Personal Care Attendant Quality
Home Care Workforce Council
One Ashburton Place, Room 1109
Boston, MA  02108 


		






MINUTES
January 22, 2007
2:30 P.M. to 4:00 P.M.
Ashburton Café Conference Room
GOVERNANCE COMMITTTEE MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE
Joe Bellil, Larry Braman, Eileen Brewster, Liz Casey, Patricia Johnston, RJ McGrail, Gerry Morrissey, Paul Spooner, Joseph Tringali
OTHER COUNCIL MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE
N/A
SUBCOMMITTEE CHAIR
N/A
NOTE TAKER
Rachel Richards
AGENDA SETTING
No issues were added to previously-issued agenda
Approval of Minutes
Minutes were reviewed by members.  A motion to approve was made and seconded. All voted unanimously for the approval of the minutes from December 18, 2006 meeting. There was general discussion and a specific request that minutes be issued in advance of future meetings.
Review of Open Meeting Law (*includes vote)
Kris Apgar, EHS General Counsel, reviewed the requirements of the Open Meeting Law and the Public Records Law and its applicability to the PCA Workforce Council meetings, including subcommittee meetings, and records. (Handout provided.)  Members asked questions about reasonable accommodations and participation in meetings by telephone or video-conferencing. Ms. Apgar advised that, in order to vote, Council members must participate in meetings in person. She also offered to seek further input from the Attorney General’s Office about this matter. 

Ms. Apgar additionally discussed the Conflict of Interest Law. After general discussion, the Council voted unanimously to have Ms. Apgar send a letter to the State Ethics Commission on behalf of the Council asking the Commission to review certain specific questions (e.g. whether Council members are “special state employees”), and laying the foundation for Council members to subsequently submit their own specific inquiries for opinion letters.
Review of Scope of Subcommittees (* includes vote)
Susan Ciccariello from the MassHealth Office of Long Term Care (OLTC) reported to the Council on the results of the staff survey of the 27 personal care management agencies (PCMs) regarding their use of PCA pool lists. (Handout provided.)

There was an inquiry regarding the status of the list of PCAs that the statute calls for the Commonwealth to provide to the Council. Mr. Morrissey responded that the Commonwealth had initiated the request to receive the data, and expected to have it shortly. There was discussion about whether the list would be a public record when received by the Council and what the Council might do with the list. 

There was general discussion about a suggested scope for the Recruitment and Retention Subcommittee including: looking at national best practices regarding Registries; analysis of whether there are any regional differences regarding where consumers need PCAs; looking at what works for workforce development and recruitment strategies.

Eileen Brewster was added as a member of the Recruitment and Retention Subcommittee. 
Joe Tringali discussed an opportunity of which he had become aware for technical assistance (TA) from CMS. After discussion about the timeframes for submission of an application, the Council voted to “strongly encourage” the OLTC to pursue the submission of a TA application to support the Council’s anticipated recruitment and retention activities. The Council also voted unanimously to submit a letter in support of the TA application.

The Recruitment and Retention Subcommittee meeting was scheduled for February 16th.
There was general discussion about the suggested scope for the Governance Subcommittee including: the development of By-laws, and the development of a budget to address the personal reimbursement needs of Council members, Council staffing, and future development activities such as a Web site or Registry.

Gerry Morrissey was added as a member of the Governance Subcommittee.
The Governance Subcommittee meeting was scheduled for February 12th.
Next Steps
The next Council meeting was scheduled for February 26th. Council members will be contacted in the event that the meeting is cancelled due to inclement weather.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:20 P.M.








Minutes	01/22/2007	Page 1 of 2