri, Melanie Eidsmoe, Stacy Danov, Susie Haben and Mary Piggott
Not present: Danielle Bishop and Mike Boston
Public comments
There were no public comments during the meeting.
Vote
Those in favor of approving the January 2021 meeting minutes:
· Liz Harri: yes· Mary Piggott: yes · Stacy Danov: yes· Dan Baker: yes· Tatiana Kerestesh: yes· Melanie Eidsmoe: yes· Jodi Greenstein: yes· Lindsay Nash: yes· Laura Daire: yes· Kim Frost: yes· Susie Haben: yesUpdates to share
· The information from the meeting agenda was shared with the committee. Discussion
· Annual update and clean-up of EPRC documents: The committee decided to keep the current resources in their SharePoint folder. · Members might be interested in reading this letter to President Biden, recognizing the importance of communication equity: Communication Equity Call to Action | CommunicationFIRST.· What is going well? What should we change? What have we learned? · The committee had a good discussion about quality of life not equaling generic social values. More activities doesn’t necessarily mean a happier life. The frequency, intensity and types of community activities should be based on what somebody wants in their own life. Sometimes committee members see general social values prioritized over person-centeredness. Number of social interactions should not be a measurement for quality of life.Committee recommendations from their 2020 Olmstead report
The committee reviewed their recommendations from their 2020 report and discussed if there were any additional steps that could be taken by the committee or others to further achieve these goals in 2021:
1. Recommendation: 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. 2. Recommendation: The committee continues to recommend helping service providers connect with other professionals that can inform supports and services.a. Providers may be able to connect with others through the Crisis Respite Community of Practice. This group includes experienced crisis service providers, providers who are new to offering crisis services, DHS Direct Care and Treatment, and DHS Community Capacity and Positive Supports staff. This group meets monthly and so far seems to have had a good response. People appear motivated to learn from each other. They have also brought in guest speakers to share information on things like fiscal policy, Life Sharing, etc. b. The MN Institute on Community Integration is doing discovery around Centers of Excellence for person-centered practices. Regional person-centered cohorts have been around for many years. They are exploring what is necessary to advance person-centered practices. c. The DHS Regional Resource Specialists team has been hosting communities of practice around person-centered practices, and they are currently working to continue those and expand to other topics. For example, in the coming months they will be discussing topics related to the nation-wide direct care worker shortage. d. The Community Capacity and Positive Supports Team will be hosting more presentations on expanding the use and availability of intervention services, though they are not sure on the exact dates yet. 3. Recommendation: 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. a. It is important that caregivers listen to the needs of the person.b. The committee coordinator will review the new draft of the DHS positive supports webpage to ensure it clearly communicates that community integration should only be done to the extent desired by the person. c. DHS should ensure careful use of language and find a balance because while some providers don’t support people enough in their communities, others push community integration too much.d. It is helpful to phrase communications as things providers can do, as opposed to phrasing communications as things providers cannot do. e. It is helpful to connect people to non-paid supports.4. Recommendation: 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.a. The Positive Support Transition Plan, DHS form 6810 was recently updated to put an emphasis on quality of life.5. Recommendation: 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. a. The Emergency Use of Manual Restraint EPRC subcommittee has also decided to adopt this goal. b. We will wait for guidance from authorities such as the Minnesota Department of Health and Minnesota Management and Budget before considering in-person visits. We will also respect the personal decisions of people receiving services, support team members, and EPRC members who may be hesitant to do in-person visits anytime soon. 6. Recommendation: 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).a. There are several bills currently with the legislature to consider service changes related to this topic. b. An eList announcement recently came out related to temporarily continuing remote support delivery of some waiver services.
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