North Carolina Respite Care Coalition


Home What is Respite Membership Information Member Directory NCRCC Bylaws Meeting Minutes Central 2011 2010 2009 Eastern 2011 2010 2009 Western 2011 2010 2009 Board Members Contact Us

JOIN THE NORTH CAROLINA
RESPITE CARE COALITON!

Benefits:
-Opportunities to impact legislation regarding respite funding.
-Educational meetings to gain knowledge of new respite programs.

Contact:

Phyllis Stephenson
NCRCC Director
P.O. Box 165
Gibsonville, NC 27249
Phone: 336 -263-7491

Jane Macleod
Program Coordinator
2315 Myron Dr.
Raleigh, NC 27607
Phone: 919-740-6605
Fax: 919-457-1317

Meeting Minutes

NC Respite Care Coalition
Central Meeting Minutes
9.12.11
The Cutting Board- Burlington, NC

Attendance Amy Berrier- The Enrichment Center Billy Sheffield- The Children’s Home Ashley Stevens- Mecklenburg Co. DSS intern Suzanne Gilroy- The ALS Association Jarrett Stone- NC S.T.A.R.T. Lavern Weathers- Mecklenburg CO. DSS Ashley Chicoine- Maxim Healthcare Jon Litwa- Maxim Healthcare Phyllis Stephenson- NCRCC and ESUCP NC and VA Jane MacLeod- NCRCC and ESUCP NC and VA Phyllis welcomed everyone and introductions were made. Phyllis gave a brief history of the NCRCC and west regions.(cultural diversity, issues of family systems, suicide in the elderly). Phyllis gave information about ARCH and Jill Kagan as National Respite Coordinator and access to respite manuals on the ARCH website (www.archrespite.org) The International Respite Conference will be held in Canada and the National respite Conference this year is in Phoenix, Arizona Nov. 2-4. The break out groups will be very good this year. Our speaker today was Jarrett Stone of the START model of respite. The START model serves adults over the age of 18 and its primary goal is to prevent hospitalization. This model is active in three regions of NC and each region has a respite home with four beds. The clients must have a development disability diagnosis and “challenging behavior.” Coordinators assess situations on referral and determine eligibility. Coordinators carry a caseload of about 30 clients. There is a huge need for this program; the wait list is about 45 days. Once a client is enrolled, they are considered active for about a year. Once there is some stability, they can discharge. Outreach and education are very important. The teams work with law enforcement training, Wake LME, OPC. They have consultation with a psychologist and psychiatrist as well as a mobile crisis unit. Wake County is the largest referral source by far. This system of care is set up to help the mental health system work better to meet the individual’s needs. Respite can be provided for up to 30 days and the goal is to maintain the individual’s placement. This program is not designed to address substance abuse issues. The psychologist consultant develops behavior support plans when necessary and observes people while they are in respite. Dr. J. Barnhill is the psychiatrist who makes recommendations for medications. The demographics are 60/40% male to female. Most participants are from licensed care homes or reside with their families. Planned respite is only available to those enrolled in the program of packaged services. 70% of crisis respite comes from emergency departments and the primary reason is physical aggression. Planned respite is usually about 3 days. The program gets staff for direct care out of college who are excited to work with this population. During their stay, the clinical team is the link with the family and the community. Weekly meetings are by conference call. For more information on START, contact Jarrett Stone at 919 943-7585. Phyllis gave updates on the NCRCC and most recent regional meetings. The federal government is sending out mini-grants the end of September and NC is in the running. Resources: The volunteer respite manual is available for distribution as a PDF. The National Respite Network has some great webinars. Benchmarks has educational programs as well. There was discussion about this being a very tough economic time for all agencies. We all need to look at how to partner with others to cut costs without cutting programs. The remainder of the meeting was spent brainstorming where the central region goes from here. Time and travel have severely cut into regular attendance at meetings. Suggestions for changes: • Make sure we email and communicate on a regular basis; perhaps a weekly email update on the coalition/Medicaid updates/help people feel involved by seeing others’ names • Mention door prizes/change up format of meetings- “spice it up” • Recruit more representation from populations such as children with and without disabilities; I/DD; elder care; adults with disabilities • Use webinars/conference calls to increase participation • Keep meeting locations within 2 hour radius of participants • Present broad-based program topics Our next meeting will be a webinar on December 14th from 10-12. The topics will be what we have learned from cultural diversity, state updates and national conference updates from those who attend. Jill Kagan of the National Respite Network will also participate. For the next quarter we will look at a speaker on Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgendered issues in caregiving and respite. Lavern Weathers has an idea for a speaker on this topic. (Debbie Lee) A conference planning call is scheduled for 10/11/11 at 10:00 for this meeting in March. Submitted by: Jane MacLeod NCRCC Program Coordinator

NCRCC
Central Meeting Minutes
Horizons Residential Center
Rural Hall, NC
6/6/11

Welcome and introductions: Phyllis welcomed participants and all were introduced.

Attendees:
Billy Sheffield, The Children’s Home
Rene Montgomery, The Children’s Home
Amy Berrier, The Enrichment Center
Holly Ward, NW Piedmont AAA
Dawn Gartman, Centralina AAA
Maria Timmons, Horizons Residential Center
Phyllis Stephenson, NCRCC, ESUCP
Jane MacLeod, NCRCC, ESUCP

Maria Timmons of Horizons Residential presented the programs offered at the Center. Horizons is a private, non- profit facility licensed as a Specialized Community Residential Center- ICMFR (children, adolescents and adults) 

Horizons provides care for persons with severe disabilities, including profound retardation, cerebral palsy and visual and hearing impairments. Horizons has been in existence since 1973. Currently the ages of residents range from 6 years to 59 years. The staff is trained in managing medically fragile clients and some of the staff have been at the Center for many years. A nurse is on staff for the residential clients.

The facility currently serves 30 young residents in the Atrium and 10 adults in the Arches (built in 1992 to serve as a residence for adults with severe disabilities 18 years and older. Their population consists of about half from surrounding counties and half from other states. Horizons is not able to serve clients with behavioral diagnoses at the present time. 

The original buildings on this campus were used as an orphanage in the 1920’s and 30’s.

Respite is provided on weekends for people in the community. This is funded with IPRS or CAP funds and is authorized through Centerpoint LME.

Maria gave the group a tour of the Horizons residential facilities and the respite house.

The group discussed the upcoming waivers and how they might impact respite hours and other funding issues in NC.

 Once an LME becomes a waiver, they can become managers of the dollars allotted. They can shift funds and determine providers. The changes in the service system may impact seniors, children and any others served so all agencies should be following this progress on the 1915B waiver.
Each LME will become a waiver at a different time.

Proposed budget cuts in Medicaid were discussed and how these will affect providers. Agencies will have to be more creative in providing services since we are changing the structure of how services are delivered in North Carolina.

The next meeting was set for Tuesday Sept. 13 in Burlington or Greensboro. The program will be announced.




Submitted by:



Jane MacLeod
NCRCC Program Coordinator

A value is required.

NCRCC
Spring Central Meeting Minutes
The Enrichment Center
Winston-Salem, NC
3/22/11

Welcome and introductions: Phyllis welcomed participants and all were introduced. Attendees: Billy Sheffield, The Children’s Home Amy Berrier, The Enrichment Center Alicia Bowles, Children’s Home Society Leslie Kellenberger, Benchmarks Guiomar Navarro, parent, Family Parent Phyllis Stephenson, NCRCC, ESUCP Jane MacLeod, NCRCC, ESUCP Phyllis gave an overview of the NCRCC’s most recent projects and discussed the Lifespan Respite Care Grant and the goal of cultural diversity in the provision of respite. Our presenter, “Gio” Navarro is the parent of a Latina client at the Enrichment Center Ms. Navarro discussed her daughter’s history and challenges in receiving services for her over the years. Her daughter is 23 years old, was born in Puerto Rico and was not progressing in development as a child. The family lived in Florida and had difficulty obtaining appropriate services. After the family moved to North Carolina, Ms. Navarro’s daughter attended high school but needed a plan for what she would do after graduation. Through NC Access she was able to get services in place and receive CAP respite. Ms. Navarro talked about how the Hispanic culture is very close and families have difficulty “letting go” and allowing others in to help. Her daughter was able to become a part of Beyond Academics, a program for the developmentally disabled at UNC-G in which students can attend college classes and live on the campus. Ms. Navarro is a “family partner”; i.e., someone who has gone through obtaining services and can help others to navigate this process as a mentor. She is now partnered with a Dominican family and helps them to make phone calls, find translators, etc. Ms. Navarro also discussed stereotypes of all Hispanics being Mexican. She stated there are also people in this area from Puerto Rico, Colombia, Venezuela, and Honduras. Culturally all these groups are patriarchal, so decisions are often made by the men in the family. Providers must always gain the respect of the father, enlist his opinion and build rapport. The terms Latino and Hispanic are interchangeable but some people are sensitive and may wish to be called one or the other. Hispanic cultures are typically expressive and like to hug and kiss. The biggest barriers to communication are fear of the language and lack of knowledge about what is available. The best point of contact is at the high school level or attendance at middle school PTA’s to explain about services. Possible camp opportunities for the developmentally disabled were discussed. Victory Junction might be approached to do a camp for those with MR. Camp Carefree is an overnight camp for this population. Translation is a huge issue for the Hispanic population. People are sometimes afraid to learn the language. Ms. Navarro gave the group many insights into Hispanic culture. Amy Berrier of the Enrichment Center gave an overview of what is provided there. This center is an affiliated chapter of the ARC and serves adults with disabilities. The center receives CAP and IPRS funding, has supported employment through Vocational Rehab, and are payees for people with disability income. There is a long waiting list for the center since clients usually stay many years. There is a big need for places for people to transition to as they grow older. The suggestion was made to consider partnering with agencies that are downsizing. Amy gave the group a tour of the center and we were treated to a wonderful musical number in the band room! The next meeting will be at Horizons Residential Center. Billy Sheffield will contact Maria Timmons to determine availability. A conference call was set for 3/30 at 2:00 to discuss cultural diversity. Submitted by: Jane MacLeod NCRCC Program Coordinator

Content on this page requires a newer version of Adobe Flash Player.

Meeting Minutes