Personal Care Attendant Quality
Home Care Workforce Council
600 Washington Street, 5th Floor
Boston, MA  02111 

DEVAL L. PATRICK
Governor

TIMOTHY P. MURRAY
Lieutenant Governor

JUDYANN BIGBY, M.D.
Secretary

Tel.:  617-210-5715
www.mass.gov/pca

		

Personal Care Attendant Quality Home Care Workforce Council
One Ashburton Place
Boston, MA 02108

Council Meeting

Minutes	August 11, 2009	2:00 P.M.	21st floor, 1 Ashburton Place 	
 	
coUNCIL
 members in attendance	Joe Bellil, Liz Casey, Joe Tringali, Paul Spooner, Tom Jones (for George Noel)	
 Staff attending	Jack Boesen, Michelle Byrd	
 chair	Jean McGuire	
Note taker	Michelle Byrd	
agenda setting	No issues were added to previously-issued agenda	

Jean McGuire called the meeting to order at 2:05 pm.

Approval of Meeting Minutes
Jean McGuire asked the Council to approve the general session minutes from June.  Joe Bellil made a motion to accept the June minutes, Paul Spooner seconded and the motion passed unanimously.  Paul Spooner made a motion to accept the June Executive Session minutes.  Joe Bellil seconded the motion and those minutes were unanimously approved.
       
Referral Directory Update
Jack Boesen provided an update on the PCA referral directory. With the successful completion of accessibility validation, the directory is set to go live on August 12th.  Liz Casey will be the first official user.  The first directory launch event is scheduled for September 14th at the Statehouse.  Two additional agency trainings have taken place and e-mail announcements will be sent to PCMs and other agencies announcing the launch of the web site.  Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with non-PCM agencies agreeing to provide customer support to directory users have been created and included in a separate mailing to those agencies. 

Council members discussed launch event arrangements including the list of invitees as well as possible locations for a second launch event.  Rebecca Gutman of 1199SEIU suggested Springfield, Massachusetts as a secondary location.  Paul Spooner asked if MassHealth has a role in informing consumers about the new directory.  Jack Boesen informed the Council that information on the Directory is included in the next issue of the Council’s newsletter, The Bridge, which will be mailed to all MassHealth PCA consumers.  Jean McGuire suggested a further collaboration between the Council and MassHealth to promote the Directory to all MassHealth members.

Jean expressed concern about the how to handle access to the Directory for non-MassHealth members.  She suggests providing a script for agencies on how to handle consumers who want to use the directory but who are not MassHealth members.  Joe Tringali asked if non-PCM agency staff would have access to the Directory.  Jack Boesen explained that agency membership, as outlined in the MOU’s, would enable staff to access the Directory for use of non-MassHealth consumers.

Labor Management Committee
Liz Casey reports that the committee met in late July to discuss Paid Time Off benefits with Rachel Richards and Lois Aldrich.  Among the issues discussed was the clarification that the PTO benefit does not qualify for federal matching funds. The committee also discussed whether PCAs should be permitted to aggregate hours when working for multiple consumers for purposes of calculating PTO benefits.  Jean asked if any movement is being made by the committee to resolve this issue. Rebecca Gutman suggested that one potential solution could be to treat the PTO benefit as a paid bonus based on service.

Jack Boesen informed the Council of a federal stimulus grant proposal that could provide funding for training and outreach and asked the Council to support this grant effort.

PAS Coalition Report
Paul Spooner reports that the issue of Prior Authorizations (PA) and the new MMIS computer system remain unresolved issues especially as it affects changes in authorized hours.  He also expressed concern that there has not been a formal response from MassHealth regarding audit report findings. Jean McGuire encouraged the Council to address this issue as well as other worker issues that influence the health coverage of consumers.

Review of vision statement and work plan
Council members reviewed materials including changes proposed by Liz Casey.  Further revisions for the vision statement were discussed.  By consensus, the Council approved the work plan.  Jean asked that council members respond directly to Jack regarding any additional changes to the vision statement.

Council Budget Report
Joe Bellil reported on expenses as of 7/29/09.  Council members reviewed the FY10 Council budget submitted by Finance.  Paul Spooner made a motion to approve the budget. Liz Casey seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

Council Appointments
Jack Boesen provided Council members with a memo outlining the plan for reappointments for their review.  He asked that Council members contact him if any issues arise from the plan. 

At 3:05 p.m., Joe Bellil made a motion to adjourn to executive session.  Paul Spooner seconded and the motion was passed unanimously. 

The Council came out of executive session.  A motion was made, seconded and passed to adjourn at 4:13 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Michelle Byrd