Personal Care Attendant Quality
Home Care Workforce Council
600 Washington Street, 5th Floor – Rm. 5189
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	December 9, 2008	2:00 P.M.	10th floor, Video Conference Room 	
 	
coUNCIL
 members in attendance	Joe Bellil, Liz Casey, Paul Spooner, Jean McGuire, Joe Tringali, Larry Braman	
 Staff attending	Jack Boesen, Michelle Byrd, Karen Langley	
 chair	Jean McGuire	
Note taker	Michelle Byrd	
agenda setting	No issues were added to previously-issued agenda	

The Chair called the meeting to order at 2:10 pm.

Approval of Meeting Minutes
Paul Spooner made a motion to approve the November minutes.  Joe Bellil seconded, and the minutes were unanimously approved.   

Report on Labor contract ratification press conference
Paul Spooner and Liz Casey reported that the press conference held at the Senior Center in Brighton, Massachusetts was well attended by over 100 PCAs, consumers and members of SEIU.  Senator Tolman and Mayor Menino both attended the conference and spoke about the contract ratification.  Mike Fadel of SEIU along with council members, Paul Spooner and Liz Casey, spoke as well.

Council representation on the Labor/Management Committee
Jack Boesen requested that the council make recommendations for membership of the Labor Management Committee (LMC) as outlined in Article 8 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.  LMC members will assist in the implementation of the labor contract; provide input on issues including payroll processing and training opportunities for PCAs and consumers.  The Council will provide four representatives to the LMC and the Union will provide the same number.  The committee will meet as needed, but at least quarterly.  Those who volunteered or were recommended include Paul Spooner, Liz Casey, Jack Boesen and Joe Bellil.  Names of all possible candidates will be taken and a final decision made.  Dates for upcoming meetings will be determined at a later date.

Referral Directory
Karen Langley introduced Jeff Keilson and Elenore Parker of Rewarding Work Resources, Inc.  Karen proposes that several members of the Council provide oversight to the development of the directory web-site and written materials.  Larry Braman and Joe Tringali both volunteered to provide review and feed-back on directory related materials.  Jeff Keilson asked the Council to consider clarification of accessibility to the on-line directory by non-MassHealth members approved for PCA services.  Jean McGuire suggested other stakeholders be involved in reviewing directory development and materials including MassHealth and Elder Affairs and that consistent language be used in all materials.  Jean suggested the Council review the enabling statute to determine if any groups other than MassHealth PCA program members would be eligible to use the directory and that council members provide clarification to Reward Work on these accessibility issues. 

MassHealth Presentation by Lois Aldrich
Lois updated council members on the development of the Fiscal Intermediary (F.I.) system to support the payroll and collection of union fees and dues as outlined in the contract.  Paychoice has been selected as a sub-contractor and will provide PCA data updates to MassHealth three times yearly.  The verification of PCA data will be checked and a list of updated PCAs and their data will be provided to the Council every six months. Paychoice is developing a web-based application for assigning a unique identifier to be in place by July 1, 2009.  The Fiscal Intermediary’s will be able to collect union dues and fees, pay retroactive salary and implement pay increases to current PCAs.  1199SEIU will provide a list of current union members to the F.I.’s.  Deductions are scheduled to begin January 21st for PCAs who have joined the union.  Initiation fees for current PCAs will be waived.  A $10 fee will be applied to PCAs hired after January 21st.  PCAs will receive their retroactive salary increase in February 2009.  Jean inquired of the council what communications they feel should be sent to consumers regarding pay increases and union dues.  Paul Spooner expressed his opinion that a letter should be sent to all consumers.  Jack Boesen will compose a letter to consumers to be mailed out by the F.I.’s.

PCA Work Improvement Group Report
Paul Spooner and Liz Casey reported on the activities of the group.  Two meetings have taken place focusing on the PCA agency model.  MassHealth is currently developing of a task list with assigned time limits. Paul Spooner expressed concern that assigning time limits to PCA tasks are often inadequate for people with disabilities. 

Council Budget Report
Joe Bellil reported that an updated budget report was not provided by the Budget Office.  Jack Boesen explained to the Council that currently there is no dedicated budget person assigned to the council and that he is working with Stephen Barnard to have updated reports sent in advance of Council meetings.

Paul Spooner made a motion to move to executive session. Larry Braman seconded and the motion was unanimously approved. 

The council moved to executive session at 3:25 p.m.

The Council came out of executive session.  A motion was made, seconded and passed to adjourn at 3:55 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Michelle Byrd