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	June 9, 2009	2:00 P.M.	21st floor, 1 Ashburton Place 	
 	
coUNCIL
 members in attendance	Joe Bellil, Liz Casey, Joe Tringali, Paul Spooner, Denise Harvey, George Noel and Eileen Brewster	
 Staff attending	Jack Boesen, Michelle Byrd	
 chair	Jean McGuire	
Note taker	Michelle Byrd	
agenda setting	No issues were added to previously-issued agenda	

The meeting was called to order by Vice Chair Paul Spooner at 2:10 pm.

Approval of Meeting Minutes
After the introduction of members and staff, Paul Spooner asked the Council to approve the general and executive session minutes from April.  Motions seconded by George Noel and unanimously approved by Council members.
       
Referral Directory Update
Karen Langley provided an update on the PCA referral directory.  A contract for third party validation of the sites accessibility features has been executed and the work should be completed by the end of the month.  Five regional directory trainings for PCM agency personnel have taken place and there has been positive feedback from the 80-85 PCM staff who attended. Informational brochures directed towards both Consumers and PCAs have been printed and distributed. Public service announcements regarding the directory are in the process of being close-captioned.

Final preparations before the directory web site goes live are underway.  There will be a soft launch of the web site when the mass.gov link is established.  Additional launch events will take place later.

Liz Casey asked if other agencies such as the M.S. society would be involved in the launch of the directory. Karen assured her that other agencies would be included in launch activities. Jean asked how PCAs register on the directory.  Karen explained that both consumers and PCAs could use the directory. Eileen Brewster asked about the use of CORI checks.  Karen stated that information about CORI checks is on the site, however, consumers will decide for themselves whether to proceed with CORI.  Consumers will be given information about the OIG excluded list and statements on the website will strongly recommend that consumers check references on all PCAs they interview.  Jean McGuire suggested further strategies that incorporate other agencies such as DWD and EOWD.  Paul Spooner recommends that Independent Living Centers and other organizations be provided access to the Directory.
 
Labor Management Committee
Liz Casey reported on Labor Management committee meetings.  The last meeting addressed paid time off benefits for PCAs.  The union put forward two proposals about how to allocate these benefits.  Paul Spooner asked the Council to consider how eligibility of PTO based on the number of hours PCAs work, should be determined.  His expressed concern for PCAs employed by multiple employers, and whether or not the calculation of PTO should based on the PCAs combined hours regardless of the number of employers to whom they provided service.  He argued for a PTO calculation based on hours provided a single employer.  Rebecca Gutman of 1199SEIU stated that proposals put forth by the Union attempted to acknowledge long-term PCAs since there would be a requirement of 1,500 hours and 30/hours a week to qualify for PTO.  She also expressed concern on issues related to federal matching funds for the PTO benefit as well as the capability for FI’s to implement a program to manage the PTO benefit. The council agreed to discuss further clarification during the executive session.

Review of vision statement and work plan
Jack Boesen provided Council members with drafts for their review.  Jean suggested Council members respond to Jack by June 17 regarding any major issues they feel were not included.

Council Budget Report
Joe Bellil reported on expenses as of 5/28/09 including a review of expenditure categories. Jack Boesen reported that additional expenses would be reflected in the next budget report including additional expenses posted to the UU (IT) budget lines for validation of the directory and other directory costs.  The current contract with Rewarding Work Resources will also be amended with additional funding.
The FY2010 budget will be for $187,000 with an undetermined sum budgeted for the directory from the EOHHS consolidated IT fund.   

S.I.L.C. Conference workshop
Jack requested that Council members suggest workshop topics for the upcoming conference, September 14-15, 2009.

Announcements
Jack Boesen reminded Council members that our MRC Workshop session titled “Bridges for an Interdependent Community”, will be held on June 18th will from 2:15-3:45 p.m. 

At 3:00 p.m., Paul Spooner made a motion to adjourn to executive session.  George Noel seconded and the motion was passed unanimously 

The Council came out of executive session.  A motion was made, seconded and passed to adjourn at 4:51 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Michelle Byrd