Mar 6, 2007
OR 211 Board of Directors
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Call to Order
Meeting was called to order at 9:10am at the Oregon Office of Emergency Management in Salem.
Attendance
Jeri Shumate, 211info (Portland Metro Area), Chair
Roy Spurgeon, UCAN (Douglas County), Vice Chair
Len Hockley, White Bird Clinic (Lane County), Treasurer
June Harris, United Way (Lane County)
Stephen Guntli, Oregon CCR&R Network
Kathleen McHarg, Multnomah County Aging
Jimi Smith, Community Action (Washington County)
Ken Keim, Oregon OEM
Julie Massa, Oregon Food Bank
Tom Page, 211 Leadership Council
Introductions
Welcome and introductions were made. The Board is joined by Julie Massa from the Oregon Food Bank and Ken Keim from Oregon Office of Emergency Management. Introductions were followed by a couple brief announcements.
Board members information
A brief update was provided on Wendy Van Elverdinghe’s successful surgery.
Jeri Shumate explained that Jonathan Brock has resigned the OEM. Ken Keim, who is very familiar with the work of OR 211, will be joining our Board meetings until another OEM person is identified as a permanent Board member.
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Len moved that Ken Keim be accepted as a voting proxy on the Board until a permanent OEM replacement is identified. The motion was seconded by Roy and passed unanimously.
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Approval of Minutes
The approval of the January 2007 minutes will be tabled until our next meeting as not everyone had a copy of the minutes for review.
Approval of Financial Report
The Treasurer’s report for the period from 7/1/06 through current was presented. It was noted that we have not yet received official approval on the $5,000 grant from the United Way of the Columbia Willamette.
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Ken Keim moved that the Treasurer’s report be accepted as amended. The motion was seconded by Roy and passed unanimously.
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Regional Updates
211info
Jeri introduced the opinion column written by Rene Mitchell for the Oregonian regarding a crisis caller who was unable to locate help, and a follow-up article detailing a “secret shopper” call made to 211info by Rene Mitchell. Although both calls were handled correctly, the first article implied a lack of appropriateness in 211info’s response to the caller. The second article was clearer about the fact that 211info does not help people in crisis – rather they refer them to service providers more qualified to deal with persons in crisis.
Southwest Oregon 211
Roy said they are busy entering resources into the database. He indicated they are having some issues with their I&R software (ServicePoint) which is not working as well as expected. Also, they haven’t heard anything from Medford for a while. Tom interjected that more 211s around the country are moving away from ServicePoint in which the main focus is HMIS, not I&R.
Lane County
June reported they are busy standardizing the data and it is working well. They are also planning a website redesign.
Statewide updates
Jeri recently gave a 211 presentation at a Local Government Advisory Committee (LGAC) meeting where she met Dr. Allan Douma who is connected with Medicaid. He was very impressed with 211 and wants to help. Jeri has provided him with further information. Dr. Douma feels the ’08 legislative session may be too full to introduce further 211 legislation.
Julie Massa has agreed to contact Ellen Lowe to discuss a 211 ask.
Jeri also reported that Ruby Communications is working on a contract with several cell phone service providers.
National updates
211 Leadership Council meeting
Jeri and Tom recently attended a 211 Leadership Council meeting. The 211LC is a grassroots group working to promote nationwide consistency in 211 services. There are representatives from 15 states working to develop an agreement around national standards that would define the service (What is a call? What is a referral?). These enhanced standards would be in addition to the AIRS standards and would apply only to 211 centers.
They are exploring the potential for Canada and the US to be connected in one 211 system over the long range (3-5 years). This would include shared reporting systems and the ability to transfer calls.
They are also looking at the possibility of a national telephony system, and what the structure might be for that system.
The Calling for 211 Act
Tom reported a major press conference was held the week of 2/11/07. Feedback indicates more positive approval. There are more indicators the authorization will be passed this year, and he anticipates funding approval in late 2008 or early 2009.
The hook is 211’s usefulness as part of disaster response. They are looking at providing community voicemail during times of disaster. Also, UCN (WIN211’s statewide telephone provider) has a call management software that can be used as a reverse 211 to contact vulnerable persons during a disaster. Jeri added that 211info will be converting to UCN in order to tie into the WIN211 system. It is a portable and redundant system which allows quick and seamless rerouting of call centers when needed. Several other states are looking at UCN for their 211 systems as well.
OR211 Board
Jeri proposed Julie Massa, Lead Policy Advocate at the Oregon Food Bank as a new OR211 Board member. Julie gave the Board a brief description of her work and qualifications.
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Jimi moved that we suspend the formal application process to bring Julie Massa onto the 2-1-1 Board. The motion was seconded by Len and passed unanimously.
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Funding Development
Jeri suggested we use $15,000 of our funds to contract with Tom Page for 50 hours of consulting work at $60 per hour. $12,000 would provide us with 10 hours per week, plus an additional 10 hours per month for four months, and leave $3,000 for travel and materials. Stephen will work with Tom on fund raising. Tom will be looking at some small, quick turnaround grants at the same time.
Stephen explained our fund raising should proceed in three phases:
1. Get some quick funding to hire someone for OR211.
2. Identify what we want funding for and from whom.
3. Develop a plan so we are prepared when money does become available.
He indicated we need to have a consistent proposal with a two year plan. Our proposal needs to take all partners (statewide) into consideration, requesting funding for statewide capacity building rather than local program operations.
The Board strategized about other potential funding sources. The Board will contact them as indicated:
1. Boeing Employee Community Fund = Tom Page (If they only grant to Portland service providers, Jeri will approach them to request funding for 211info.)
2. Meyer Memorial Trust = Julie Massa
3. MJ Murdock Charitable Trust = Tom Page/Jeri Shumate (Should ask for amount equal to that granted to Idaho.)
4. National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) = Tom Page
5. Ford Foundation = Roy Spurgeon
6. Collins Foundation =
7. Oregon Community Foundation
8. Jeld-Wen Foundation
9. Banking Community = Len Hockley and Jeri Shumate (211 could assist with EITC promotion.)
10. Tribal Foundation – Cow Creek = Roy Spurgeon
11. Tribal Foundation – Spirit Mountain = Jimi Smith
12. Utilities – PGE Foundation = Stephen Guntli
13. Utilities – NW Natural
14. Utilities – PacificCorp Foundation
(It was noted we might approach the utilities when we work on Board development.)
Other action items:
1. Jeri felt it may be useful to meet with Joyce White at the Grantmakers of Oregon and Southwest Washington.
2. We should also meet with Kay Sohl.
3. The Board could provide OR211 presentations to the Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, the Community Action Directors of Oregon, and the Tribal Foundations.
4. It would be advantageous to meet with Priscilla Gould regarding our approach to the United Way. Though we would probably not get any money from most United Ways, they should be able to help with community connections.
Board Recruitment
Jeri described the three step process suggested by Kay Sohl, TACS, for board development as 211info began taking shape:
1. Offer the old board the opportunity to resign, but also to stay on as part of the transitional board.
2. Bring on a transitional board whose focus is board development.
3. Create a new permanent board for governance with staff.
It was noted that, in fact, we may already be the transitional board for OR211.
We reviewed the conclusions we came to at our Board retreat last November:
First, retreat participants brainstormed ideas for the board OR211 will need in the next few years:
- Geographic representation- reflect the entire state
- Consider whether to include consumers and /or advocates
- Be less specific on represented groups – use “potential partners” system
- Individuals with relationships with business, faith communities, civic organizations and leaders
- Members with political clout
- Members with access to philanthropic resources
Second, the conclusion reached regarding the Board Composition Goal:
We need to evolve from our current mix to engaging advisors for specific projects.
The goal is to eventually become:
- ½ business/civic/philanthropic
- ½ 211 providers and partners, statewide/consumers
With this in mind, we addressed Board qualifications:
- Need to have a statewide vision
- Need to have political clout
- Need to have access to philanthropic resources
- Should have good geographic representation
- Should representation for consumers, civic organizations, businesses, faith based organizations, and community leaders.
We need to find key affiliations, then identify a person within the organization who has the enthusiasm and vision for 211.
Julie agreed to meet with Ellen Lowe to ask that she chat with other lobbyists from important areas.
It was felt we have more than enough representation for the social services side, but are lacking the half with the business and political connections.
Jeri will meet with Elise Bouneff at the bank regarding her interest in becoming a board member, or suggesting someone appropriate to the task.
It was mentioned that Liesl Wendt is now ready to consider participating as an OR211 Board member.
Jeri will meet with Dr. Douma to follow up on his interest and participation with OR211.
June suggested we use the United Way of America’s new stakeholder packet for recruiting Board members. We would need to add Oregon specific materials, and the packets would cost us $3 each. It was pointed out that with our limited funds we would save money creating our own packet, and the UWA packet may be too “glossy” for our purposes.
Jeri, Tom, Stephen and Liesl will meet as possible and appropriate for funding and Board development.
Other items
Roy will be retiring officially on April 2nd.
The Board’s next meeting will be March 28th at OEM in Salem
The meeting was adjourned at 12:00pm
Respectfully submitted, Jimi Smith, Interim Secretary