Personal Care Attendant Quality Home Care Workforce Council One Ashburton Place, Room 1109 Boston, MA 02108 Personal Care Attendant Quality Home Care Workforce Council One Ashburton Place, Room 1109 Boston, MA 02108 General Council Meeting Minutes February 12, 2008 2:00 P.M. to 3:00 P.M. 21st floor, Conference Room 3 COMMITTEE MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE Joe Bellil, Larry Braman, Eileen Brewster, Liz Casey, Jean McGuire, George Noel, Paul Spooner STAFF ATTENDING Jack Boesen, John Jesensky, Karen Langley COMMITTEE CHAIR Assistant Secretary Jean McGuire NOTE TAKER Joanna Tan AGENDA SETTING No issues were added to previously-issued agenda The Chair called the meeting to order at 2:10 PM, and introduced the Council members to new staff attending the meeting. Approval of Meeting Minutes Paul Spooner made a motion to accept the meeting minutes from the January meeting as written; Joe Bellil seconded the motion. The minutes were approved as written. Holding Council Meetings in Other Parts of the State Jack Boesen updated the meeting that Joe Bellil and Joe Tringali were arranging for the Council’s meeting to be held outside of Boston, most likely in Springfield. Lunch would be organized with consumers and staff from various agencies and John Jesensky would present the unionization of PCAs and implications on consumers. Publicity brochures would be printed in English and Spanish, and Council members were requested to RSVP as soon as the dates were made available. He also highlighted that holding meetings was not the only way to increase awareness and outreach to other parts of the state, and would be happy to make presentations where necessary. Jean McGuire concurred with the suggestion and requested that transportation support be provided for such meetings. Eileen Brewster announced that the MRC Council would be holding a workshop on June 11 and 12 at Northeastern University. RFI Responses Jack Boesen welcomed Karen Langley to the meeting and informed the Council that she would be working on the RFR following the completion of the RFI. The estimated deadline for publication of the RFR was Feb 25, and the draft RFR would be circulated for Council’s prior comments. He then presented a summary of the RFI, which received 4 agencies’ responses by the extended deadline. He highlighted the common points of agreement and where there was controversy, in particular, whether CORI service should be included and who should pay for it. Paul Spooner reminded the Council that there was no current requirement for CORI; therefore Council should be cautious about making it mandatory. On the other hand, PCAs may like to retain their CORI as a form of “qualification”. Other implementation difficulties included verification of self-declared information, and determination of how to verify MassHealth members. Jean McGuire requested that the system be built with the ability to expand when required, such as the future possibility of opening up to non-MassHealth members. Liz Casey raised concerns about private payers “creaming off” the best PCAs. Council agreed to review the draft RFR when it was ready, and include their views of the Directory specifications and vendor evaluation criteria. Consumer Satisfaction Evaluation Paul Spooner and Eileen Brewster would review the document before publication, including meeting with the contractors. Jean McGuire requested other Council members who were interested in helping out in this project to inform her. Report on the PCA Improvement Workgroup Paul Spooner reported that the last meeting with the Office of Clinical Affairs was very productive, and that having representatives from the Prior Authorization Office was helpful. The regulatory changes would lower the incidence of deferrals, and the vendor/agency form of PCA would be discussed at the following meeting. Jean McGuire requested that the Council be updated on any quality-related or management issues that may result from the Workgroup. Council Role in Training and Recruitment Jack Boesen reported that the job description of the training and recruitment coordinator has been reviewed by Joe Bellil and Joe Tringali. Paul Spooner was concerned about the wide variety of skills that PCAs would require and were interested in, as they were such a diverse group. Joe Bellil noted that it was the responsibility of the coordinator to devise strategies for training and recruitment. Jean McGuire commented that e-learning was one option, and that existing software could be purchased from the Human Services Council. Other strategies could include outreach to libraries, community agencies, etc. Council Retreat Jean McGuire informed the Council that the retreat was a means of preparing the Council to work efficiently, through putting in place an architectural framework for the Council. Jack Boesen updated that the retreat had been scheduled for mid-May, and some discussion topics had been proposed, but the site and facilitator had not been identified. Liz Casey made a motion to accept the idea of a retreat, and Joe Bellil seconded the motion. Other Matters Karen Langley highlighted that with the increasing trend of overseas recruitment of PCAs, Council would have to work closely with the Workforce and Immigration departments to look into cross- cutting issues such as housing and training. Paul Spooner made a motion to move into Executive Session for the purpose of discussing collective bargaining. The motion was seconded by Liz Casey, and approved unanimously.