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Minutes January 16, 2006 2:00 pm
Long-Term Recovery
Committee of
15 groups with 19 persons attending.
Randy Anderson, UMCOR, Chairman
Shane O'Neill, Presbyterian Disaster Relief, Vice-Chairman
Teresa M. Julian, American Red Cross, Secretary
James Collins, Catholic Charities, Treasurer
Groups Attending: Adventist Community
Services American Red Cross Catholic Charities Habitat of HCRN (Hope Crisis Response Network) Lighthouse Presbyterian Disaster
Assistance Thrivent Financial
Lutheran Tri-State Food Bank UMCOR United Way
Attending:
Randy Anderson UMCOR / Case Manager
Teresa Julian American Red Cross volunteer / Case Manager
James Collins Catholic Charities / Case Manager
Bridgette Naas Disaster Office Manager / HCRN
Joyce Cosby ARC, Disaster Relief Director / Case Supervisor
Donna Carr Catholic Charities / Case Supervisor
Wayne Bochert Catholic Charities / Case Manager
David Bosard Independent / Case Supervisor
Debbie Burns Adventist Community Services / Case Manager
Julie Marr Adventist Community Services / Case Manager
Jim Morgan Thrivent Financial for Lutheran
Sally Gries Habitat of
Bob Hayden
Bret Smith Lighthouse
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The meeting was called to order by Randy Anderson, Chairman. He thanked everyone present for giving of their precious time. LTRCSI is well on the way toward meeting the needs of tornado survivors, and some cases have already been closed. The Agenda consisted of reports by each Sub-Committee.
******
Finance Jim Collins, Chair
The account now has $38,921.90 available. Two disbursements have been approved to date, both office-related. Additional funds have been pledged by some organizations, including UMCOR's $60,000, which Randy announced may arrive in $10,000 increments.
The Requisition Form has been finalized and will not be made available on the committee's website. This will assist in maintaining control. The Requisition forms will be on colored paper and will be delivered to the Disaster Office to insert in each case folder before distribution. Therefore, each case folder should contain a blank Intake Form with the contact information completed, a blank Release of Information form, and a Requisition Form. Additional Requisition forms may be obtained at the Monday meetings, or through the Disaster Office. Original Requisition forms for currently open cases will be distributed to Case Supervisors on Friday, 1/20, at their 8:30 a.m. meeting, who will then deliver them to each Case Manager.
Both the Salvation Army and (changed as of the minutes of 1/23/06. The Salvation Army will not be turning over
any telethon money to LTRCSI. It will,
however, continue to use any additional telethon money they receive as
designated. As of 1/23/06, The Salvation
Army has received $227,852.96 from the telethon all of it spent on immediate
needs within the first 2 weeks following the tornado on 11/6/05 and has spent
a total of $305,357.) The American Red Cross has announced that if any
money remains unspent from the telethon pledges, it will be turned over to
LTRCSI to continue meeting the long-term needs of tornado survivors. None of these directed donations will be sent
to its national headquarters.
A suggestion was made by Bret Smith to seek monetary corporate donations. That request was tabled until such time as the fund pool lowers or needs increase.
The Requisition Process was again discussed:
>Cases distributed to Case Supervisors at Friday morning meeting
>Cases distributed to Case Managers by Case Supervisors within 5 (business) days
>Case Manager contacts client within subsequent 5 (business) days
>Case Manager visits client
>Case Manager verifies ID as tornado survivor/ verifies aid received to date/ identifies unmet needs
>Case Manager completes Intake form, Release of Information form, and Requisition Form with Client both Case Manager and Client sign/date all forms
>Requisition Form discussed with Case Supervisor - who initials approval
>Requisition Form is delivered to Disaster Office by the next Monday for 1:00 Finance Sub-Committee meeting
>Finance Sub-Committee approves/denies signs/dates form keeps a log of all Requisitions. Note: The log maintained will allow the Finance Sub-Committee to track the total disbursements to each client. This is also partially the reason that all disbursements, regardless of size, must be approved by Finance. This portion of the process was agreed upon by Consensus of the committee at large.
>Approved requisitions given to Bookkeeper (Donna Carr)
>Copy of Requisition Log supplied to Disaster Office Manager (Bridgett Naas) note: this step will allow Case Managers to call in to the Disaster Office and verify approved Requisitions following the Monday meetings
>Bookkeeper writes the check, copies the check, mails check to vendor and files copy with Requisition
>Paid/Denied Requisition is returned to Case Supervisor
>Case Supervisor returns Approved/Denied Requisition to Case Manager
>No cash will be distributed to survivors. Payments will be disbursed directly to vendors. Case Managers and Case Supervisors should not make any promises on whether or not an unmet need (regardless of amount) will be approved or denied. ONLY the Finance Sub-Committee can approve disbursements. No disbursements shall be approved by Case Supervisors.
>The process
should take up to 10 days to complete.
Requisitions should ONLY be presented when all other agency options have
been exhausted. Send families to the
For immediate needs, 2-1-1 should be utilized.
Marketing/Public Awareness Father Joseph Ziliak, Chair
No meeting. However, Debbie Burns is investigating the donation of 2 billboards advertising LTRCSI. Also, she presented a prototype business card, similar to our ID badges, for Case Managers to hand out to their clients if they wish. This card could serve as proof a client is receiving assistance from the Committee, as well as provide their Case Manager's contact information and the number for the Disaster Office.
Discussion was mixed. Some thought all suggestions such as these should be discussed with Randy before presentation to the Committee, others disagreed with that assessment. At this time, the business card option is NOT required for Case Managers, but is available by contacting Debbie Burns, 760-9972 or SdaEVV@aol.com.
Casework Teresa Julian, reporting
Randy sat in as Chair for this committee in Shane's absence. The new Requisition form was presented and discussed. The part of the form that asks about aid received from other agencies to date may not be accurate. This is okay because a full accounting of aid received from the American Red Cross may not be known by our clients. They may have gotten a voucher, picked out their clothes, and turned the voucher in without ever accounting for its amount. It was agreed by consensus in sub-committee that past aid (particularly ARC) does not need an actual figure, only verification of its existence. And again, the ARC will verify for all agencies the existence of a case, whether open or closed.
Also, a form of items needed from the
The possibility of reimbursing large outlays for utilities or first month's rent was also discussed. The Finance Sub-Committee agreed to consider these on a case-by-case basis.
No specific casework was brought to the full Committee.
The verification procedure was discussed how nosy should we be? What information should be sought and when? This is to be left up to each Case Manager's discretion, but there are things that should be asked for i.e., bank statements, insurance policies, etc. Above all, Respect and Dignity for our clients' privacy should be maintained. Their trust in us is paramount, and all confidential information should be guarded well.
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Randy reported that the volunteer labor pool was growing.
Sara Oxley reported
Teresa Julian reminded everyone about the Support Group
meeting tonight at 6:30 at St. Luke's
Bret Smith reported that in addition to the Support Group meeting, Crossroads Christian Church's Shock Support Meeting, tonight at 5:30, for Katrina survivors, had been expanded to include tornado survivors.
Case Supervisor meetings were confirmed for Fridays at 8:30 am. Sub-Committees at 1:00 Mondays, full Committee at 2:00.
The meeting adjourned at 2:55 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Teresa Julian
Secretary, LTRCSI
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