Waiver Reimagine Advisory Committee Aug. 24, 2023, meeting summary

Committee members present: Tricia Brisbine, Rosalie Eisenreich, Mary Fenske, Arbdella Hudson, Susan Mackert, Polly Owens, Rijuta Pathre, Saudade SammuelSon, Dr. Elizabeth Scheel-Keita, Pat Wright, Wa Xiong, Gina Winter, Lauren Thompson, Sherri Pickthorn, Phyllis Reller, Jennifer Drganc, Lisa Evert, Kelly Friesen, Dr. Katrina Jirik, Meredith McKinnon, Julie Morrison, Chad Wilson, Kathy Rogers, Kathryn Barton

Committee members not present: Fartun Weli, Myrna Peterson, Lisa Harvey, Annie Braun, Zahnia Harut, Abby Gertken

DHS staff present: Meghan Lindblom, Sandy Zuhlsdorf, Matt Knutson, Maria Trueblood, Mai-Ling Mui, Peter Beierwaltes, Adrienne Hannert, Sara Beauchene, Andrew Johnson, Heidi Hamilton, Curtis Buhman

Meeting notes

Director comments

Heidi Hamilton, director of disability services, acknowledged the passing of Bud Rosenfield and how he advocated for people with disabilities and supported this project. Then discussed the purpose of Waiver Reimagine and meeting objectives.

· Simplify the waiver system while maintaining current level-of-care and eligibility requirements.

· Help people access the services and support that address their needs.

· Empower people with more choice and control over their services (including self-directed services options).

· Provide equitable access to services across waiver programs.

Meeting objectives

Reset with Waiver Reimagine Advisory Committee

· Acknowledging the importance of member input in the process.

· Refocus on Waiver Reimagine goals.

· What is a part of or related to the project?

Checking back in on roles and expectations

Facilitator Lea, reviewed the WRAC’s opportunity to help develop and provide feedback on:

· Individual budget methodology.

· Individualized budget work, criteria and process.

· Consolidation of the four current home and community-based waiver service programs into two-waiver programs.

· Proposed adjustments and modifications to the streamlined menu of services.

· The existing rate exception criteria and process.

· How to support and expand informed choice and informed decision making.

Review of the Waiver Reimagine policy development process, which includes:

· Community engagement with:

WRAC member input 

Tribal nations meetings 

DeYoung-facilitated focus groups 

Lead agency engagement 

· Recommendations developed 

WRAC recommendations 

DHS constraints, there is a federal approval process that recommendations must fit into 

Seeking public comments 

Federal waiver plan approval  

WRAC past and future work

Facilitator Lea acknowledged the topics discussed at each WRAC meeting and the achievements the group has managed from March 2022 to August 2023:

· Waiver reconfiguration:  

Reviewed the history of waivers and policy development 

Developed common understanding of the streamlining process in waiver reimagine phase one 

Discussed the two-waiver structure for the future explaining the differences between "residential" and "community"

Took input from the committee around waiver names throughout summer 2022 and came to an understanding that additional work was needed on sorting out service menus first  

Spent six months reviewing waiver services and identifying services by waiver- this included pre-work of reviewing service scope, identifying questions and initial impressions. Then convened as a committee to discuss as a whole group and make recommendations.  

· Budgeting: 

Individual budgets overview and feedback discussion – raised excitement about proposed budget methodology  

Understanding of support ranges and service mixes 

Built knowledge around budgeting and rates from members 

Myth busting around current and future budgets

Support planning overview traditional and self-directed 

Proposed budget exceptions.  WRAC members helped fine tune and approve the preliminary budget exception criteria 

Collaborated and heard concerns. Provided opportunity to ask questions and expand understanding.

Support planning and informed choice

Andrew Johnson, support planning and informed choice team lead, introduced Sara Beauchene, support planning and informed choice lead agency support, explained their expertise and the importance of this topic and their part of the project.

Support planning and informed choice will be looking for input on:

· Supporting equity in the work force 

· How you recommend we spread the word of the right to informed choice 

· How do people prefer to receive their communication 

· What information is critical for case managers to know for case manager training 

· How may the support planning process better address the needs of diverse cultures and support culturally informed services

· When thinking about case manager training and qualifications, how to make sure the work force is representative of the community

· How to understand the living experience of others 

· How that impacts the support planning and needs 

Discussion/member input for way forward

Facilitator Lea, noted that members have wanted to be more involved and this was the time to talk about what that looks like. She said DHS is looking for different ways to get input and the following questions were posed for member feedback and discussion:

· What topics are you looking forward to addressing in the coming year? What topics do you think we’ve missed?

· How would you like to engage in future WRAC meetings? How do you prefer to share your ideas?

· Do you have an interest in presenting during a WRAC meeting in partnership with us?

We allowed about 60 minutes for discussion between members and DHS.

Adjourn

The meeting adjourned. The next meeting of the WRAC will be Oct. 26, 2023. Meeting details can be found on the Waiver Reimagine Advisory Committee website under the Meetings tab.