Community Capacity Building
DRAFT Minutes
February 12, 2015
9:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
North Raleigh Hilton, Raleigh, NC

Members Present: I. Azell Reeves (Chairperson), Jim Swain and Adonis Brown

Members Absent: Anna Cunningham, Nessie Siler, Amanda Bergen, David White, Representative Verla Insko and Kerri Eaker

Guests: Beverly Colwell and Dreama McCoy (for Bill Hussey, NC Dept. of Public Instruction, appointment pending), Michael Roush (National Disability Institute), and Donna Gallagher (The Collaborative)

Staff/Contractors:  Shayna Simpson-Hall, Karen Hamilton (NC ADA Network), and Yadira Vasquez

Introduction:

Welcome: Chairperson I. Azell Reeves welcomed all members.

Approval of Minutes: Chairperson I. Azell Reeves asked for approval of the November 20, 2014 Minutes.  Due to not having a quorum, the committee elected to make all discussions based upon consensus.  A recommendation by consensus was made to accept the minutes as presented.

Authority to Fund NC ADA Network Fiscal Agent
Shayna Simpson-Hall provided the group with an update on the NC ADA Network Fiscal Agent Request for Applications (RFA).  The RFA was released on November 26, 2014 with an application due date of January 8, 2015.  The Council received only one application. This one application was from the Alliance of Disability Advocates. The application was evaluated by three external evaluators. Shayna then reviewed the objective and activities of the initiative along with a brief overview of its focus.  She stated the following:
Objective: Council will fund training, consultation and technical assistance for individuals to affect policies and practices that support integration, productivity, independence, and inclusion for people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities and their families.
Activities:  Allocate funding to support citizen action for voluntary compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Need: A non-profit fiscal agent/intermediary is needed to distribute funds (cash advancements, small ADA project reimbursements and travel reimbursements) to people with disabilities and grassroots groups led by people with disabilities involved in the NC ADA Network Project.  Most of these individuals and small grassroots groups (including self-advocacy groups) do not have the funds or capacity to apply for funds to conduct ADA projects and activities in any other way.  

Shayna also mentioned that the contract will be for $35,000 with $5,000 used for administrative expenses with a required $11,700 match.

Authority to Fund
Adonis Brown made the recommendation by consensus to grant NCCDD staff authority to fund the Alliance of Disability Advocates, a state independent living center, to be selected for the NCCDD “ADA Network Fiscal Agent Initiative.”  The recommendation included approval of funding for up to $35,000, with required minimum of 25% non-federal matching funds, for twelve (12) months from July 1, 2015 – June 30, 2016 for year one of up to three.

Karen Hamilton – the NC ADA Network Coordinator
Karen gave the committee the following update on activities of the NC ADA Network as they continue to work to increase compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in communities across North Carolina. Counties served (2014):

• 23 NC ADA Network grassroots groups, led by people with disabilities, conducted or hosted Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Projects/Activities serving 44 counties.
  
  
• The NC ADA Network, along with grassroots partners, conducted or hosted ADA Trainings, distributed ADA publications/information, provided ADA technical assistance and conducted Public Awareness Events serving people with disabilities, family members and businesses, representing 100 NC counties. Summary of these 2014 ADA Activities include:

1. 25 ADA Trainings serving 707 people (254 people with disabilities, 80 family members and 373 business representatives);
2. 1801 ADA publications to 1209 people;
3. ADA Technical Assistance to 819 people (343 people with disabilities, 82 family members and 394 business representatives); and
4. 10 Public Awareness events, including ADA exhibits and presentations, reaching more than 300 people.

Collaborators (2014):

• Southeast ADA Center – Atlanta, GA (provided technical assistance on the Americans with Disabilities Act and supplemental financial support)
• Alliance of Disability Advocates (fiscal agent)
• 23 grassroots groups, led by people with disabilities, from across North Carolina (these groups conducted or participated in ADA projects in their local communities)
• Other agency collaborators involved in supporting grassroots groups in promoting the ADA include but are not limited to:  NC Office on Disability and Health, Department of Emergency Management, Disability Rights NC, local governmental agencies, etc.

NC ADA Network – Local Projects and Outcomes:
Over the past 12 months, grassroots groups, led by people with disabilities, conducted local ADA projects addressing:

• Emergency preparedness,
• Public transportation,
• Recreation trails,
• Sports stadiums,
• Service animals,
• Accessible voting,
• Accessible taxi service,
• Libraries,
• Restaurants, and
• Accessible parking

Major outcomes (to date) resulting from these ADA Projects:

• 2 restaurants updated policies/practices to allow service animals in business;
• 5 libraries and 1 courthouse made improvements to effective communication procedures;
• NC Lottery Commission updated policies/procedures related to serving people with disabilities;
• 25 businesses or local government entities added or improved accessible parking spaces, improved accessible route of travel to goods and services, and improved restrooms;
• Rowan Co. school changed policy to allow parents/guardians who are deaf to request interpreter for mandatory parent/teacher meetings;
• 2 apartment complexes added accessible parking spaces for tenants with disabilities, 3 landlords made accessibility improvements to leasing offices and apartment application process;
• Union County High School made accessibility improvements to football stadium;
• Tar River Transit updated policies and procedures affecting riders with disabilities and City of Charlotte added new accessible bus stop;
• 6 People with disabilities gained membership on statewide emergency preparedness committees;
• 4 people with disabilities gained membership on local emergency preparedness task forces; and
• 3 people with disabilities gained membership on local transit advisory groups.

Approval for Continuation Funding
Adonis Brown made the recommendation by consensus for the continuation funding for the In-House NC ADA Network Initiative for the period of July 1, 2015 - June 30, 2016 for an amount up to $60,000 with match requirement waived.  

Initiative Updates
Michael Roush, Project Manager, National Disability Institute (NDI), Upward to Financial Stability
Overview - New staff member has joined the project
Communications and Marketing Plan developed
Advisory Committee has convened
Hosted first webinar
First quarterly report submitted
Work plan updated
Project deliverables are on schedule

Objective 1:
Increase awareness, understanding, and utilization of an array of asset development strategies through collaboration with both asset building partners and disability organizations to benefit job seekers with disabilities.

• Developed a comprehensive marketing and communications plan.  
• Connected NDI communications team with NCCDD communication team to discuss article submissions and deadlines.
• Presented information on the project at:

  - North Carolina Assets Alliance release of the 2015 Assets and Opportunity Scorecard
  - Business Resource Alliance Meeting

Objective 2:
Increase blending and braiding of resources, both public and private that connects employment goals with strategies to advance economic self-sufficiency for the target audience.

• Established the Upward to Financial Stability Advisory Committee.
• Hosted two Upward to Financial Stability Advisory Committee conference calls.

Objective 3:
Build core competencies of staff from disability organizations (to include educational institutions) to integrate asset development strategies into delivery of services.

• Team is currently reviewing curriculum and updating existing content.
• Initiative hosted the first of three webinars on January 20, 2015.
• Accessible recording of the webinar has been created.  
• Resource mapping toolkit is in development.

Objective 4:
Provide training and technical assistance at state and selected regional levels to providers, financial institutions, and other stakeholders to meet or exceed proposed outcome indicators.

Next Steps:

• Submit articles for NCCDD Catalyst for Change newsletter
• Establish an awards plus recognition program and submit to contract manager for approval.
• Finalize asset development/financial literacy curriculum and submit to contract manager for approval.
• Host additional webinars
• Update NDIs website to include an Upwards to Financial Stability page
• Finalize Resource Mapping Toolkit
• Create Trainer Support Network
• Determine training sites for Year 2
• Create planning committee for Statewide Asset Development Summit

Opportunities Moving Forward:

• Use the upcoming training opportunities to educate individuals, families and system level staff on the ABLE Act and ABLE Accounts.
• Collaborate with non-traditional partners to utilize data from the Resource Mapping Toolkit.
• Promote Upwards to Financial Stability to NDIs network of over 4,000 members.  Project will have page on NDIs website and will be highlighted in February Real Economic Impact Network newsletter.

Donna Gallagher, with The Collaborative, a partner with NDI on this initiative, gave a presentation on the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) Report.  She mentioned that for 20 years, CFED published the Development Report Card for the States (DRC) with the philosophy that people drive economies – they are both the catalyst for innovation as well as the reason we seek economic growth. States should promote profitable commerce by putting their people first. It grades states on the health of their economy on three key dimensions:

• Performance graded the climate for a wage-earner. This assessment included employment, income and benefits, and quality of life measures.
• Business Vitality graded the climate for business, including establishment of new business, industrial diversity and business closings.
• Development Capacity graded the way current resources were used with an eye to the future. This assessment looked at education systems, physical infrastructure, and financial, natural and technological resources.

Donna stated that North Carolina scored 41 on the Overall Outcome and 14 on policy.  The Scorecard assesses states on the financial security and economic opportunity of households on 67 outcome measures. On 55 of the 67 measures, states are compared to each other and ranked. Measures in each issue area are averaged, ranked and graded. To calculate a state’s overall outcome rank, the state’s ranks for each individual outcome are averaged to generate an overall score. The lower the overall score, the better the state's overall performance in the Scorecard. The overall score for the states is then ranked from 1 to 51. Individual issue area outcome ranks are calculated using roughly the same methodology as overall ranks – individual measure ranks are summed and averaged within the issue area to generate an score for that issue area, upon which the states are ranked. She also shared NC scores as follows in the following areas: 

OUTCOME RANKING - Financial Assets & Income 35  
POLICY RANKING - Financial Assets & Income 8
OUTCOME RANKING - Businesses & Jobs 43  
POLICY RANKING - Businesses & Jobs 23
OUTCOME RANKING - Housing & Homeownership 37
POLICY RANKING - Housing & Homeownership 3
OUTCOME RANKING Health Care 48  
POLICY RANKING - Health Care 39
OUTCOME RANKING Education 31  
POLICY RANKING - Education 13

Fiscal Update
The Council’s Business Officer, Yadira Vasquez, provided an update to the Community Capacity Building Committee of the current budget report and expenses by committee and the status of the three federal fiscal years.

Wrap Up and Reminders
Chairperson I. Azell Reeves reminded members to submit their financial forms.  She asked that if members are interested, to please respond promptly when they receive notification from Cora about upcoming conferences or other events.

Adjournment
Chairperson I. Azell Reeves asked if everyone was in consensus to adjourn the meeting and the meeting was adjourned at 12:25 p.m.