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1989-08980-Minutes for Meeting March 28,1989 Recorded 4/18/1989L6 D3~"IFYING X39-0Qf)`'o PUBLIC HEARING 0095 1121 SENIOR SERVICES DIVISION AND COCOA PROGRAMS UNDER C-D-J CONSORTIUN SUPERVISION Tuesday, March 28, 1989, 7:00 p.m. Hearings Room, Deschutes County Administration Building Before the Board was a Public Hearing to take testimony on the uniting of senior*te3 ice programs in the tri-county area under the supervision of the C-D-J--(-Crook, Deschutes, Jefferson) Consortium. Board members present were Dick Maudlin, Lois Bristow Prante and Tom Throop. Also present was Rick Isham, Legal Counsel. Commissioner Prante called the meeting to order at 7:08 p.m. She asked that those wishing to speak in favor of changing to a Type B Senior Service Program to testify first. Ida Evans, in-home services for COCOA, felt it was important to get all of the senior services into one building, especially to make it easier for the disabled. She also gave the Commissioners a petition in favor of the merger signed by twelve seniors who were unable to attend the public hearing. Veronica Zecchini, COCOA Director, stated that there had been 18 months of planning, public hearings and input from service providers, seniors and staff from the tri-county area. She outlined the services that were currently being provided by COCOA and those provided by the Senior Services Division. She said the Title XIX Medical and Social Services Program, i.e. in-home service, adult foster home, nursing home, medical services & equipment., etc., were currently handled by the Senior Services Division. COCOA was handling the Older Americans Act Programs, i.e., meals on wheels, information and referral, and transportation, etc. Moving from a Type A provider to a Type B would unite all of these services under the same supervisory structure in the same facility. She said the eleven current Senior Services Division (SSD) employees would continue to be union- represented state employees but would be supervised by COCOA instead of SSD in Salem. COCOA would do the staff work for the C-D-J Consortium similar to what COIC currently does, and the COCOA Advisory Council would be running the day-to-day business. Ronald Powell, Psychologist in Bend and on the Advisory Board of COCOA, said he felt that having go to was important and would also available services. He said there around the state who had already Commissioner Throop questioned a single location for seniors to help the provider coordinate the were 12 other County consortiums made this move. whether there currently were PAGE 1: COCOA/SSD MERGER UNDER C-D-J 3/28/89 CR0F[LMED KEYP i iE APR 0095 1122 communication problems between SSD and COCOA. Mr. Powell indicated' there were primarily because there was no current mechanism for coordination of efforts. Commissioners Throop and Maudlin voiced their reasons for requesting a public hearing before they could consider supporting the change. They explained that the Commissioners had not been involved in any of the meetings or previous public hearings where the change had been discussed, yet they had all of the legal responsibility for the funds and compliance with federal and state laws and rules with a Type B program. Carol Hammett from Easter Seals spoke in favor of the merger. She said she had a difficult time referring seniors since there were so many places providing different services for seniors. Hal Whitbeck, LaPine, a members of the COCOA Advisory Council, said he was speaking for the seniors in LaPine, when he urged the Commissioners to vote for the change. Dennis Conley, Bend SSD Unit Manager, spoke in favor of the change because the access to services for seniors would become easier and less confusing, and it would improve coordination of service delivery to seniors. However, he wanted to clarify for the Commissioners some issues. He stated: (1) Control, accountability, liability, and responsibility for the state programs could not be transferred to COCOA but could only be transferred to a local government agency (i.e., C-D-J Consortium) which would also become responsible for the current COCOA programs. COCOA would become the service provider and would have to bid against other providers for the contract services. (Veronica Zecchini stated later on in the public hearing that the services would be contracted out as a group, and it would be unlikely that there would be, another group in the area that would be willing and able to do everything.) (2) Even though the State would be transferring the supervision of the State Medicaid program to the Consortium, it would retain control of the program dollars and the policy by which it was operated. (3) Possible legislative changes would greatly change the current duties of SSD, i.e., including the mentally ill and developmentally disabled and food stamp cases for the over 60 population would increase the local SSD program by 300% and would change the focus of the agency from a social service agency for the elderly to a public assistance agency primarily responsible for financial, medical and food stamp services. He said those programs would be more than 10 times larger than the programs that COCOA was currently administering, and no administrative money would come to the local level. He did not feel that there would be a problem with comparable salaries between the SSD staff and the current COCOA staff. Sharon Miller, COCAAN employee, was in favor of the change because it would streamline services, and she felt there would be greater PAGE 2: COCOA/SSD MERGER UNDER C-D-J 3/28/89 0995 1123 sensitivity on the part of the Commissioners than by the State tb complaints from the seniors. Commissioner Prante asked for a show of hands of those in support of the change, and then requested that all individuals wishing to speak in opposition to the change to testify. Al Triplett was concerned about the accuracy of articles in the newspaper on the subject. He was confused about the difference between COIC and C-D-J Consortium and how COCOA would fit in. He felt a 30-member advisory board would be unwieldy. He was concerned about the C-D-J Consortium having problems like the Coos- Curry Council of Governments which was recently notified of its liability due to losses incurred by the State through the alleged mismanagement of the Council. George Doll expressed concern that COCOA was not abiding by its Articles of Incorporation and By-laws. He felt there should be a vote of the members of COCOA whether to go to Type B. Howard Balderstone, Senior Center, the only one left from the original COCOA board, was concerned about the capability of the COCOA Advisory Board to supervise State workers. As a long-time board member, he felt that the COCOA board was not trained to supervise employees. He also wanted to know whether the three Deschutes County Commissioners on the C-D-J Consortium would have only three out of the nine votes on the Consortium even though Deschutes County had 3/4 of the population. He said that Bend had 1/4 of the positions on the COCOA Board and had not been able to get their concerns taken care of even though Bend had the greatest concentration of seniors. He felt that going to Type B would not guarantee better service. Chair Prante asked for a show of hands of those in the audience who were in opposition. Commissioner Throop stated that he was very uncomfortable with the time frame necessary for the Board of Commissioners to make a decision. He said he would like enough time to get together with the County Legal Counsel, the County Administrator, and Human Resource Agency representatives in the County who have worked on senior programs, and look at how the merger would incorporate with the County's present services, and analyze the implications of the change. He said he was uncomfortable moving forward without a consensus among the various communities. He suggested that an RFP process might be a good idea if the C-D-J voted to take over the program to make certain COCOA was the best organization to provide the service. Commissioner Maudlin expressed concern that there would not be enough time at the C-D-J meeting to discuss the issues thoroughly. He still had a number of questions and wanted to get better PAGE 3: COCOA/SSD MERGER UNDER C-D-J 3/28/89 0095 1124 information before going forward. He didn't want the program to eventually become a County program. Commissioner Prante stated she was not opposed to having the County involved if it would mean better services for the constituents, however, she would also like more information on some of the issues. She said the area had a great investment in COCOA, and she would like to see COCOA involved in the transition rather than a new organization. Dennis Conley stated that Multnomah County and Lane County run their programs as County Departments. Commissioner Throop suggested that the advocates for the conversion work with the people who were not in favor of the merger and move closer to a community consensus. Gale Rogers, President of Board of Directors of COCOA, said he was open to having more meetings with the people who were not sold on the merger and trying to reach consensus. Commissioner Prante stated that the Board of Commissioner would meet on Thursday, March 30 with the full C-D-J Consortium to make a decision. She said that after the meeting, COCOA would be contacted about the decision. Commissioner Maudlin stated that he felt there was a possibility of getting an extension on the deadline to make the decision. Commissioner Throop stated that if the Board was not prepared to make a decision on Thursday, they would put it off for another year to make certain that the decision made was the best decision for Deschutes County. DESCHUTES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ~ Ar~z~~~ Lois istow Prante, Chair Told Throol) Commissioner r Dick Maudlin, Commissioner BOCC:alb PAGE 4: COCOA/SSD MERGER UNDER C-D-J 3/28/89