RESPECT Oversight Committee Meeting. 9:00 a.m. 10:30 a.m.

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1 Suzanne Sewell President & CEO RESPECT of Florida, Interim Executive Director Shirley Balogh RESPECT Oversight Committee Chair Troy Strawder Acting Board Chair ROC Members: 9:00 a.m. 10:30 a.m. Present / via: Shirley Balogh Alliance for Independence/Chair YES / in person Jon May Pine Castle YES / in person Rhett Frisbie Florida Lottery NO Mark Barry ARC Nature Coast NO Rich Gilmartin Lakeview NO Tina Philips Palm Beach Habilitation NO Chet Bell SMA Behavioral YES/ via phone Craig Byrd UCP/WORC YES / via phone Karen Higgins PARC YES / in person FARF/RESPECT: Present / via: Suzanne Sewell President & CEO YES / in person John McBride Service Contracts Director YES / in person Lisa Felder Programs Coordinator NO Jesse Covell Commodities/Procurement Director YES / in person Peg McPherson Julie Wolfe Guests: Marketing/Communications Manager Project Manager YES / in person YES / in person Ron Wanick PARC YES / in person Marla Doss Community Haven (CHAC) YES / in person Debbie Terenzio UCP South Florida YES / in person Steven Bailey CARC YES / in person Sherry Vann CARC YES / in person 1

2 I. Call to Order The RESPECT Oversight Committee was called to order at 9:02 a.m. by Chair Balogh. II. Roll Call Roll call was conducted by Covell. Members of the Committee were present in person or via phone except for Rich Gilmartin, Mark Barry, Tina Phillips and Rhett Frisbie. A quorum was announced. III. Correction and Approval of Minutes Balogh called for a motion to make corrections (a date was incorrect) to the February 27, 2013 ROC meeting minutes and approve the May 22, 2013 meeting minutes. May motioned to approve and Higgins seconded the motion. The Committee approved the minutes unanimously. IV. Old Business/Action Items Balogh reviewed old business and action items and there were no comments. V. Additions to the agenda Balogh called for any additions to the agenda, no additions were requested. VI. Review of Proposed Amendments to Policies & Procedures (P & P) Sewell reviewed proposed language changes and deletions in the RESPECT Polices & Procedures manual which were presented as handouts. May asked if price increases were required from Employment Centers for commodities on a quarterly basis and Sewell/Covell responded that Employment Centers have the option to increase existing commodities pricing on a quarterly basis, but are not required to. Sewell also reviewed proposed changes to the Certification Forms & Initial Certification Checklist; the updated Request for Assignment (RFA) form; and, the updated Commodities Assignment Agreement template and noted the addition of Section 6.11 Continuation language. Sewell then noted revisions to the Proposal for Assignment (PFA) template and explained the template is for commodities and services. 2

3 The changes to the Polices & Procedures document will be circulated to the ECs for comment prior to final approval. VII. Website Update Covell explained RESPECT hired a project manager, Dale Jackson for the new website project. RESPECT sent out a Request for Proposal and awarded the work to Web Jaguar. The go live date for the new website is October 1, 2013 and Employment Centers will be notified on September 30, The MyFloridaMarketPlace (MFMP) punch-out catalog is scheduled to go live the first week in October Covell and Sewell noted the Website Update project has been a team effort involving multiple staff under the direction of the CFO. VIII. IX. Disability Ratio Protocol Update Statement of Policy on Public Records Sewell provided a white paper on RESPECT s Disability Ratio Protocol and stated Employment Centers determine who is disabled. Sewell confirmed it is the responsibility of the RESPECT program to ensure that Employment Centers are making the right decisions and meeting the identified program criteria and requirements outlined within Chapter 413 Florida Statutes, Florida Administrative Code 60E, and the RESPECT Policies & Procedures handbook. Sewell reviewed the policy on Public Records and indicated that RESPECT/ Florida ARF staff have received several public record requests since March Sewell noted a new law proposed by the State of Florida s Chief Financial Officer, Jeff Atwater, was passed in the 2013 Legislative Session and that all vendors doing business with the State of Florida must adhere to the strict laws in Chapter 119, F.S. Balogh requested that Sewell send out the policy and guidelines to Employment Centers. May inquired if other Employment Centers had received public records requests. Sewell responded personnel files are now subject to public records requests and that Employment Centers that contract with State agencies must 3

4 comply with the referenced law and are also responsible for redaction of sensitive information. Send the Statement of Policy on Public Records document to all ECs. X. Policy on Employment Centers and the Competitive Bidding Process for State and Governmental Entities Sewell reviewed a draft policy on proposed rules of engagement for RESPECT and Employment Centers (EC) to adhere to relative to the Competitive Bidding Process. Sewell explained the intent of the policy is to clarify RESPECT and EC roles and responsibilities. No comments or suggestions were offered by the participants. XI. XII. Product Reassignment Update and Interpleader Agreement Program Review Guidelines The proposed policy will be circulated to the ECs for comment and brought back to the ROC for review and final approval. Sewell stated RESPECT reassigned the Drug Testing Kits & Related Supplies from one Employment Center to another Center (Pine Castle) because of contract breach issues. RESPECT is working with the court system via an Interpleader process to provide outstanding payables to three corporations who have competing claims on the remaining assets. McBride reviewed the RESPECT Program Review Guidelines currently being used with the FDOT District 2 ECs as a consultative process to identify areas of risk. RESPECT will examine the following areas when performing reviews of Employment Centers: Wages Disability Documentation Hours Costed Versus Hours Worked Ratios of Disabled to Non-Disabled Employment Activities. McBride described the review process as 4

5 consultative in nature and a means to assist ECs with quality assurance compliance. XIII. RESPECT Independent Audits McBride indicated RESPECT has budgeted money for next year to cover costs of independent audits should the Program Reviews identify audit triggers; i.e., the contract requires RESPECT to audit an EC if their employment ratio does not meet standards. XIV. RESPECT Protocol Employment Center Private Contract Capacity Sewell indicated RESPECT does not always know the private products/services capacity ECs develop outside of RESPECT, and on occasion work has been assigned to another EC when capacity already existed. For this reason, RESPECT wants to encourage ECs to complete a Request for Assignment (RFA) for existing services and product lines and submit the request for proper assignment. RESPECT will reach out to ECs to identify commodities and services provided outside of RESPECT to see if they are RESPECT opportunities. XV. 14c Position Sewell presented a draft position paper in support of the continuation of 14c wage certificates and a preference for proposed Congressional action (SB 1356) by the HELP committee. The position paper will be sent to Employment Centers. The proposed position paper will be reviewed by the Florida ARF Employment Forum for approval. XVI. Trainee Status Sewell reported some ECs want to categorize individuals as trainees rather than employees. On its face, the change raises some concerns for RESPECT but an open dialogue continues with ECs regarding this option. One EC has indicated it will provide RESPECT a position paper on the topic for further review and consideration. At this time, RESPECT views individuals served through the program as employees. 5

6 Once received, any proposed position papers will be brought to the ROC for review and final approval. XVII. RESPECT Staffing Updates Balogh thanked RESPECT and FL ARF staff members who have made positive improvements throughout the program. XVIII. XIX. Value Added Sourcing & Fulfillment Products/Commodities Updates Covell reported economic changes have affected how ECs produce commodities. ECs typically source their commodities overseas and fulfill orders. RESPECT has noted challenges regarding the sourcing & fulfillment process. RESPECT continues to review assignments to ensure there is sufficient value added controls in place. A draft white paper was shared on the issue. RESPECT will continue to explore this issue and the opportunities/challenges. Sewell noted the RESPECT/FL ARF budget has flexibility to assist Employment Centers with grants/loans for equipment that will increase value added amongst persons with disabilities. The proposed white paper will be further developed and brought back to the ROC for final approval. Covell provided sales numbers for commodities. Covell indicated an estimated $4.5 million in sales for FY ending on 9/30/2012 and an estimated $6.6 million in sales for FY ending on 9/30/2013. Covell noted that the large sales numbers were due to Embroidery/t-shirts orders, Drug Testing Kits & Related Supplies and Prophylactics. XX. Service Contracts Updates McBride reported an estimated $21.3 million in sales for FY ending on 9/30/2013 which is down slightly from the prior year. RESPECT no longer receives the FDOT District 2 incentive bonus of $550,000 per year that we received last fiscal year. Over the past year, RESPECT has renewed FDOT contracts in Districts 2 and 3 totaling $77.8 million. 6

7 Current projects include a pending proposal to DMS for custodial contracts worth $20 million that would employ over 150 persons with disabilities. RESPECT has also requested and received a comprehensive list of all DMS facilities that will be used to find more opportunities for employment. XXI. Schedule Next Meeting The next ROC meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, November 20, 2013, 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Set up ROC meeting dates one year in advance. Meetings should follow the schedule of the second month of each quarter, third Wednesday of the month. List of proposed meeting dates ed to ROC Members on Thursday, May 23, XXII. Adjournment Chair Balogh called for a motion to adjourn. May motioned to adjourn, and the motion was seconded by Higgins. Chair Balogh adjourned the meeting at 10:17 a.m. 7