Lewis, Mason and Thurston Counties Policy 7.01 Collaboration Meeting April 26, 2013

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1 Lewis, Mason and Thurston Counties Policy 7.01 Collaboration Meeting April 26, 2013 In Attendance Robert Smith, Skokomish Tribe Martin Estrada, Skokomish Tribe Carmen Kalama, SPIPA Patty Kinswa-Gaiser, Cowlitz Tribe Lois Thadei, NW Urban Indian Community Elizabeth Egan, Squaxin Island Tribe Janita Raham, Squaxin Island Tribe Elizabeth Heredia, Squaxin Island Tribe Norine Wells, Nisqually Indian Tribe Lorna Kalama, Nisqually Indian Tribe Heather Ligtenberg, LMTAAA Carrie Petit, LMTAAA Dennis Mahar, LMTAAA Rae Graham, LMTAAA Tracy Gunter, LMTAAA Shelly Zylstra, guest, Northwest Regional Council Welcome and Introductions Lunch was provided by LMTAAA. Carrie welcomed everyone and introductions were made. Chronic Disease Self-Management Education (CDSME) & Wisdom Warriors Guest speaker, Shelly Zylstra from the Northwest Regional Council (NWRC), spoke to the group about CDSME and the Wisdom Warriors program. CDSME is an evidence based workshop given two and a half hours, once a week, for six weeks, in community settings. People with different chronic health problems attend together. Workshops are facilitated by two trained leaders, one or both of whom are non-health professionals with chronic diseases themselves. Workshops are highly participative, where mutual support and success build the participants confidence in their ability to manage their health and maintain active and fulfilling lives. The Wisdom Warriors program is a culturally sensitive program specific to Tribal members that takes place after completing the six week CDSME workshops. The group meets once a month and learns/discusses different health topics each month. The participants then sets a goal for themselves each month and when completing their goal, earns a different color bead each month to attach to their medicine bag. The Wisdom Warrior program has been very successful in Tribal communities around Washington State. Page 100

2 If you are interested in learning more about or starting the CDSME and Wisdom Warriors programs in your Tribal community, please contact Shelly Zylstra at (360) If funding is needed to start the Wisdom Warrior program, Dennis invited Tribes to make a request as it would be an appropriate use of our Older Americans Act (OAA) Title IIID funding. Additionally, the Washington State Attorney General s Office has grant funds through their Consumer Protection Division which may fund the program or something similar. Information about this grant was ed to Tribal contacts on April Regional Policy 7.01 Plan The Regional Policy 7.01 Plan is a coordinated effort between LMTAAA and the regional Tribes, which describes how services and information will be coordinated or shared with Tribal members. Carrie led a discussion reviewing the current Policy 7.01 Plan and asked for updates or new items. Most of the goals/objectives will remain on the Plan as ongoing. The following goals/objectives have been met and will not be listed on the Plan: Provide information and assistance with Medicare Improvement for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA), Low Income Subsidies (LIS) and Medicare Savings Program (MSP) LMTAAA stopped providing MIPPA education at the end of September 2012 when the funding ceased. Senior Services for South Sound has the SHIBA contract to provide similar services. Increase LMTAAA staff awareness of culturally sensitive issues and relevant resources cultural sensitivity training has been provided 2010, 2011 and Increase Tribal awareness of and access to transportation funding available through the Medicaid Brokerage program completed in April The following needs were discussed as possible additions to the Plan: The Skokomish Tribe is considering starting a caregiver support group and is looking for resources to provide respite care. Information has been requested on Traumatic Brain Injuries. Tribal staff are interested in helping their elders through the system to apply for and obtain COPES in home care. Some expressed feeling like they are left out of the communication loop and are therefore unable to assist to the best of their ability. Dennis suggested that a meeting could be arranged between Tribal staff, LMTAAA and Home & Community Services staff to discuss the concerns and strategize how Tribal staff can become involved while at the same time respecting the privacy of the individual applying for service. The Nisqually Tribe staff expressed interest in advocating for adding cultural sensitivity training to the Fundamentals of Caregiving training for home care workers. Page 101

3 Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board holds an annual caregiver conference for Tribes throughout the Northwest. Could a similar conference be held locally? Perhaps partnering with Olympic AAA to encompass the entire peninsula? 2013 Legislative Session Update Dennis Mahar, LMTAAA Director, provided an update of the 2013 Legislative Session. The regular session ended on April 28, with the special session starting mid-may. Some of the highlights included: SB Implementing recommendations of the adult family home quality assurance panel. A coordinated effort of the adult family home industry and the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman, this bill has to do with training of care providers. It will improve the state website that lists adult family homes with available beds. It would also allow facilities to make improvements on the spot rather than be written up for violations. HB Concerning credentialing and continuing education requirements for long-term care workers. This bill would extend the amount of time that caregivers have to finish certification once their training is complete. It would also allow caregivers with an active nursing license to be exempt from repeating continuing education requirements as a caregiver if they had already completed them as a requirement of their nursing license. SB Concerning the abuse of vulnerable adults. This bill would broaden Adult Protective Services definition of self-neglect. HB Establishing accountability measures for certain health care coordination services. This bill would require more accountability and better outcomes from care management agencies. This bill would not take effect until Until then, work groups will study how best to achieve this. HB Concerning planning measures to provide long-term care services and supports needs of the aging population. This bill would create a select committee on aging inside the legislature to look at the impacts of aging and financing longterm care. Regarding the budget, Dennis Mahar reported that currently there are no cuts to the Senior Citizens Services Act in the Governor s, House or Senate budgets. There are no cuts to the Family Caregiver Support Program or the Case Management program in any of those budgets. All of the budgets appear to support Medicaid expansion. Dental services are partially restored in the Senate budget and fully restored in the House budget. There are no cuts to home care hours in the Governor s or House budget, although the Senate budget would eliminate laundry and shopping services, which could disproportionately affect those living in rural areas. Funding for the Kinship Caregiver Support Program is retained in the House budget but eliminated in the Senate budget. Funding for the Office of Public Guardianship pilot program is retained in the Governor s and Senate budgets but is eliminated in the House budget. Adult Page 102

4 Protective Services requested to hire 40 new full-time employees to tackle the back-log of investigations as well as to prepare for the increase in future reports. Federal Sequestration LMTAAA OAA funding was cut by an average of 7.26%, leaving an approximate $95,000 shortfall this year. We are currently looking at options to reduce spending internally and increase other revenues so that OAA provider contracts can remain at current funding levels for this year. Title VI programs and other Tribal funding sources were cut 5% as a result of Federal Sequestration. Grants and other supplemental funding sources have also experienced cuts, which makes the hit to programs all the more devastating. Both Cowlitz and Skokomish Tribes reported closing a day of their Elders meals programs. Tribal Program Updates and Announcements NWRC holds a monthly Title VI meeting and all Tribes are welcome. For more information or to be added to the distribution list, contact Shelly Zylstra. There is a Title VI grant writing session in October 2013 at NWRC. For more information, contact Shelly Zylstra. Squaxin Island Tribe has an Elders luncheon on October 11 if you would like to have an information booth there. They will also hold their first CDSME/Wisdom Warrior workshop series on May 7. Skokomish Tribe has an upcoming health fair on June 20 at the Hood Canal School from 10am to 2pm and the Chum Run on August 12. Nisqually Tribe has an upcoming health fair in August. The Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board will be holding a Tribal Public Health Emergency Preparedness Conference June at the Northern Quest Resort & Casino in Airway Heights, WA. Other Updates Tracy provided an overview of the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP) for Because distribution will occur solely via mail this year, we will not be coming to the Tribes to distribute the SFMNP checks as has been done in the past. However, we would still like to set aside 25 sets per Tribe. Tribal representatives present decided the best way to do this would be to have a staff member from each Tribe identify elders in need, obtain signed applications from each, and send the 25 applications in to the appropriate distributing agency no later than June 21 for distribution to individuals. Applications will be made available on June 1 on our website at Outside of the 25 set aside, anyone else who is eligible may apply via the mail on a first come first serve basis. Page 103

5 Rae announced the upcoming Alzheimer s Conference in Lacey on May 10, an upcoming Family Caregiver Support Program caregiver boot camp on June 5, and a Powerful Tools workshop for caregivers in September An RFP for Older Americans Act/Senior Citizens Services Act funded services will be released on June 3 for the contract period. Next Meeting The next meeting is tentatively scheduled for September If any of the Tribes are willing to host, please contact Tracy at ext. 146 or Tracy.Gunter@dshs.wa.gov. Otherwise, LMTAAA is willing to host the meeting at its Olympia office. Page 104