1

DCF HHS Advisory Committee Meeting

November 7, 2013 Hampton Inn Orlando Airport

ROUGHLY EDITED REALTIME TRANSCRIPT

This transcript was created in real time by a Certified Realtime/CART Provider, for the purpose of communication access. It is not a certified legal transcript and may not be entirely verbatim. It is intended for use by the recipient only, as notes of the proceedings.

HRI CART

Communication Access Realtime Translation 813.404.2488 (cell/text) www.HRICART.com

P R O C E E D I N G S

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Good morning. I am a member of the advisory committee

for the Deaf and hard of hearing for the Department of Children and Families. Today is November 7, 2013, and we are here in Orlando, Florida. Welcome, everybody. And do we have anybody on the phone?

We have a few logistical issues with the room. We have limited space, and we still have services we are providing, so I want to make sure that everybody can see and hear. Is there anything we need to do to adjust seating?

>>JUDY MARTIN: I'm good. >>SUSAN HERRING: (Thumbs up) >>TERRI SCHISLER: Good. And interpreters are set.

So I appreciate all of your patience as we deal with logistics. I want to remind all of you that when you speak, please make sure you state your name for the benefit of all those on the phone as well as our support providers, and we'd ask that everyone turn your cellphones off.

So I'd like to go around the room and have everybody introduce themselves for the record. Start with Martha.

Tell everybody where you are from. >>MARTHA KNOWLES: Sure. I'm Martha Knowles, and I live here in Orlando. >>DANIELLE PORTER: I'm a support service provider, from Port Orange, Florida. >>SUSAN HERRING: Good morning. I am Susan Herring, I'm deaf-blind. I work

at Independence for the Blind of West Florida, and I'm from Pensacola, Florida. >>JUDY MARTIN: I'm Judy Martin from Jacksonville, and I represent the Hearing

Loss Association in Florida. >>LIRA LATIMER: Greetings. I am Lira M. Latimer, Department of Children and

Families, administrative assistant to the advisory committee. >>JEFF McLEMORE: Good morning. I'm Jeff McLemore, Department of Children

and Families, administrator of human resources for the department. >>CAROLYN DUDLEY: Good morning. (She sounds as though she has

laryngitis.) I'm Carolyn Dudley, Office of Civil Rights.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: The paint fumes in here are causing Carolyn difficulties with her asthma, which I found out last night when I arrived and found that they are still painting in the room. Carolyn may not be able to stay in the room with us, so we will move her agenda item up before there's no voice at all.

>>KIM GAUT: I'm Kim Gaut, director of the Deaf Service Center in Charlotte County.

>>CINDY SIMON: Hi, everyone. I'm Cindy Simon, audiologist in South Florida. >>RICK KOTTLER: Good morning. I'm Rick Kottler, executive director of Deaf

and Hearing Services, Treasure Coast.

2

>>TERRI SCHISLER: We have Coda Sound, Peter Pinera; and our CART provider is Gayl Hardeman. Danielle Porter is our support service provider for Susan, and we have interpreters from Accessible Communications for the Deaf. Our interpreters today are Theresa Fritshe, Jessica Zapata, Chris Prudhom, and Brenda Prudhom.

Would the visitors please introduce yourselves? There's a microphone at the back, for the record.

>>ALYSSE RASMUSSEN: My name is Alysse Rasmussen. Weird name, Danish. And I am with the Florida Coordinating Council for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. I'm the health educator consultant, which means I do outreach.

>>THOM DELILLA: Good morning. My name is Thom DeLilla, and I work with the Florida Department of Health, and I have been assigned to work with the Florida Coordinating Council for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

>>VISITOR: Hello, my name is Anthony, and the last name is F-a-t-t-b-e-n-e, and I am from Winter Springs. This is my wife. She has Usher's Syndrome; she's deaf, and me as well. This is Joanne, I'm sorry; the same last name.

Both of us just moved here from New York, about two months ago, so we are getting our bearings here in Florida. And when we were visiting, we were in the process of --

>>TERRI SCHISLER: I'm sorry, let me interrupt you. We just need an introduction at this time, and we won't be having public comment at this meeting. Okay?

>>Okay, thank you so much. Thanks for letting me know. I appreciate it. >>TERRI SCHISLER: But I do appreciate, or mention that I appreciate all the

visitors coming and being here for the meeting. We will have public comments at the next meeting, so please come and give your public comment at that time.

Jeff? >>JEFF McLEMORE: Thank you, Madam Chair. I would ask that we ask for

people on the phone. We have had a couple people dial in. >>TERRI SCHISLER: So are there any people on the phone? >>SHANA WILLIAMS: I'm sorry, this is Shana Williams. I'm on the phone. >>TERRI SCHISLER: Good morning, Shana. Glad to have you. >>MICHELLE RISKE-MORRIS: This is Michelle Riske-Morris; I'm on the phone. >>TERRI SCHISLER: Wonderful. Glad to have you as well. >>MICHELLE RISKE-MORRIS: We're not sure if you can hear us, but we cannot

hear your audio at all. I see can see the chat and the CART. >>TERRI SCHISLER: Okay, let's see if we can do something about that.

I'm not sure who is responsible. Is that Peter? Can you hear me now?

>>SHANA WILLIAMS: No, we cannot hear you, just have the CART. Michelle? >>MICHELLE: No, I can only see the CART transcript. >>SHANA WILLIAMS: However, Michelle and I can hear each other clearly.

(Peter adjusted sound.) >>TERRI SCHISLER: All right.

Can you hear me now? >>SHANA WILLIAMS: Better, but it's still faint. >>TERRI SCHISLER: I will keep talking for a few minutes, and let me know when

you can hear me better. All right? We are still working on it.

>>SHANA WILLIAMS: I can hear you better now. >>TERRI SCHISLER: Better now. Okay. >>SHANA WILLIAMS: Okay, a little better now. >>TERRI SCHISLER: All right, so let's go ahead and go on with the meeting here.

We've done introductions, and we have our visitors introduced for the record. So Shana is on the line and there are seven council members present today, so we do meet our quorum. We need to have 7; we have 8.

I already made a request that we move Carolyn's to the beginning of the agenda,

3

so we will put that right after the adoption of the minutes and the housekeeping. Are there any other additions or corrections to the agenda?

Seeing none, then do I hear motions to adopt the agenda? >>CINDY SIMON: I will so move. >>JUDY MARTIN: Second. >>TERRI SCHISLER: Cindy moves and Judy seconds. All those in favor? Any

opposed? All right, so moved. [Motion carried.]

>>TERRI SCHISLER: I do want to make a comment at this time that the agenda, as noticed in the e-mail discussions when it was posted to the committee members, is a little short. Our meeting, we have about three hours' worth of discussion today, and maybe a little bit more, if there's other items brought to the table. But it is incumbent on all of the committee members to help us to know the things that we want to -- that are ongoing discussions that may not have been included.

So it's very helpful if all of you would send in any items that you feel need to be on the next agenda, and we're going to be looking forward to that time when the settlement agreement is completed. And hopefully we will have a report on that today.

Once that report is completed, then there are several agenda items that we will want to bring back to the table, so we don't expect that this shortened agenda will be ongoing. And we can talk later in the meeting about other items that may -- that we maybe can get added into the committee's tasking, or how we are going to finish out the term that we have.

We have one year left, and four additional meetings after this one. So that will be part of our discussion later in the meeting.

And with that, we will go to the minutes from our August meeting. Are there any comments or corrections for the minutes?

>>MARC DUBIN: I just wanted to let you know that I am on the phone at this point.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Great, Marc. Glad to have you on the phone. Any corrections to the minutes? Judy?

>>JUDY MARTIN: Sorry, no corrections. I just heard some clicking on the line, but it did stop.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Jeff? >>JEFF McLEMORE: Yes, that was from the conference call line. Someone did

have the phone unmuted. >>TERRI SCHISLER: Those of you on the conference call, please remember to

mute your phone until you are ready to speak so we don't have any background interferences. We appreciate that.

And, Cindy, if you could be monitoring the chat for us, because I don't have chat on my computer today.

All right. If there's no corrections to the minutes, do we have a motion to adopt the minutes?

>>JUDY MARTIN: I move that we accept the minutes as -- >>CINDY SIMON: Second. >>TERRI SCHISLER: Moved by Judy Martin, seconded by Cindy Simon.

Minutes will be accepted. We do have a break at 10:15. If you will give me a signal as we approach

10:15, we will make sure we get that in there. And if you have not already done so, we want to make sure you get checked out of the hotel before the 10:00 deadline.

With that, we will go to Carolyn. We have her on the agenda to give us an update on the public comments from the August meeting.

>>CAROLYN DUDLEY: Good morning. This is Carolyn. What I attempted to do was -- I know -- I attempted to go through the CART page by page. And my page numbers may not be what yours are, but I started with Page 16.

And on Page 16, there was discussion regarding the guardian ad litem program, and I wanted to bring it to the committee's attention that that is not a program that's a

4

DCF program; it is something that is provided by the courts. On Page 17, Ms. Child is indicating that (1718), the DCF and its contract

providers were using qualified interpreters, and that is not to our knowledge true, because all of our interpreters are certified. We have had both DCF contract staff and DCF staff to verify the certification of the interpreters before they provide services to the clients.

Also, she'd indicated that she would be providing a list of QA interpreters that had been utilized, and as of this date, Mr. McLemore has not received that list. So until she provides that list to me, we will not be able to verify that issue.

Also, there was a discussion regarding the use of VRI. VRI is provided in all of the ACCESS service centers. We have had applause from the clients regarding the VRI system, so that is being used.

Now, if a client has refused -- has decided they do not want to use the VRI, they will be advised that an interpreter will be called and it may take two hours for the interpreter to get there. It is up to the client to decide what they want to do, if they want to reschedule, or if they would like to wait. But most do choose to use the VRI.

The other issue, I believe, was regarding the hotline. Hotline counselors, they are being notified when the reporter called in and identifies that the family or someone in their household is deaf or hard of hearing. That is noted on that -- on the assessment that goes out to the region. So when that CPI gets that, he or she automatically knows that.

And also, our staff were conducting -- in our reviews, we are using that to follow up, because we get that list as well, and we are able to make sure that there was some type of an interpreter provided if requested.

Also, there was an issue from Ms. Church and Sharon Caserta regarding a Medicaid issue. Sharon has left several messages for them to get back with her so that she can address the issue, but we have not heard back from then.

The issue, I think Susan mentioned -- Susan Herring mentioned regarding a client in the northwest region, an Access issue. That issue was addressed. Susan did send me an e-mail; and I wasn't in at the time, but the next day we did address it. We have met with that client, we have talked with that employer, and that issue has been resolved.

And I think there was, on Page 23, a concern of the HHS coming visit. That complaint has been referred to the HHS office in San Francisco. Atlanta is no longer handling that issue, and when the shutdown occurred they were planning to come to Florida in October. But I've talked to the investigator, and that has been rescheduled. She has not given us a date yet on that one.

And I think that's everything that I was able to address. If there's something that I've missed, please let me know.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Any questions or comments from the committee? Rick?

>>RICK KOTTLER: Just to clarify. Jennifer was to provide a list of QA interpreters that DCF was using. Is that what it was?

>>JEFF McLEMORE: That is correct. She was going to send it to both Lira and I, but I have not received it and I don't believe she has.

>>RICK KOTTLER: And Julie was supposed to contact Sharon? >>CAROLYN DUDLEY: Sharon left a message for Julie to call her regarding the

Medicaid issue that she had discussed. >>RICK KOTTLER: Right. >>CAROLYN DUDLEY: She was looking for clarification, and she hasn't called

her. >>RICK KOTTLER: She hasn't called? So I will contact her and make sure that it

gets done. Thank you. >>TERRI SCHISLER: Judy? >>JUDY MARTIN: Before you go onto the next item, the e-mail sent October 9

says we go to 1 p.m. >>TERRI SCHISLER: My mistake, so we have plenty of time to get done. Thank

5

you, Judy. If there's no other comments or questions for Carolyn? Jeff?

>>JEFF McLEMORE: I just have one comment. There's an agenda item for the Access service concern with Susan Herring being the committee member that moved that agenda item forward. That was just addressed by Carolyn, so I just wanted to let the chair know.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: I assumed that was what happened. Susan, do you have any other questions on that item?

>>SUSAN HERRING: I don't have any other questions, and I didn't know whether to clarify that for the committee, if they were not aware of it, or if you wanted to wait until we reach that.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Go ahead and address it now. >>SUSAN HERRING: I wrote it independent of it being provided. Our services,

we write a survey, how they receive our services; and I was talking to one lady, doing the survey with her, and she went off into a tangent and started telling me about her issues, time to renew her food stamps. This lady had visual issues, and she was not able to log in.

Long and short of it, she got a letter dated August 19th, but she received it on August 30th. They instructed her to call this number to renew her food stamps, and she called on that day. And when I spoke to her, it was three weeks later, September 16th, and she still had not received the application. When she made that phone call, she asked for assistance, because she would not be able to see the form well enough to fill it out, and she was told that they were unavailable for her.

In a previous conversation -- I'm getting my story a little mixed up, but in a previous conversation a little before that, they told her -- she went through the same scenario, and they sent her the same form, the wrong language, whatever, and they told her next year it will be all automated and you won't be able to get even a live person to request assistance.

So when she did that and she called, on August 30th, to get the paperwork, it was all automated, and she asked for however it worked, and she did get it three weeks later.

So she went to the local Access office or whatever it's called in her area, and they said, you need to go to another office in another -- nearby to you. So she went there, and they gave her the paperwork. And again, she asked for someone to help her fill it out because she could not see it. And they said they were sorry, there was no one there to do that.

She shared all this with me. Had nothing to do with my job; she just went off on it and started venting, and it happened to be me and I am sitting here thinking, well, this is what we deal with on this committee, with the Deaf and hard of hearing.

So I asked her, you know, I could probably call somebody, but I need your permission. She said yeah. So she gave me her name and her number, and I forwarded it to Carolyn. And that was what that was all about.

I'm done. >>TERRI SCHISLER: Thank you, Susan. >>CINDY SIMON: I just want to say here Shana said the volume got much

better -- and thank you. So I am wondering if Michelle is hearing it as well.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Those on the phone, are you hearing this clearly now? >>SHANA WILLIAMS: I am. >>MARC DUBIN: I am. Thank you. >>TERRI SCHISLER: Okay. Great.

And Carolyn, so you are saying that this issue has been resolved? >>CAROLYN DUDLEY: Yes. >>TERRI SCHISLER: Thank you so much. >>MARC DUBIN: May I ask a question about that? >>TERRI SCHISLER: Yes, Marc, go ahead. >>MARC DUBIN: My question really pertains to the availability of alternative

6

format, printed material by DCF, for people with this disability. Can DCF share with us what their policy is with respect to providing people with vision loss printed material in alternative formats?

>>JEFF McLEMORE: Hi, Marc. We are looking at that issue. Unfortunately, the lawsuit hasn't gone to the final resolution, so I can't really discuss what we're working on at this point.

>>MARC DUBIN: What's the lawsuit allege? >>JEFF McLEMORE: I didn't hear you, Marc. >>MARC DUBIN: What did the lawsuit allege? What was it about? >>JEFF McLEMORE: No, no, I'm talking about the rolling case, the case that is

currently pending, that has had us at a point where we couldn't comment on most of the issues.

>>MARC DUBIN: Okay, thank you. >>SHANA WILLIAMS: I'm sorry, Carolyn, can you repeat how that was resolved?

Did they find somebody to help her? I didn't get that part. >>CAROLYN DUDLEY: Okay.

We found someone -- we, the office, worked with the client. She went back to receive the services, someone was there to assist her to complete the form, answer all of her questions.

>>SHANA WILLIAMS: And was that a one-time fix? Or did they now put some procedure into place to help other people in the future?

>>CAROLYN DUDLEY: The procedure was in place; it was just an issue within that particular employee.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Any other questions on this topic? >>MARC DUBIN: This is Marc. I ask, Jeff, could you please clarify for me, if you

can, if a person is blind and currently requests an application form in Braille, is it provided in Braille?

>>CAROLYN DUDLEY: This is Carolyn, Marc. If a client comes in and requests alternative formats for documents, we will attempt to provide those services.

But there has been no request. >>MARC DUBIN: Is there notice to the client that they can make such a

request? >>CAROLYN DUDLEY: Yes. >>TERRI SCHISLER: Susan? >>MARC DUBIN: Okay, thank you. >>SUSAN HERRING: Carolyn, what I want to know is, when this lady told me, she

received a letter, the letter says you must call this number to reapply. Does it also say in the letter that there's another way to reapply? In other words, when she is saying, when she dialed that number, that it is an automated system? So how does she get in touch with somebody -- how do they know the other alternative? I don't even know if I am looking at you. But anyway, how do they know what to do, if they want to bypass that automated system and talk to a live person?

>>CAROLYN DUDLEY: I don't have the letter, I don't know exactly what the letter says, so I will have to look at it. But I know it is something that Jeff and his committee is working on at headquarters regarding notification of the clients on means to bypass that system.

>>SUSAN HERRING: Thank you. >>TERRI SCHISLER: If there are no other comments, we will move on.

All right. The next agenda item is the introduction of our new advisory committee member. I made the decision to go ahead and make the selection of the advisory committee member in order to expedite their appointment in hopes that they would be able to be with us today. The executive committee, Susan Herring, and myself met with Lira and Jeff; and we reviewed the two applications, and we selected Michael Yelapi. He was approved by HHS and/or Department of Health -- I'm not sure who that approval had to go up --

>>JEFF McLEMORE: HHS. >>TERRI SCHISLER: HHS, okay. So it was approved by HHS, and Michael was

7

informed of his selection. He is not able to be with us due to the limited amount of time he had after he was notified, but he is very eager to join this committee, and most likely it will be at our February meeting. So everyone got the bio and the resume, and we look forward to having Michael join us next time.

Any questions? Then we will move on. Jeff, the next item is yours, the independent consultant

update. >>JEFF McLEMORE: Yes. I'm pleased to announce that a contract has been

executed with Justice Research and Advocacy, Incorporated, which is Michelle Riske-Morris, to reimplement monitoring assistance that she had been doing for the Department of Children and Families previously. We have her on the phone. I would like for her to introduce herself for the new committee members and the guests that we have here.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Michelle? >>MICHELLE RISKE-MORRIS: Sorry, I had it on mute and I forgot. My name is

Michelle Riske-Morris. I'm With Justice Research and Advocacy, as Jeff just indicated. I think most of you know me. Previously I had worked with the committee with respect to the HHS settlement agreement, assisting the department in conducting monitoring and self-assessment with DCF administrative and facilities such as Access, and also working to monitor DCF contracted providers. I will be doing the same thing for the next 15 months. We're going to start going out and conducting monitor visits again to implement the settlement agreement for various DCF offices and programs. I don't know what else you would like from me, so just let me know.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Thank you, Michelle. This is Terri. So are you pretty much going to be doing the same activities that you were doing before; you are just going to continue to do them until the end of the settlement agreement?

>>MICHELLE RISKE-MORRIS: Somewhat. Part of the new contract, though, is to also look at the monitoring and always look at it to see if there are areas where we could improve. I would like to do a couple of different things with respect to monitoring of old, maybe areas where we previously visited, companies, maybe doing something a little bit different. But the contract just started. I was notified at the beginning of this week, so I really haven't had a chance to work with DCF to kind of sit down and go through our action plan. But some of it will be the same, but there is a provision in there to look at the monitoring plan again to see if there are areas where we can improve upon things, maybe do something a little bit different.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: All right. Jeff? >>JEFF McLEMORE: I just wanted to let everyone know that the contract was

executed November the 1st and will run through January the 31st, 2015. >>TERRI SCHISLER: Great. We are glad to have you back with us, Michelle.

I would like to make one request. I know that in the past, you have given us very extensive and detailed reports to the council. I was wondering if for the future reports if you could give us some sort of summary of those findings in a written format so that we can have that maybe in advance of the meeting. That way, we can maybe have some questions formulated. It will also help us to kind of compare information from one report to the next. Is that possible?

>>MICHELLE RISKE-MORRIS: Yes, I can do that, as long as that is permissible by DCF. But that is not a problem.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: And Jeff, we had asked, I think at one of our phone calls, if you could get us those written copies or reports that Michelle had previously filed. Is that something that is in progress?

>>JEFF McLEMORE: Yes, Madam Chair. >>TERRI SCHISLER: So those will be forthcoming? >>JEFF McLEMORE: Yes, ma'am. >>TERRI SCHISLER: Thank you. Any questions for Michelle? >>MARC DUBIN: I have something I'd like to bring up with respect to this, if I may. >>TERRI SCHISLER: Yes. >>MARC DUBIN: Michelle, welcome back, first of all. And I wanted to just ask if

8

you could share with us how much focus there is and will be on those with whom DCF contracts for services. I have been concerned that the programs with whom DCF contracts may not have the emphasis on the clients that DCF offices have. I wonder if you could explain to us the distinction. In particular, I am interested in knowing what monitoring has been done or do you plan to do with respect to police departments throughout the state who conduct child protective investigations and adult protective investigations? Is there a contract with DCF allowing them to do that? And to what degree are you planning to monitor the provision of Sign Language interpreters and other auxiliary services by those programs?

>>MICHELLE RISKE-MORRIS: Well, Marc, thank you for welcoming me back. At this point I don't know exactly who we are monitoring. I know that there is

going to be a focus on monitoring DCF subcontractors. In my last contract, we undertook the monitoring of the DCF equities which are the large organizations that through them have a large subcontract to provide services.

I know on this contract we are going to focus on some of the subcontractors, and that will go throughout the state of Florida. At this point I don't know who we are going to monitor, because, again, this contract just started. I am meeting with Carolyn tomorrow, and we are going to start going through all of that, determining whom we are going to monitor.

With respect to the police departments, I do not know -- I do recall, though, that there was something in the settlement agreement that did exempt the police department some. I'm not sure exactly what that is, so it would have to be better covered by the settlement agreement, and that's who I will be monitoring. So I am not sure if that is within that.

>>MARC DUBIN: Let me just very briefly suggest two things. One, if there is such an exemption, I think it would be helpful for you to have DCF share that part of the settlement agreement, specifically with the committee so we know what that language is.

And my second concern there would simply be that if there is a contract between DCF and the police departments, whether it is part of the settlement or not, it is required by the ADA at these police departments to provide qualified Sign Language interpreters and other affiliated services. And I'd like to know if DCF has a contract with those police departments. And if the contract said that they are required to comply with federal law or with the ADA, I would like to know why DCF is not -- well, what steps, if any, DCF takes to enforce that provision of the contract.

The reason this has come up, there's reports that some police departments that Jeff specifically mentioned was conducting adult protective investigations without providing Sign Language interpreters, and I'd like to know if this settlement agreement is one way to fix that or if there needs to be some other approach taken so that the individuals who are entitled to Sign Language interpreters receive them.

>>MICHELLE RISKE-MORRIS: Most of your comments really aren't directed to me; they are directed to DCF, so I can't really respond to those. But I will look up, during this meeting, the provision that I was referencing in the settlement agreement, and as soon as I find that I will share that with you.

Here it is. I'm sorry. It is in the settlement agreement on Page 6. It states: While DCF operates Child Protective Services programs throughout the state, the Florida legislature authorizes the Sheriff's Department to set up (policies) to address CPS cases rather than DCF. DCF maintains a peer relationship with these law enforcement agencies and does not provide them with financial assistance in the form of a grant or contract. Hence, DCF lacks oversight over CPS investigations within seven counties of Florida.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Michelle, I just would remind you not to talk too fast, and when we read from the text we tend to talk very quickly.

>>MICHELLE RISKE-MORRIS: Okay, I apologize. >>TERRI SCHISLER: No problem, just a reminder we all have to do that.

Carolyn, did you want to comment on that? >>CAROLYN DUDLEY: Yes. Just to concur with Michelle, it is on Page 6 of the

9

settlement agreement. The CPI's that are not assigned to the Sheriff's Office are assigned to DCF.

We do monitor our subcontractors and the provider registries. We have just completed looking at all of the 17 CPC's and the 7 managing entities. The next phase of the monitoring which we show will begin as we begin to look at the subcontractors. We can't look at the whole volume over here because it is over 300, but we have broken it down into how many we will look at for the year. But the provider agencies have been monitored and will continue to be monitored.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Cindy? >>CINDY SIMON: For Marc, Michelle, and everyone else, and those of you who

are on the Coordinating Council, or have been, already know this. We do have a law enforcement training video along with vignettes of what to do. If needed, I'm sure you can get that video. I think it was made -- someone correct me -- in conjunction with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, and I'm sure that is available. And one of our previous members, Valerie Stafford-Mallis, has very successfully done trainings all over the state, and our current outreach person may be able to do the same as well. So if it's trainings that's needed, the training has already been developed, and is out there.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Jeff? >>JEFF McLEMORE: I wanted to concur with Carolyn's comments. We don't

have contractual relationships with police departments, so.... >>CAROLYN DUDLEY: Let me see if I can try to clarify this a little bit better.

For the Agency for Child Protective Investigators, seven, I believe, Sheriff's Departments have been identified by the legislature to do the CPI investigations when there's a call from the hotline. The remainder is done by DCF. So when a call comes in from the hotline, if it's not one of the counties that's been identified by the legislature, DCF will go and do the initial intake on that particular call or that allegation of abuse.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Cindy, and then we will move on to the next agenda item. >>CINDY SIMON: And again, I'd like to stress, if it is one of those counties, many

Sheriff's Offices have gone through this training. As Alysse just pointed out, I just never think about it, it is on the Web site. They can go on the Web site and take it from there. But of course it is much more effective to send someone out and train them in person. That being said, it is still available, it's there, and I don't know why we can't look at making them go through that. Because I have seen that, I have seen the training. It does require providing -- it does tell them how to treat someone who may be deaf by, you know, not putting their hands behind their back or talking behind their head. There's a lot of things they need to know, and it's an excellent training, and we should take advantage of what's there.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: I'm going to let Kim have a final comment. This is -- Marc, if this is a concern and you have specific concerns, I would encourage you to forward those to Jeff and Carolyn for investigation or further action by Michelle as needed. As this is not a specific agenda item, we are here just to introduce Michelle, I am going to go ahead and move on to other agenda items that we have.

I will let Kim have the final comment. I'm sorry, it must have been Kim's mic. >>KIM GAUT: Carolyn, if I understand this correctly, those seven counties that are

under -- you have no control over that, right? >>CAROLYN DUDLEY: (Nodding head.) >>KIM GAUT: So the legislature has decided that in those seven counties, you

have nothing to do with the investigations for Child Protective Services? >>CAROLYN DUDLEY: (Nodding head.) >>KIM GAUT: Okay. So it is not something you can suggest in training. It is not

something that you have any control over whatsoever. Okay. Okay. So in other words, when we've got a problem, we have to go directly to that police department with the complaints and all that good stuff. Okay.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Jeff? >>JEFF McLEMORE: Madam Chair, I wish to say, that leads into the next agenda

item, which is Marc's question about the police department; and I think that Kim

10

accurately just recapped where we are, what our position is. >>TERRI SCHISLER: I apologize in not recognizing that that was the next agenda

item, because we were introducing Michelle and we got right into that discussion and I thought maybe we were a little off-base.

So, Marc, have you clearly articulated your concerns here? And can you pass on specific concerns to Jeff and Carolyn so they know specifically where or when -- what you are talking about?

And then also I would ask Jeff if we could get a list of those seven counties so we would know where we would need to go directly to the sheriffs departments?

>>JEFF McLEMORE: Yes, Madam Chair, I would be happy to e-mail out to you, similar to the update I sent you guys on September the 27th.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Marc, any further discussion you need on this topic? >>MARC DUBIN: Just first of all, thank you for the brief discussion.

Very briefly, is my understanding correct that DCF plays a role in referring hotline calls to those seven police departments? Is that correct?

>>JEFF McLEMORE: That's correct, but I want to make the distinction that it's Sheriff's Offices and not police departments per se.

>>MARC DUBIN: Okay. That's fine. So DCF receives hotline calls and then if they are in those jurisdictions of the seven Sheriff's Departments, it refers those calls to the Sheriff's Offices; is that correct?

>>JEFF McLEMORE: Yes. >>MARC DUBIN: Does your contract require you to do so? >>JEFF McLEMORE: I will have to check it out, Marc. I'm not sure personally. >>MARC DUBIN: I just want to highlight -- I think it was in Tampa, that was

brought to our attention, two or three meetings ago, regarding the police department repeatedly interviewing someone who's deaf without providing a Sign Language interpreter. I put that information in writing, sent it to DCF and sent it to Health and Human Services, and I don't know if anything was done as a result. But it caused me to think about this issue, about Sheriff's Departments setting privatized investigations of abuse and if there is a role to play. If there is any kind of agreement between DCF and those Sheriff's Offices, then presumably the Sheriff's Offices are acting on behalf of DCF, and I think that there is a need for DCF to play a role in ensuring that those police departments receive the appropriate training and that the problem is addressed so that persons who are deaf in those seven counties do not experience discrimination that results from referrals from DCF to the Sheriff's Offices.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Go ahead, Jeff. >>JEFF McLEMORE: Thank you, Madam Chair. What I will be happy to do in the

update is not only give a briefing of the contractual relationship, if there is any, but I will also give you the Statutory -- any statutory references and any legislative mandates.

>>MARC DUBIN: That would be very helpful, Jeff. Finally, the only other thing I would ask you to consider is whether you could also

provide us with the contact information for those Sheriff's Offices so that we can have some discussions with them about their obligations to the deaf community.

>>JEFF McLEMORE: I would be happy to do that. >>TERRI SCHISLER: And Rick? >>RICK KOTTLER: This is Rick. This is a suggestion. Since we do have the

chairperson for the Florida Coordinating Council sitting right here, would it be possible once we've identified those seven Sheriff's Departments for the Council to reach out to those seven and offer to provide them with the training? You obviously can't force them. We can't force them. But they can gently persuade them.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Cindy? >>CINDY SIMON: If you guys tell me that that is what you would like us to

do -- and I think you should tell us -- then we will be happy to write a suggested letter. We will be happy to give them the link for the training, or, if we can afford it, offer an outreach person to go train them in person, to ensure that they are really trained.

>>MARC DUBIN: That would be a great idea. >>TERRI SCHISLER: I'm sorry. Go ahead, Marc.

11

>>MARC DUBIN: I also raise the concern that these individuals residing in these seven counties are DCF clients. These DCF clients are not receiving Sign Language interpreter services when investigations are being conducted. Assume that to be the case. Does DCF plan to do anything in order to effectuate, enhancing services to these clients who are deaf who reside in those seven counties?

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Jeff, you will have to speak to that, or not. >>JEFF McLEMORE: Yeah, I will have to look into that. >>TERRI SCHISLER: Carolyn? >>CAROLYN DUDLEY: For those clients who are residing in those seven

counties, if they are not being served, they do have a right to file the complaints with our office as well as with the Department of Health and Human Services, so there is an avenue for them to reach out.

>>MARC DUBIN: Well, could you tell us very briefly, when a Sheriff's Department conducts its investigation and concludes that there is abuse, does DCF then play a role in either dealing with family counseling or doing any other services as a consequence of that finding?

>>CAROLYN DUDLEY: Marc, to work in the CPI program, in the child protective program, with the little knowledge I do know, once the abuse has been determined and if it's determined that that family needs services, they are being referred to the community-based partner in that area for any type of services that are needed; and that community-based organization is going to provide them the interpreters, whether it's Sign Language, language, whatever is needed. They will be provided that through the CPC and its subcontractors in that area.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: All right, Cindy? >>CINDY SIMON: Just one last thing. Again, if DCF cannot do this, and suggest

this, I'm sure we can put it on the agenda for the next council meeting to offer that training to those county offices and find a diplomatic way of suggesting it, if everyone agrees on that.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: I think there is definitely enough concern here on the group, on the issue, that since we have FCCDHH represented not only with the chair, but also with two staff members, this is something that they will take back to the council and see what support they can provide to this topic. So Cindy and the staff people will look into this from our perspective and see what kind of support we can provide from the Council.

So, Marc, do you have any other concerns that can be addressed with the people who are here today? Because I don't think we have any more information we can give you today on your concerns.

>>MARC DUBIN: No. Thank you. That's great. I appreciate the support, and I don't have anything else to add. So thank you very much.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: All right, wonderful. And I'm just going to move on, then, with the agenda. The next item is Susan's

agenda item, which we have already covered in Carolyn's report. And then Jeff was going to provide us an update on a TTY item that came up,

and he's been waiting to give this report to Marc. So, Jeff? >>JEFF McLEMORE: Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to let the

committee know that a couple meetings ago, Marc had some difficulty contacting our hotline, in that there was some time before the hotline counselor could put her hands on the TTY number. So what I did after that meeting is that I spoke to the hotline director, and each hotline counselor now has that number prominently displayed in their work area so the time frame to refer the call to a TTY number should be greatly reduced.

>>MARC DUBIN: Thank you for that. That was not the entirety of my concern, however. This occurred when the Governor began -- changed a hotline that was working and did kind of a communication blast across the state trying to increase the number of calls to the hotline.

The concern I raised was twofold. One, that the TTY number was not being advertised alongside the non-TTY number. So I have had to use the 711 relay

12

operator to call the voice line, to again find the problem with the lack of responsiveness to a TTY call.

So my proposed, in-turn solution was to not just increase the speed at which operators could tell a caller a TTY number, but to advertise a TTY number prominently alongside the non-TTY number so that the deaf community who wants to report abuse can do so and can do so anonymously. Has that been resolved?

>>JEFF McLEMORE: That has not been resolved, Marc, but we are working on services to get that done. What we are doing is ensuring that the TTY number is, as you said, displayed at every location that any other number would be displayed on the Web site.

>>MARC DUBIN: I appreciate that, but that is only half the problem, as I say. The bigger problem is the outreach to the deaf community that they can use the TTY number to call in and report. That is a larger problem, because we want the deaf community to be in the same position as the non-deaf community, to be able to identify and report abuse.

>>JEFF McLEMORE: Yes, sir. If you would, sir, just send me an e-mail with what I can research, and I will be happy to do it.

>>MARC DUBIN: Be happy to. >>TERRI SCHISLER: I would just add to this discussion some ongoing concerns

of mine that are exactly in line with what Marc is asking about, because I think that there's a tendency when you are sending out advertisements that you tend to -- rather than give all the options, you tend to give one or the other. So if you are publishing a TTY number, you are taking away the option to call through the direct number, through VRS; and then sometimes when you are publishing the relay number, 711, again you are leaving out the option of calling VRS as well. So when you publish phone numbers, you need to give all of them. Give a TTY direct number, give the 711 relay, give the regular, everybody-else call-in number, and indicate that VRS can access a person through that number. So you need to give all of those rather than one or two of those at a time.

>>JEFF McLEMORE: Thank you, Terri. If that is your issue, Marc, I can get on that as soon as I get back.

>>MARC DUBIN: Thank you, Jeff. The other part is monitoring those who receive the TTY calls or relay calls, whether they are trained to accept those calls. Sometimes because it is uncommon in some settings to receive those calls, they don't know how to use a TTY; they don't understand how a relay operator works.

So I don't know what training is being done to hotline operators, and I don't know what monitoring is done, as to whether they understand what they are supposed to do. So I just urge DCF to undertake some effort to ensure that they are trained, and that there is some monitoring done to make sure the training works.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Thank you, Marc. Any other questions or comments on this topic?

Then the next item is the brochure that we had previously approved and that Jeff has been working to get republished.

>>JEFF McLEMORE: Madam Chair, may I suggest we consider a short break? >>TERRI SCHISLER: I was getting that from another source at the same time.

So let's go ahead and take a 15-minute break, and we will come back at 10:00 -- or 10:15. Thank you.

>>(Recess taken at 10:00 a.m.) (Resumed at 10:15 a.m.)

>>TERRI SCHISLER: All right, everybody, let's go ahead and begin. Let's go ahead and begin. Hello. Okay. So we're going to reconvene again. This is the advisory committee to

the Department of Children and Families. Do we have folks back on the line? >>SHANA WILLIAMS: I am back. >>MICHELE RISKE-MORRIS: I'm back. >>TERRI SCHISLER: Awesome. Shana and Michelle are on the lines. So we

13

will go ahead and begin. Next item is for Jeff, about the brochure that we had previously created. Jeff?

>>JEFF McLEMORE: Yes, Madam Chair. This is Jeff. When it was brought to my attention that this brochure existed but apparently DCF had not used it, I went back and took the information and asked a person that was essentially a graphic artist within the department, in Lira's training unit, to look at the brochure and bring it up to date in terms of colors for the department.

The information is exactly the same as the old brochure. I think this committee helped design it, and it's my understanding there were some new graphics added and a Web site listing for where they can go and get forms and instructions.

So I just wanted to present it to the committee today and take any suggestions on changes and we can update those, and then I intend to seek approval to have it placed in all our service centers.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Very good. So you say it's going to be placed in the service centers. Is there going to be a specific time when it might be given to a customer or companion?

>>JEFF McLEMORE: Are you talking individually? What I was thinking was having it in our information racks that are right when you come in.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Okay. Cindy? >>CINDY SIMON: I have a little problem here.

This brochure says, "For deaf, hard-of-hearing, or deaf-blind." Almost everything in here concerns interpreters, does not mention CART or providing assistive devices which they are also entitled to. Is there a way we can be either all-inclusive or else retitle it so that it is more appropriate?

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Cindy, as I recall, this brochure was intended to fill a gap where we felt that those persons who would primarily use Sign Language needed some clear information in accessible language and that our original intent was that it be given to those individuals at the time they were provided the feedback form, so that one of the issues and concerns we had was that they were being asked to fill out a feedback form in which they might need the services of the interpreter to assist them with filling out the form. However, the feedback was regarding the services of the interpreter, so the reason we created this form was specifically for that purpose. And so by placing it in the public place for anyone to use, it may not meet that need. But the original intent was for it to be given to those people who were using the services of an interpreter.

>>CINDY SIMON: And so either -- very often those who are hard of hearing or late-deafened do not understand Sign Language. So maybe we should either just take out the "hard of hearing" or else if you going to leave it, you can say "interpreter/CART provider/assistive devices provided," and that would cover everything. I don't know how anyone else feels. I'm just trying to be a little more accurate on it.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Judy? >>JUDY MARTIN: Yeah, I agree with Cindy. Only 95 percent of people with

hearing loss use Sign Language. So also on the front, there's "CC." Obviously, that is connected with hard-of-hearing people.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: "CC" is closed captions. >>JUDY MARTIN: Right. >>TERRI SCHISLER: So I understand your concerns. So since this is one of the

items that we developed on my request, this conversation occurred over maybe three different meetings, and so you all raised those same concerns at the time. And I don't know if we want to try to go back and reinvent something that we had already approved. The only reason this is coming to us today is to say that they found the document, and they are going to publish it, and they are going to put it into use. So...

>>JUDY MARTIN: So we did not bring up any objections to that? And if we did, were they not listened to?

>>TERRI SCHISLER: You did bring up the objections, and I'm trying to reiterate that this document was for a specific gap that related to those people who used Sign

14

Language. And while the term on there says, "Hard of hearing," there are people who consider themselves hard of hearing that also use interpreters, so taking out "hard of hearing" doesn't limit -- I mean, you are not fully addressing that population as well.

So I just want to prevent us from going back and redeveloping something that now is ready to be published and disseminated is my only concern.

Kim? >>KIM GAUT: Okay, if I understand this correctly, this was originally intended to

be a companion piece of paperwork to the current feedback form that DCF is now handing out to everybody who uses some form of communication assistance. Now, people who are English-based and use CART, who read, that feedback form is not a problem for them; they can fill that out with no problem. And then DCF will know that they didn't get the CART.

This is not a "know your rights" brochure as to every accommodation that is available to you if you have any type of hearing or vision loss. This was supposed to be a companion piece of paperwork given to deaf people who use Sign Language who do not understand the current feedback form.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Susan? >>SUSAN HERRING: Kim, a companion to what -- to the feedback form? >>KIM GAUT: Yes. >>SUSAN HERRING: Then you don't want to put it on the counter. >>KIM GAUT: Yes, that's what we are saying. >>TERRI SCHISLER: That's why I asked where it was going to be held, where it

was going to be used, because of that reason. Jeff?

>>JEFF McLEMORE: I certainly don't mind researching it, getting it with the form, with the feedback form, having it go with the feedback form. I can update you guys in an e-mail we send out later.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Rick? >>RICK KOTTLER: First of all, I agree with you a hundred percent where we

came on this. From where I stand, I think that "deaf, hard of hearing, and deaf-blind" has to stay there, because I have clients who consider themselves severely hard of hearing who are signers. But specifically maybe in the title, we need, "who are deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind"? And "signing is their primary form of communication," or something like that, to indicate that this is a document for signing individuals specifically.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Cindy? >>CINDY SIMON: I'm fine if we do what Rick just said, because that's very clear.

If we had a change, I don't think that it would involve a lot of change. It's a slash, and adding the word "CART," slash, "assistive devices." And that's the majority of change that would have to be made, if we were to make it available to everyone.

Again, if you are giving it with the form, and it's specific for those for whom signing is their primary language, then if we do what Rick said, I'm fine with it.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Kim? >>KIM GAUT: Yeah. I would agree. I mean, I think the title on the very first

page should have "and who use Sign Language to communicate" added to it. Because if we do do the slash and add the rest of the accommodations, we are right back to where we started, because deaf people don't know what an assistive listening device is. They get confused when they see "CART" and all that other good stuff. So it's a great brochure; I think it just needs that one little sentence added to that very first page.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Susan? >>SUSAN HERRING: Okay. I just wanted to point out the language on there. I

noticed in the CART -- I didn't attend the last meeting, but in the CART there was an issue brought up about the deaf culture people not understanding a lot of what we are putting out there. There was a long discussion about that in the public comments section. And I wonder if this has been fine-tuned and looked over one more time to make sure that all the language is accessible and understandable to the Deaf Culture,

15

and then maybe putting on the front of it, like you are saying -- change the title and make it simple, just "ASL users," or "ASL," you know. If you put that up there, they will see that "ASL," and they will probably recognize that, I'm assuming. I'm not real sure.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Martha, could you give us some feedback on what your preferences are as far as categorizing the deaf community?

>>MARTHA KNOWLES: I agree we have to add a statement that says, "and for users of Sign Language" or "for American Sign Language, ASL." I think that would clarify it.

>>SHANA WILLIAMS: Can you hear me? >>TERRI SCHISLER: Yes, go ahead, Shana. >>SHANA WILLIAMS: I'm sorry, the microphone is cutting in and out, so I missed

quite a bit of what Susan was saying, caught it on the CART, just so that Peter knows. Also --

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Hold on, Shana. We were having difficulties with our CART. Go ahead.

>>SHANA WILLIAMS: I like the idea of just having "Sign Language" or "ASL" at the top to grab the attention of deaf signers so they will know that that is intended for their use. But that is who it is intended for, so I am just seconding it. Thank you.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Martha, let me defer to you again. If we put "and use Sign Language"?

>>MARTHA KNOWLES: Yes, that would be acceptable. >>TERRI SCHISLER: All right.

You have a comment, Rick? >>RICK KOTTLER: Shana, I have a question for you. Have you seen the

language in this? And what do you think about the verbiage being used? >>SHANA WILLIAMS: I can't see it now. I know that we saw it and we went over

it ad nauseam maybe a year ago. So I don't have it in front of me, and I am not able to comment. Sorry, Rick.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: I wrote the language pretty much and brought it to the group. So yes, I am comfortable with the language. If we are adding an addendum to the title on the inside cover, you have the same kind of question being asked: Are you deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind, and has DCF to your home? So would you also need some clarification there? Or on the title, is that the only place?

Rick? >>RICK KOTTLER: I think if it's on the title, then people will know to distribute it to

the end-user that needs it, and they won't have to -- you don't have to explain it inside, as long as it is on the outside. The outside is primarily to make sure that we are giving it to the right person.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: So Jeff, I think the direction is to change the title and add that qualification in there, "and who/whom would use Sign Language."

Don't use "ASL," use "sign." >>RICK KOTTLER: We don't want to exclude Signing English and that sort of

thing. So don't just use "ASL," use "Sign Language" in general. >>TERRI SCHISLER: Cindy? >>CINDY SIMON: So then could we just say "DCF customers or companions who

use Sign Language for communication"? >>SHANA WILLIAMS: Could we make that shorter? >>CINDY SIMON: Well, we are leaving out the "deaf, hard of hearing, or

deaf-blind." Or say "who use Sign Language." >>TERRI SCHISLER: Susan? >>SUSAN HERRING: Why can't we just make it "ASL users," and then under that,

"and deaf, hard of hearing," the rest of it? You know -- the more concise it is, the better.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Well, we would prefer not to say "ASL," because it's very -- it's more limiting, and the broader character is "Sign Language user."

>>SUSAN HERRING: Is it appropriate to say "signers"? >>TERRI SCHISLER: No. I think we are referring to the language, not the person

16

here. It's a language issue. So we are talking about who use Sign Language, not the person as a signer.

>>SUSAN HERRING: So put "Sign Language users"? >>TERRI SCHISLER: Yes, I would prefer that than "signers." Because a signer

doesn't have to be deaf. So it has to be a customer companion who is deaf and uses Sign Language.

>>RICK KOTTLER: Go ahead. >>SUSAN HERRING: I'm going to say, "deaf and uses Sign Language." Just put

Sign Language users and deaf, hard of hearing, whatever the rest of the title is. Rick?

>>RICK KOTTLER: Let's keep in perspective what this title is for. It's not necessarily for the deaf clients that -- this is to tell the DCF staff person that this is who should get this piece of information. So keeping that in mind, you know, it's not like this is going to be laying out and you are waiting for a deaf individual to come by and read the title and then pick it up. This is for somebody who's DCF staff and reminds them, this is going to go to a signer. Okay? So you want to be specific enough for them to understand.

The deaf person that reads this, the first thing they are going to do is open it up and look on the inside. So they are good with what's on the inside. I think the outside has to be specific for the DCF staff to know.

>>JUDY MARTIN: I just want to comment, this is good. People receive it in the mail, and this is fine. But others bring up different points of view. As an editor, I know I can proof it and it reads fine, but when it comes back in print, I go uh-oh, did I approve this? So it is good we are discussing this. I know it takes a long time.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Just for clarification, I am not opposed to discussing it, but I don't want to have a conversation we already had. Even if we don't recall it, we already have had this conversation.

>>JUDY MARTIN: You have a good memory. Some of us don't. So I like to talk about it again. But thank you for your patience.

>>CINDY SIMON: This will be my last comment. Again, I want to go back, because I am not looking at anything other than the cover. So I am going to propose -- and anyone else can change -- saying "DCF customers or companions who use Sign Language."

>>SUSAN HERRING: I was going to suggest something similar to that. A lot of these forms, they put little boxes on them that says, "for staff, users," whatever. So maybe something can be put in the corner that says, however you want to address it, to the DCF staff, what Cindy said, "anyone who uses Sign Language."

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Well, my next question, once we figure out what we want the title to be, is to clarify how we are recommending this be used; and that is, if it is possibly used in an office, but in a lobby where other brochures are put, I don't have a problem with that, especially if we are clarifying the title, because if other people who are deaf or hard of hearing don't use Sign Language, then, that would be clear for them. So I agree with that.

But rather than being passively used, I would like it to be actively used, specifically given out along with the feedback form, at an appropriate time where you can actively put it in that deaf person's hand and know that they have gotten that information.

Jeff? >>JEFF McLEMORE: I don't see a problem with that. >>TERRI SCHISLER: And my final comment is that on the back where it has the

contact information, we had discussed that each office would use some sort of labeling system to put their specific contact information there, and we want the 504 Coordinator and the Civil Rights Officer for that area, their contact information be there, so that if somebody gets it from that office, they won't call people at the state level; they will call people at their own district or regional level. Can that be done?

>>JEFF McLEMORE: I will have to look into the logistics of that, but we will definitely speak to the person who is handling the brochure.

17

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Okay. Any other comments? >>CINDY SIMON: One last, brief thing. This isn't for now, but for future

consideration. This is actually very nice to have, but other people don't have any idea what's going on, have no idea how bad their hearing is, don't understand any of this. I would like to see this redone at another time -- not now -- if we can, which would include the information for those who use CART or assistive devices or anything else, because they have just as many rights when they go into a hospital. They can ask for a Pocketalker®, and they are often denied it. So I think we need it for that as well, so that we have covered all the people that we care about.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Jeff? >>JEFF McLEMORE: Yes, Madam Chair, I just want to clarify so I understand

what the title should now read. It should now read "DCF customers or companions who use Sign Language"?

>>TERRI SCHISLER: I would say -- I'm still not happy. Rick's comments was, that title was directed to your staff people as well as the consumers. But I use Sign Language. If I were coming in with my mother, would you provide me an interpreter? Do I have rights to request an interpreter? I'm a signer; I use Sign Language. So I think if you take out "deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind," it's misleading.

Judy? >>JUDY MARTIN: Yeah, I agree with that. I do think we need the three of them

in the title. >>TERRI SCHISLER: So my recommendation is adding "and use Sign

Language". >>CINDY SIMON: That's right. >>JEFF McLEMORE: Madam Chair, if you would, just speak it one last time so I

will have it referenced in CART. >>TERRI SCHISLER: Sure. "DCF customers or companions who are deaf, hard

of hearing, or deaf-blind, and who use Sign Language." And we appreciate you taking us back and listening to our recommendations for

you on its specific use. >>JEFF McLEMORE: Thank you, Madam Chair. What is your pleasure with

regard to -- what I would like to do, once we make the revisions in the document, is send it back out to you or the full committee to say, yes, this is what we discussed, before we distribute it.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Please send it to the full committee. Another point of information here, as far as sending things out in preparations for

the meetings, it helps us to get these documents beforehand so we can have reviewed them before we get here. It also helps Susan to get that document ahead of time so she makes sure she has it in accessible format. So if we can do everything possible to make sure that we get any documents that will be reviewed or reports that will be given -- if we can get them ahead of time to the full committee, that would be really, really helpful.

Jeff? >>JEFF McLEMORE: That is something we can definitely commit to. We will be

happy to do that. >>CINDY SIMON: One last thing, I don't know how anyone else feels. If we are

accepting this document as is, with the amended title, then I would say I would give the chair the right without going to full committee to look at it and approve it, if we are not changing anything else. I see no reason to wade through all of that.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Any objections? Susan? >>SUSAN HERRING: I'm not objecting, but I would like to have an e-mail -- what

do you call it -- an e-mail copy of it, a carbon copy of it. >>TERRI SCHISLER: Susan needs an accessible copy, so she needs to be sent

this document so she has a chance to review it and have a chance to make a comment. Thank you.

All right. We have already covered Carolyn's report and update. The next item on the agenda is our next meeting.

18

The February meeting, we have not determined the location, and I'm not certain that we have determined a date. So I'm going to open up my calendar here so we can look at that.

And my computer is slow. Okay. In February we have -- Thursdays are the 6th, the 13th, 20th, and 27th,

and the Coordinating Council will be expected to be meeting on the 13th and 14th, which is also Valentine's Day.

>>MICHELE RISKE-MORRIS: I just want to let you know, I will not be available on the 20th.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Thank you, Michelle. All right. So how about the 6th? No objections to the 6th?

>>MARTHA KNOWLES: That's fine for me. >>TERRI SCHISLER: Thank you.

So when you look at locations, then, and in looking at the year, the whole year 2014, the February meeting is scheduled to have public comment, as well as the August meeting should have public comment; and those will be our final two public comment sessions for this committee. So I'd like to consider where we would like to have those meetings and maybe go ahead and determine the locations for our meetings ahead of time.

And according to my records, we had public comments sections twice in Orlando, twice in Tampa, once in Fort Lauderdale, and Jacksonville and Miami. So does the committee have any suggestions on where our final public comment should be?

Rick? >>RICK KOTTLER: I don't think it should be a final one, but one of the two I would

suggest is West Palm Beach, because they do have a big deaf population in Palm Beach County.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Other suggestions? >>SHANA WILLIAMS: We haven't gone north much. >>TERRI SCHISLER: We were in Jacksonville, but we haven't been to

Tallahassee or Pensacola. >>JUDY MARTIN: I would like to see us go to Pensacola. >>TERRI SCHISLER: This committee has not been to Pensacola. >>JUDY MARTIN: What do you think the response would be there? I just say not

Jacksonville, because Jacksonville, my town, is a tough nut to crack. >>TERRI SCHISLER: I think we will get some response in Pensacola, and I can

start advocating for people to come to the meeting. I know that we have some active people in Pensacola, too. I can't promise a huge outcry, but I can definitely spread that word, even for people who are in Tallahassee, may be interested in coming as far as Pensacola.

So West Palm Beach and Pensacola. Any other suggestions? All right. So which one would you like to go to first? Pensacola or West Palm? And we're talking about February and August.

Judy? >>JUDY MARTIN: I'd say February in Pensacola, because -- I mean South Palm

Beach, because it will be cheaper. >>RICK KOTTLER: Just a question to DCF. Now, going to Pensacola, for most

people, is going to require airlines and possibly staying more than one night. Is that going to be an issue? Flying in, flying out? I mean, Pensacola is difficult to get to.

>>SUSAN HERRING: It is. >>RICK KOTTLER: I don't have a problem doing it. I am just wondering if this is

going to be a financial issue with DCF. >>JEFF McLEMORE: No, that should not be a financial issue with DCF. We

should be able to accommodate that. >>TERRI SCHISLER: I know that these members have been in Pensacola for a

coordinating council meeting at least once. It is problematic to get there, but welcome to my world.

>>RICK KOTTLER: You just got to go to Atlanta!

19

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Kim. >>KIM GAUT: Truthfully, the northwest portion of the state has not been

represented by this council with any of the public comment meetings. We really do have a duty to be there.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Cindy? >>CINDY SIMON: When we're looking which date to go where, I agree with Judy;

that's season in West Palm, may be more expensive. Also, look at weather. It's going to be a lot cooler in February in West Palm than it will in August, and a lot warmer in Pensacola in August than it will be in February.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: So I am not sure which you are preferring, cold or warm. >>CINDY SIMON: I just wanted to bring up, you know, the idea of people, if they

don't like it, you know, much cooler, they may not want to be there in February. But I agree that in terms of expenditure, it is much cheaper in West Palm if you go in August, but it's hot.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Susan? >>SUSAN HERRING: For the length of time that we're there, I don't think the

weather is really going to be a big issue, and it is really hot in Pensacola too in August. It is. Not cooler than West Palm. In fact, West Palm is cooler because they get that little cross breeze. We don't.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Someone on the phones have a comment? >>SHANA WILLIAMS: Yes; thank you, Terri. I was thinking that Pensacola in

February and West Palm in August, but I don't know if there's any government meetings during that time that might be prohibitive for us. Does anybody know the Tallahassee schedule?

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Tallahassee will not be in session in February. It starts early March.

>>SHANA WILLIAMS: Okay. >>TERRI SCHISLER: And I don't think Tallahassee conflicts with anything in

Pensacola; we're too far apart for that. But I appreciate your concern. So if there's no objections, we'll schedule the February meeting for February 6th

in Pensacola, and the August public comment will be in West Palm Beach. May I assume from our former discussions that the other two meetings would be here in Orlando?

Hearing no objections, then we will set the locations for the remaining four meetings for next year. If you would like, we can go ahead and select the dates. The more notice we give Lira and Jeff, the better they are able to accommodate us.

I will at this point let you know that when we chose this hotel, it was the best of the options that we had in front of us. We've eliminated one of the hotels in this area as not being accessible and we choose not to support them any further. The other hotel that we used that we do like was not available. We were informed that this room would be renovated, but that we were assured that it would be ready by the time we got here, and they barely met that obligation.

Jeff? >>JEFF McLEMORE: Not only did they barely meet that obligation, but Peter, Lira,

and I were in this room until about 12:45 or 1:00 this morning. >>TERRI SCHISLER: So this hotel was not intended to be one of our regular

places, so don't be concerned that we will be back here again because we most likely won't. I heard a couple other comments about the sleeping accommodations, and the rooms were also not up to our usual standards. So please don't worry, we won't be back here.

>>JUDY MARTIN: Not to change the subject, I am looking at August 7th as a good date, the first Thursday in August.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: That's pretty far out, but yeah, if we wanted to look at that. >>MICHELE RISKE-MORRIS: August sounds like a good time with me. >>TERRI SCHISLER: Great. I am assuming that the Coordinating Council would

then have theirs on the 14th and 15th? So then the 7th would work. Anybody who would have a conflict for the 7th?

20

All right, August 7th in West Palm. Do we want to look at the May date? Look at them all? I was just going to go

with May, but we have already talked about the August, so let's look at the May date. I don't necessarily want to go as far as November of next year and make that commitment; it's a bit far out.

So in May. Coordinating Council would normally be meeting on the 8th and 9th. And May 1st is Mother -- Mother's Day is in May; that's always an issue. Mother's Day is the 11th, so the 14th or 15th.

>>JUDY MARTIN: Mother's Day is on Sunday. >>TERRI SCHISLER: The 11th? >>JUDY MARTIN: (Nodding head.) >>TERRI SCHISLER: All those for May 1st, any objections? All right. So May

1st. I'm not going to push it to November. We can do that at the next meeting or

possibly the May meeting. That's a bit far out, I think. So we are going to be meeting February 6th in Pensacola, May 1st in Orlando,

and August 7th in West Palm, and we will just leave the November date until we get a little closer to that.

So Lira and Jeff, what are our options here in Orlando for when we want to come back here? What is the best option for us considering the Council's concerns?

>>LIRA LATIMER: I believe the Doubletree by Hilton; we had a big response there, so I was hoping that's where we would return to. The Marriott was just entirely too expensive, so that's one of the reasons why they were excluded. They were not trying to negotiate with us whatsoever; and, of course, the Holiday Inn we already know, and now the Hampton Inn. The Doubletree Inn by Hilton is one we didn't have any complaints about. I will go ahead and reach out to them. Unfortunately, the reason for them not being able to accommodate us this time was the room they had available was too small. Honestly, it was probably this size, but they did not want to I guess not spoil us the way they did the first time that we were with them. They didn't want us to feel uncomfortable, so it was like no way, we want you back but we want you back the right way.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: So as far as meetings go, we have the next three lined up. And we'll -- unless people -- you want to go ahead and book the November meeting?

>>Why not. >>TERRI SCHISLER: Go ahead? I can make a commitment, but I didn't know if

everybody else could make a commitment that far out. So November would be the 6th or the 20th, and the 20th is the week before Thanksgiving.

>>KIM GAUT: 6th. >>TERRI SCHISLER: 6th? Okay, November 6th, and now you have your

schedule, Lira. Okay. So the final agenda item is Old and New Business. Does anybody have

any Old Business that hasn't already been covered? Rick?

>>RICK KOTTLER: Michelle, it's nice to have you back. We'll get you your new decoder ring sometime soon (:-)

First of all, thank you, DCF. I think one of the things that gave me most heartburn was Michelle not being in the mix. And having her back has a whole new comfort level, so thank you very much for that.

It's my understanding that the settlement agreement is sitting with a judge, waiting approval. Is that the current situation?

>>JEFF McLEMORE: That is correct. >>RICK KOTTLER: That being said, I know there's no telling when the judge will

get around to making a decision. If that is done before the next meeting, can we go back to talking about the issues that we've been discussing before, the children and that sort of thing?

>>JEFF McLEMORE: As I mentioned in the last meeting, I believe that you are going to see a commitment like you haven't seen before, in our Assistant Secretary of

21

Administration, Scott Stewart, as soon as we get that final resolution. I can't say when that will be, but I think you will be pleased with his decision to bring the independent consultant back. The committee will be pleased with the movement he intends to make once that settlement is finalized.

>>RICK KOTTLER: Okay. My only other thought is, I want to avoid another meeting like this where we're meeting for half a day, particularly if we are going all the way to Pensacola. And I do know that the settlement agreement basically says DCF brings problems to us that they want us to discuss, so we're going to need your -- pick up your portion of the agenda for the next meeting, more than just, you know, talking about old business and having the public in. So I know that there's limitations; we can hope and pray that the settlement is done by then. But if not, we are still going to have to look to you to give us some meat for the agenda, if that would be possible.

>>JEFF McLEMORE: If that is possible, we will definitely make it happen. Of course, I will be speaking with Terri as chair, and Susan as vice chair.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Cindy? >>CINDY SIMON: In the same vein as Rick's, if the case is done and everything

has been decided, with Terri's permission I would like on the agenda addressing exactly the stuff in the letter that went out, as well as the letter that came from the Coordinating Council that has not received an answer from any of the individuals at this table.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Jeff? >>JEFF McLEMORE: What I anticipate, Cindy, is that even if not before, definitely

when the final resolution is granted by the judge, I would anticipate that Scott Stewart, our Assistant Secretary for Administration, will be having a conference call with the chair, the vice chair, Carolyn, Lira, and myself, and my immediate supervisor, our statewide HR director, regarding what's going to be brought up.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Very good. Any other concerns regarding the pending litigation and topics that we were not able to address? So hopefully, we can get that resolution before the February meeting, and then we will be working to create that agenda.

I would encourage all of the committee members, though, that if you have specific concerns that we have not been able to address, that you submit those to us so that we can make sure that they get on the agenda. While DCF will have an active role in that process, if something is not included, you know, if you know something that you want to be discussed, then you need to let us know so we can make sure it gets on that agenda.

Other questions, comments? Any other old business? Along the same line, I have a question. I was wondering if Jeff or Carolyn could

give us kind of a projection over the next year of the remaining deliverables or items that you -- that will be done or completed over the next year in the conclusion of the settlement agreement. Are there any deliverables that are outstanding? Are there any action items that will be taking place over the next year?

>>CAROLYN DUDLEY: This is Carolyn. All of the deliverables have been met. All of the deliverables have been met. We're just updating the policies as local, things of that nature. But we have met all of the deliverable requirements by the settlement agreement.

>>MICHELE RISKE-MORRIS: The only thing I can think of with respect to the DCF action plan is there is a compliance report that is due, but I would be doing that and I would be presenting that to the committee in September of next year.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Great. That is kind of what I was looking for. A compliance report. Is that the same as -- is there a self-assessment that will be done?

>>CAROLYN DUDLEY: The self-assessment, according to our monitoring plan, is not due until 2015. In the monitoring agreement, that's when that is due.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: That is after the role of the committee is completed? >>CAROLYN DUDLEY: Correct.

22

>>TERRI SCHISLER: All right. Thank you. Any other questions on this topic? Any other old business? All right. Any new business? Judy?

>>JUDY MARTIN: This is not new business, but it's community related. We're having our Walk 4 Hearing in Jacksonville on Saturday, and you all come. Registration is at 9:00 and there's lots of food, pizza, and good healthy walking on the St. Johns River.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: And Judy is the chair of that event, so I'm sure it is going to be a wonderful event.

>>JUDY MARTIN: Unnamed chair. Unnamed. I am doing the work of the co-chair.

>>TERRI SCHISLER: Anything else? New business, old business? Then do I have a motion to adjourn? Cindy?

>>CINDY SIMON: So moved. >>TERRI SCHISLER: Judy Martin seconds. And we are adjourned.

Thank you all for being here and for your services. (Concluded at 11:02 a.m.)