Task Force on Eliminating Subminimum Wages

Meeting summary: Aug. 9, 2022

· Location: Online meeting (Zoom)

· Participants listed below.

· Go to the task force webpage to find the formal meeting agenda, presentation slides and any other relevant documents from the meeting.

Agenda items

1. Opening

2. Task force updates

3. Perspectives from other states on funding

4. PSC: perspectives from engagement work and update

5. Additional perspectives on supports and services

6. Disability Law Center presentation

7. Update from workgroup on statues, rules, and policies and group discussion

8. Update from workgroup on services and supports and group discussion

9. Closing and next steps

Opening

Karen Gaides reviewed the meeting materials and the meeting agenda.

There are some new members joining the task force. Dalaine Remes will be representing the Disability Law Center, replacing Kristina Petrenko.

Jillian Nelson welcomed the group. She discussed the political pressure to end subminimum wage and the need for Minnesota to be prepared. The work this group is doing is timely and important.

Task force updates

Karen Gaides shared slides describing the timeline of the task force work, the work process, and plan development.

Presentations, questions, discussions, and notes

Perspectives from other states on funding

Karen Gaides presented this material and shared slides.

Once we know what the workgroups are recommending, we can think about the implications for funding. States use different sources of funding including federal grants and local funding. It can be challenging to estimate costs. The Disability Services Department (DSD) and Management Analysis and Development (MAD) are compiling suggestions for the task force to consider regarding funding. At this time there won’t be a work group on funding. For more, see slides 10-17 from the task force presentation slides, to be included with the Aug. 9 meeting materials available on the task force website, under meetings.

PSC – Perspectives from engagement work and update

Erin Lammers began this presentation and shared slides.

Public Sector Consultants (PSC) has been conducting interviews, small group discussions, listening sessions and a survey to gather feedback. The feedback is shared at task force meetings and informs additional engagement activities and task force recommendations. Recurring and new feedback was detailed in the presentation.

Scott Dzurka continued with the presentation. The feedback tool was shown and described. The tool is an Excel spreadsheet with multiple tabs. There are 11 numbered tabs that correspond with legislative duties. There are additional tabs linked to categories aligned to work groups. The feedback data is organized and categorized in the tool. The task force will be receiving this tool so they can use the feedback to inform recommendations. The feedback tool will be updated weekly and shared via MAD.

Will the task force have individual access to the tool or just through work groups? Karen Gaides replied that we are looking into various options for sharing the tool. We hope to share it to task force members later this week with the meeting notes.

Will there be a summary of the different types of feedback in graphical form? Erin replied that the spreadsheet will be the feedback tool for now. There will also be a final written report of engagement activities. The design of that report has not been finalized. Scott added that there will be a summary at the end. There are ways the data is presented that will help a visual learner. The survey data summaries will be helpful.

For more, see PSC’s presentation slides, to be included with the Aug. 9 meeting materials available on the task force website under the meetings tab.

Additional perspectives on supports and services

Alex Junge presented his perspectives to the task force.

What supports are or would be most beneficial?

· Higher pay for DSPs (Direct Support Professionals) and job coaches so there isn't a shortage.

· Job coaches are needed for long-term employment support.

· We need accessible work environments.

· We need more businesses open to being a community work site. There are pros and cons to community work sites. One con is that they might not support full integration into the community.

What are the main concerns or challenges with existing supports?

· Red tape

· Social barriers

· High demand and low turnout of support staff because there isn't enough money for pay.

· Support staff burnout. We need staff who will stay.

What supports are missing or needed?

· Adequate staffing. Make the jobs more likeable, lucrative, and interesting.

· Social barriers

· High demand and low turnout of support staff because there isn't enough money for pay.

· Support staff burnout. We need staff who will stay.

Any questions or feedback?

· What is your current employment situation? I work at a florist as my only integrated community job right now. I can only make a certain amount of money while I get social security. I work four days each week at an integrated job site with Parks and Rec and St. Thomas.

· Jillian Nelson pointed out that the word 'enclave' is problematic. The definition says it is a place different from the surrounding places that has culturally or ethnically distinct inhabitants. It is a commonly used term but it shouldn't be.

· Members of the group expressed their appreciation for Alex's presentation. One member noted "I appreciate your recommendations and agree with what you are recommending. Thank you, you laid it out beautifully."

Disability Law Center presentation

Kristina Petronko and Dalaine Remes shared slides of their presentation. The DLC is writing a report of recommendations related to phasing out subminimum wage in Minnesota. They looked at the experience of other states and identified improvements that can be made based on those experiences. It can be an advantage to not go first and learn from the experience of others. The presentation included specific policy proposal recommendations.

Questions and comments?

1. There was some discussion regarding Recommendation 7, modifications to the waiver system.

· Can you tell us more about what types of modifications are needed? Kristina replied that because there were a lot of people and because of the structure of incentives, people were often moved to the first available job. The process to find work should allow for the time and investment to find the job that is the right fit for the person. Jillian added that we shouldn't expect people to stay in the same job forever since normal career trajectories are not like that. Delaine added that there are modifications that could be made to allow transition and semi-annual review. He asked, are we really listening at the reviews? Also, transportation services have to be included.

· What are some service design changes that are recommended? Alex thinks there should be an increase in the amount of money that can be earned and the amount that can be paid to DSPs and coaches. Andrea pointed out that we are hearing how complicated it is to move through this system and there may be a need for a navigator service to stay with people through their entire journey similar to housing stabilization services. Brittanie added that it is important how information is given. A lot of information provided by social workers and counties such as letters and websites is not in plain language. Also, mentoring would be good, and public transportation can be a problem in the winter with snow; some bus stops become inaccessible.

· Does VRS provide some navigating support? Alex feels it varies from person to person. Chris added that there are VRS counselors throughout the state who are trained in this and support and educate others including county case managers. There can be a lot of turnover in those roles. Larissa and Natasha talked about looking more closely at specific regulations and how they can be clarified or changed.

2. There was some discussion regarding Recommendation 9, expand information people receive about employment and choice.

· We have a structure in place for producing and disseminating that information - what is missing? Jillian pointed out that income qualification for Medicaid presented some challenges in the current system and there is not good understanding about this. Andrea added that in listening sessions it has been striking to hear that people often do not understand what is available to them. They have sometimes been taught their whole life that some options are not open to them. State agencies and other information providers have advanced in their ability to provide customized supports for people with disabilities, making more options possible. Jillian pointed out that different options may be possible as a person ages and grows in knowledge, experience, and ability. We shouldn't just take a one-time look at potential for employment. Brittanie noted that we need to consider how ableism contributes to the interactions with professionals in this system and that ableism training is needed.

For more, see the Disability Law Center’s presentation, to be included with the Aug. 9 meeting materials available on the task force website, under meetings.

Update from workgroup on statutes, rules and policies, and group discussion

Raquel led this presentation and shared slides. There are eight topics in the presentation. Some topics include a number of recommended actions.

Topic one: Repeal Minn. Stat. 177.28 subd. 5, phase out the 14c certificate. There were no comments or questions.

Topic two: Clarify and affirm role/importance of competitive integrated employment and informed choice. There were no comments or questions.

Topic three: Change fee schedules and allowable reimbursements under Medicaid Waiver plans.

· Lori noted that service is best provided when a single staff person can provide numerous services. Lori also noted that the recommended actions would allow for more flexibility.

Topic four: Require competitive wages. There were no comments or questions.

Topic five: Place duration limitations on use of subminimum wages in waiver supports. There were no comments or questions.

Topic six: Case manager roles and responsibilities. There were no comments or questions.

Topic seven: Increase interaction between waiver service providers and VRS groups.

· Larissa summarized some feedback she provided previously that relates to this topic and that is included in the spreadsheet of work group recommendations.

Topic eight: Support and encourage seamless collaboration among MDE, DEED, and service providers.

· DLC has related feedback in the spreadsheet of work group recommendations. These were discussed in the earlier DLC presentation.

Is anything missing?

· Larissa asked about possible rate studies done by outside entities. Also, perhaps the rate studies should be performed periodically.

· Raquel added that this might be out of scope, but PCAs are an important part of wrap-around services. We may want to include something around that.

For more, see slides 21-26 from the task force presentation slides, to be included with the Aug. 9 meeting materials available on the task force website, under meetings.

Update from workgroup on services and supports, and group discussion

Jillian and Danielle presented on these recommendations and shared slides.

Two recommendations are about measuring and monitoring success and outcomes. These are being moved to the measuring and monitoring workgroup.

· What type of data is collected? The other work group will dig in deeper. Both qualitative and quantitative data are of interest. There are challenges with collecting the data and a lot to talk through.

· Consider including demographic data.

· State agencies are developing data privacy policies, which may create limitations on data that is shared and with whom.

· Consider establishing data sharing agreements between agencies or adding to existing data sharing agreements. In past service integration efforts, there have been challenges with sharing data across agencies.

Recommendation 1 is about developing, creating, and distributing trainings about options and services.

· Ensure the process is free of conflict of interest.

Recommendation 2 is about day supports. There were no comments or questions.

Recommendation 3 states that Minnesota must reaffirm its commitment to the state’s Employment First Policy. There were no comments or questions.

Five additional recommendation topics for assistance and support for providers without specific recommendations were suggested.

· Andrea noted that some of these topics relate to actions that are already being done so the language needs to include words like “continue” or “enhance.”

· Larissa referred to different levels of employment services and creating tiers with different rates. This relates to the policy aspects and the work of the policy group. It is important to link the policy recommendations to the support and service recommendations.

Other topics to consider related to services and supports were listed without specific recommendations.

· Some of these were also included in the DLC presentation. When reviewing the timeline for task force work, Jake from MAD said the April meeting will focus on identifying benefits and challenges to eliminating subminimum wages, a topic required of the task force from the legislature. The discussion of benefits and challenges also will help the task force identify areas to explore at future meetings and issues to address through proposed planning steps and solutions. Jake said future meetings likely will include guests and task force members who can talk with the task force about their experiences and share their knowledge.

For more, see slides 27-33 from the task force presentation slides, to be included with the August 9 meeting materials available on the task force website, under meetings b.

Next steps: Sept. 12 meeting, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., online

Karen recognized all the hard work of the work group members in developing these recommendations.

What are the next steps to connect policy with support and services? Karen explained that there will be a meeting of the support and services work group in the third week of August. The specific date isn’t set yet. There could be a work group meeting combining both groups, but it might be more realistic to do that in the next task force meeting. The next task force meeting will be a working session without guest speakers where we will dig into the recommendations. The funding piece still needs to be addressed.

Participants

Task force members present:

· Larissa Beck

· Sara Ellstra

· Brittanie Hernandez-Wilson

· Amanda Jensen-Stahl

· Alex Junge

· Michelle Kamenov

· Debbie Luther

· Christine McVey

· Natasha Merz

· Jillian Nelson

· Kristina Petronko

· Lori Schluttenhofer

· Raquel Sidie-Wagner

· Andrea Zuber

Others:

· Karen Gaides, MAD

· Erica Klein, MAD

· Scott Dzurka, PSC

· Erin Lammers, PSC

· Danielle Mahoehney (ICI)

· Delaine Remes (DLC)