LIGHTLY EDITED FILE VRS Staff / CP Forum December 3rd, 2024 Vocational Rehabilitation Services Remote 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. (CST) * * * * * DISCLAIMER This text is being provided in a lightly edited draft format and is the work product of the CART captioner. Any reproduction, publication, or other use of this CART file without the express written consent of the captioner is strictly prohibited. Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) is provided in order to facilitate communication accessibility, and this lightly edited CART file may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings, nor should it be considered in any way as a certified document. Due to the live nature of the event, some names and/or terms may be misspelled. This text may also contain phonetic attempts at sounds and words that were spoken, and environmental sounds that occurred during the event. * * * * * CART PROVIDED BY Kristi L. Arntzen, RPR, CRC PARADIGM REPORTING & CAPTIONING, a Veritext Company 612.339.0545Captioning-paradigm@veritext.com CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT >> Lori Thorpe: Good morning! Welcome! Hello, everyone. So good to see you on this Tuesday. We'll get started in just a minute. >> Lori Thorpe: Good morning! Great to have you here. >> Lori Thorpe: Good morning, and, Meghan, if you want to go to the next slide, I can kind of go through some of our first bits here. So welcome, everyone. This is our -- every other month, we have a VRS and community participate meeting. And so glad you can join us. And this will be recorded as well. So if you have colleagues or others who miss this meeting, they can certainly go back and look at that at a later time. So today we are glad to have our ASL interpreters with us today. And I see Kathie, so welcome, Kathie. And they are designated as cohosts. So they will be at the top of the participant list as you scroll through. And you absolutely have the ability to multi-pin. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT And if you don't, and you need it, please email Janeen Oien at Janeen Oien@state.mn.us. We also have closed captioning available. And please, if you would, we'd love to have you change your Zoom name to your first name and last name and also the agency where you work. Go to the participant list, find your own name, hover above it, and then select "More" and rename yourself. And what we do for this is we do use a question and answer Microsoft format. And the link is also in chat. So as you have feedback or any questions that come into your mind throughout today's session, please submit those through the Microsoft form that Sara Sundeen has placed into chat. So thank you, Sara. And as always, any technical issues, our guru with that is Janeen. So if anything's not working, please reach out to her, and she is monitoring her email. So thank you, Janeen. And with that, I think we will go ahead and get started. So we'll look at the agenda. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT And I should have mentioned, my name's Lori Thorpe. I'm the VRS director of contracts and partnerships. And today -- >> Recording in progress. >> Lori Thorpe: Thank you for recording it. And today we're gonna hear about the Minnesota Statewide Independent Living Council is looking for new board members. So Anne Paulson will be discussing that. We're gonna have Evie Wold and Michelle Chmielewski talk to us about placement and retention within VRS services. And then we'll go through a few reminders, updates, and then Sara will host some Q&A. So with that, we shall get started. Up first, we're gonna hear from Anne Paulson regarding recruitment for the Statewide Independent Living Council. So take it away, Anne. >> Anne Paulson: Thank you. This is Anne Paulson. I'm a program specialist with VRS. Recently, I was appointed to the Statewide CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT Independent Living Council. And Lori and the team gave me an opportunity to do a little bit to plug to try to get some more membership. I've been on the council for a year. It's a three-year appointment. But basically, I want to get some information to you and hope that people are interested. It's a pretty unique and interesting experience. So MNSILC, it's a federally mandated council of volunteers, appointed by the Governor. This council works with centers for independent living. There's eight statewide. To help coordinate activities with other entities. We're always talking about, like, DHS and all the things happening. And right now we're seeking new members across Minnesota. So the council is comprised of 51% of individuals with disabilities. So I just want to make that clear. Right now, we have for sure three openings, possibly more. there's some rotation in the leadership. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT So if you're interested, there's a link here with lots of great information. Next slide, please. So the duties under the -- authorized under the workforce innovation opportunity act, so we jointly develop and sign a state plan for independent living. That was done. That's in place for three years now. But we're gonna monitor, review, and evaluate the state plan ongoing. Coordinate activities with other entities. That's been a really great experience. I think sometimes when we're in the V.R. world, not always thinking about the larger disability community, so that's been really cool. We meet regularly. The meetings are mostly virtual with some in-person opportunities if you want to do that. Submit to the administrator -- so there is a national center of independent living too that we work with and submit reports and things like that to, and hold hearings and forums to determine what's necessary to carry out the duties of the council. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT Next slide, please. So we also have the following authorities to work with the Centers for independent living to coordinate services with public and private entities, to improve services. So right now, we just sent out -- we had an RFP. We ended up choosing somebody off of our equity select list, which was very cool to do, to do an assessment of needs statewide. So we're preparing to do that to look at what the need are for the centers and individuals that we're serving throughout the state. And then we just perform other functions, some outreach, which I'm doing now. There's sub committees that you can be a part of. Youth subcommittee, outreach committees, all kinds of really great work. And next slide, please. Oh, that was it. So I would love it, if you want to apply, let me know and I can get you the information as well. You do have to do a background check with the Governor's office, but maybe really quick, I'll make this fast, some things that we have done recently, not only the statewide plan and we're CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT doing that assessment of needs. We're looking at other areas of advocacy. One that was recent was when the Tractor Supply store got rid of its DEIA. We're doing a lot of information gathering and going to write a stern letter to Tractor Supply and why that would impact farmers with disabilities and whatnot. So kind of just a look at larger systems and the impact of them. And thank you for your time. >> Lori Thorpe: Great, thank you so much, Anne. It's so neat to hear more about the SILC and the work they do and it is a great opportunity for anyone interested. As Anne said, please reach out to her and she can get you hooked up with the application process. So thank you, Anne. Next up, I'm very excited to welcome Evie Wold and Michelle Chmielewski. They are two of the VRS's placement specialists. And they're here today to talk to us about placement and retention services. Take it away. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT >> Evie Wold: Thanks, Lori. Hi, everyone. My name is Evie Wold. I am a program specialist in placement with VRS. And I'm here with Michelle. >> Michelle Chmielewski: Good morning, everyone. Michelle Chmielewski. Also a program specialist in placement. >> Evie Wold: So today we wanted to take a few minutes. We are placement specialist team and also the contracts team get a lot of questions as you can imagine around PBAs. And a lot of times the questions kind of fall into certain areas. So today we want to just cover a couple of those areas. We recently rolled out an updated training for our VRS staff on the placement and follow-up services process. And so today, Michelle and I are gonna highlight just a few of these often brought-up questions. We'd really like to create more consistency on how our services are delivered statewide. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT And that ensures that our participants get quality services no matter which office they work with. And it also helps our providers know the expectations no matter which VRS office is making the referral. So on the next slide, we'll go -- Michelle can go into job-seeking skills, which is an area that we get a lot of questions about and how it fits with the PBA. >> Michelle Chmielewski: So let's dig in. As Evie shared, we've had a lot of questions recently about job-seeking skills. And when to use the service. So it's good to keep in mind that PBAs include assisting the include in preparing resumes, job applications, developing interviewing skills, providing training on how to address business, perceptual barriers, and prepare to meet the business expectations. Means assisting the individual to become knowledgeable about job duties, personnel benefits, rates of pay, employment policies and practices, and the job location prior to job acceptance. Those are included in the PBA. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT However, there may be times when a job seeker may need extensive job-seeking and may -- so a couple of examples may be when a job seeker needs extensive support obtaining information to complete the sample application. And that information may only be obtained by extensively researching dates and employer names with the job seeker. Another example may be when a job seeker needs additional assistance obtaining proper identification to begin work, such as their Minnesota ID card, or their Social Security card. And there may be times when a job seeker needs light touch job-seeking skills training. That can be utilized outside of a PBA. A couple of examples. A college graduate who is independent conducting their own job search, but would like some assistance creating or customizing a resume. A job seeker may need help updating their resume to get an intermediate job while they're still working with their V.R. counselor towards their ultimate job goal. Next slide. So we wanted to talk a little bit about the CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT placement plan meeting. Prior to the placement plan meetings, providers, you should all be receiving the invitation to placement. The relevant sections of the V.R. assessment needs. And a sample application. Please review the information thoroughly prior to the placement plan meeting. The plan meeting is meant to be a warm welcoming collaborative, and a time to build rapport with the participant. It's not a time to focus on paperwork or to be considered a hand-off meeting. During the placement plan meeting, all team members are invited to share their knowledge, questions, and to clarify that everyone is working towards the same goal. For example, the placement professional may give input into labor market or job openings in the goal area. The job seeker may ask questions about the work culture of a specific industry. And the counselor may be clarifying benefit information. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT Lots of information needs to be shared so that everyone is on the same page moving forward. In addition, the process and expectations remain the same regardless of who is providing the placement services, whether it's an internal placement coordinator or one of our providers. Next slide. Oh, Evie, you're muted. >> Evie Wold: Thank you. Another area we get a lot of questions is follow-up services. So we'll talk a little bit about that. And then how that differs from job coaching. And when one moves into the other, when job coaching may be needed. So for follow-up services, super important part of the placement process. Part of all PBAs. We look for the minimum, really, of two contacts per month with the individual, probably more at the beginning, and then possibly going down to maybe two a month as the person stabilizes in their job. We look for those monthly progress reports. And always keeping that line of communication open CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT between the counselor and the placement staff. The next slide kind of shows a -- A visual of the follow-up and job coaching, gray area between follow-up and job coaching. And not every person will need that job coaching. So we look at the person, what the placement team knows about the supports they might need throughout the process, and the position that the person moves into. All those factors can really play a part in whether we're using just general follow-up, or we're moving into job coaching. When in doubt, of course, consult. And as a placement specialist, I'd say sometimes you just know when the support you provide is moving towards that job coaching, or that's what you're starting to provide. So I just -- for training purposes, you might have heard this example before, but Sara Sundeen had a great example about her son, Sam, starting his first job. And what is just considered regular follow-up and what might move into that job coaching. So that example, Sara's son started his first job. She helped him with the paperwork, direct deposit, CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT made sure he understood all the forms and signed them. That's all follow-up services. So it's something that we make sure every new worker has in place. She also talked to him about his uniform, what he needs to wear, his schedule, does he know how to access it, does he know how to call in sick or who to call. He marks his availability for work and she checks on him, makes sure that he turns that in, that's all considered follow-up. And when he gets home, she asks him, how was his day. They may chat about something frustrating or something exciting, and they work together to kind of process through that. That's all follow-up. If he needed extensive help understanding the new employee information, if he had issues with comprehending and it was taking a lot of time, that could go into job coaching. If he was working and even with the employer's support, he had challenges with remembering the order of how to do his tasks or needed a checklist CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT or a visual, setting timers, that moves into the job coaching realm. Also maybe if he needed assistance talking with his employer for extra support or getting an accommodation. That can move into the job coaching. Again, not every person needs job coaching. But every PBA receives follow-up services. So like I said earlier, when in doubt, consult. Talk with the counselor. So we're happy to provide the support level that the person needs. And then on the next slide we also refreshed our training on PBAs. That will be available within the next couple days. It just got submitted to our communications. So it takes them a couple days to put it up. On our community partner site, there is a section for placement and follow-up services or PBA services. All the forms are in there. The old training is there now. It'll be, like I said, refreshed in the new couple days. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT The new training kind of covers more in-depth like Michelle and I did today on these follow-up services and these job seeking skills training. There's nothing new. It's just a deeper dive into those common question areas. There's also an FAQ there, which we're continually updating that's super helpful. And then just a side note. At the last forum, we presented on job-related services, things like on the job -- or job tryouts, informational interviews, internships, those job-related services Sam and Sara and I went through those. Just a little note about that. We got a question during that about informational interviews and job shadows. At that training, we stated that site development and follow-up are not included, and with that question, it made us think, we should probably align those. So we have recently gone in and redone our guidance, and we'll be putting that -- we made the changes to the training so informational interviews and job shadows along with all the CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT other services, you can utilize that site development and follow-up services. So we -- thank you for asking the question. We heard you. And we made that change. All of those pieces are on our billable services guide. So you can access that on the community partners site as well. So we're happy to have made that change. And if we -- if you have any questions, please use the form and we can answer them now or later, I'm not sure when we're doing that. So thank you all. >> Lori Thorpe: Wonderful. Thank you so much, Evie and Michelle, for that great presentation. And Evie, as she said, we are using that form, so if you have any questions about what you just heard from Evie and Michelle, put them into that form or other things related to placement or retention or anything at all for that matter. So next up we have a few just reminders and updates from VRS. All righty. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT So you guys are always invited as partners to the monthly office hours that the community partnership team sets aside that time. The next session is Friday, December 13th, from 9:00 to 9:30. And that is a recurring meeting where you can just pop in if you have any questions about billing or how to write up an invoice. Or, you know, anything at all, you can just pop in there and several of our community partner specialists will be there, and they'd love to answer your questions. And related to the next topic, our next VRS/CRP forum, like this one, will be actually on Tuesday, February 4th, at 10:30 a.m. And again, that's every other month. So we'd love to have you back on February 4th. Now, VRS has an online interest form. So this is an online form for anyone who would like to access V.R. services. And the form, you can find it -- you can Google, you know, Minnesota VRS, interest form. It should pop up. Otherwise you can going to our VRS website. And then under "counting, training, job skills," CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT there's a link here. But once the individual fills out that form and certainly you can help them, a family member can help them, whoever might be interested, and once we get that here at VRS, it is forwarded then to their local office. And someone at that local office will then reach out to the individual to set up a time for an intake and better describe services that we provide. So here's a picture of -- it looks a little convoluted, but I swear, once you click on that link, it's pretty easy. So you go to "Counseling, training, and job skills," and then "Apply." And then you'll see the online form towards the bottom there. And they click on that, it's super easy, it's fillable and again, it comes right to VRS. So we're finding that it's really speeding up the process for getting people in for services as soon as possible. Because when they're ready to get on with their life, they're ready. So we want to get them while they're hot and CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT engage them fully. Next up, we have invoicing and reporting reminders. So I know we've talked about this a lot actually since April. But just a reminder that all invoices and reports must be received within 90 days of the end date on an authorization. But ideally, we'd love to have those as soon as possible from you, our partners. And so as soon as a service ends, if you're able to get us that report and invoice, it really helps us keep our budget in line, get those bills paid right away while it's still fresh in everyone's minds. So thank you so much for your efforts. Internally and externally with that. And Meghan, if we could go back a little. Sorry, thank you. Another change is VRS staff will no longer be reaching out to our partners to ask for invoices, to ask for reports, to ask to be billed. And we're just gonna really ask that you as our partners providing those services, that you are able to just invoice us and send us those progress CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT reports without us reaching out. So thank you again for your efforts there. And please keep in mind, and we haven't seen a lot of this, so this is great news, but any invoices that we receive after 90 days on the end date of the authorization will not be paid. So really, we want to pay those, so please, we just really want and need you to bill us. And anything we can do, if you're running into problems with that, or if there's anything we can do on our end, please reach out to me, and I will try to be of assistance as will our CP liaisons, our community partner liaisons. Okay, Meghan, thank you. Next up, so under performance-based agreements, there is that requirement that monthly progress reports must be submitted to VRS by the tenth day of the following month for every month that an individual is under a PBA. So again, just a reminder that those must be received. And it's really important that, as a provider, you're not saving those up and then sending all the progress reports when you're gonna invoice. And so we really need them each month. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT Good. And next slide. Okay. So -- and Evie talked about this too. But job coaching is an hourly service that can be used during the retention milestone of a PBA. And job coaching, there is a required report that goes along with job coaching, and that's called the coaching report. It's found under job coaching, time limited, and this report is required each time that a job coaching invoice is -- or it's invoiced, a service is invoiced to VRS, we do need that report of exactly what went on, what were the job coaching aspects, the dates and times that the job coaching took place. So that's how we prove to our federal funder that we're paying for the proper services. And another requirement that goes along with job coaching is weekly communication updates with that referring VRS professional. So it's just so important that our VRS staff and partner, that they're talking, that they're emailing, that they're communicating about how that job coaching is going. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT And if there's a need for job coaching or we can start weaning off of the job coaching as women. Thank you, Meghan. Next slide. Okay. Well, that -- today was kind of a short and sweet session. I would say. I know we're only a half hour in. But we are allowing plenty of time. So if there's anything you've heard today or just any niggling questions you have, we are here. And Sara is gonna lead us. >> Sara Sundeen: Thank you, Lori. Yes, I have gotten a few questions through our question form. The first one is for Evie and Michelle and it says, Sara's son had the support of a parent. Not all participants have this. If we, the placement specialist, or the job coach need to attend orientation to help them understand the paperwork and fill out paperwork because they don't have support at home, why doesn't this count as coaching? We are helping them learn a skill as part of their CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT job, our job and theirs. I understand all people have to fill out these forms, but not all people require help. This is additional time for our placement providers to spend. If it's not job coaching, then let's make a supplemental services with an hourly fee. >> Evie Wold: I totally agree. I give that example of Sara's son as a parent. But really, I wanted to use it to highlight what a placement professional would be doing with the job seeker, now employee. So regular paperwork that goes along with everyone has to fill out when they start a job, that would full into follow-up services. So it a lot more intensive, if they're not comprehending or it's taking a lot of time, then that's a conversation with the counselor to see if it's moving towards job coaching hours. So thank you for that question. >> Sara Sundeen: Thank you, Evie. Another question that's come in is on the monthly progress report for PBAs. Could there be a line or section added to the form for individuals who are getting -- or who are part CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT of the Minnesota State Connect 700 program, as the rules are different, and it can confuse the team? >> Evie Wold: That's a great question. I've got it down, and maybe we can look at that and see if that would be a -- something that would be helpful to add. Sounds like it would be. >> Sara Sundeen: Thank you, Evie. This question is your update that you gave, Lori, on the VRS referral form. But it says, should you be directing a possible VRS referral to the application online? In the past, I would direct them to the V.R. counselor we work with in our area. So maybe just a little clarification. >> Lori Thorpe: Sure. Thank you, Chris. I know, I'm trying to think, thank you, Chris. >> Chris McVey: Absolutely. I'm deputy director for VRS and happy to respond to that question. It's really -- it's an option. We're not driving every single person to the interest form at this point. At some point we will. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT We are building the virtual intake unit, which we've talked about before. And this is for any individual 18 or older not in school. And so, you know, what's great about the interest form is that and having that person fill out that form or you as a community partner or family member helping them fill out that form, it ensures that it's getting to a team of people that are ensuring that that also then is getting to that manager on that team. And then the follow-up is there to ensure that, you know, our staff are, you know, nothing's getting missed along the way and that people are getting connected to a counselor as quickly as possible. So it is still an option. But if at all possible, utilizing that interest form really is helping to streamline getting that person to connect to that local office. Pretty quickly. >> Sara Sundeen: Thank you, Chris. Another question that's come in is about job-seeking skills training and individuals on waivered services. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT Is job-seeking skills training still not available to individuals on waivered services? Many are not ready to look for work with a PBA referral. >> Evie Wold: That I do not know. I need to check probably with Amanda on that. So I would be happy to circle back to answer that. >> Lori Thorpe: Thank you, Evie. Anyone else have any input on that? >> Michelle Chmielewski: I'm sorry, could you repeat that, Sara? >> Sara Sundeen: The question was, is job-seeking skills training still not available to individuals on waivered services? Many are not ready to look for work with a PBA referral. >> This is Chris, and I think I can respond to that. You know, we're really looking at that engage, plan, find, keep. And, you know, it's what we have for E1MN. And really we are looking closely at where that person is in their stage of moving forward with employment or their interest in competitive employment. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT And so depending on where the job-seeking skills -- I mean, we want to get connected as they're moving from the plan stage into the find stage. And that really is a conversation between the VRS counselor and the county case manager, and then the community partner if they are connected with that individual. Just to say, job-seeking skills, the need for that, I don't -- without -- I mean, a lot of this is gonna come down to the individual and where they're at in their thought about and wanting to move forward with the process. And sometimes that job-seeking skills preparation, they may not -- they may not have other things in place or considered before moving into that. So that's really why I just encourage on a case by case discussion regarding the person saying that they're interested in job-seeking skills. >> Lori Thorpe: Thank you, Chris. Sara? >> Sara Sundeen: Got it. The next question is, can you confirm to the group that community partners need documentation of disability when a referral is sent. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT >> Michelle Chmielewski: Yes, that should be included in the invitation to placement. The relevant sections of the assessment of V.R. needs. So, yes, providers do need documentation. >> Sara Sundeen: Thank you, Michelle. The next question is, is there still discussion around restructuring PBA rates? I haven't heard any updates for many months. >> Chris McVey: I can take this one. This is Chris McVey. And what we are challenged with right now is regarding our budget. We are wanting very much to consider that. But one of the things that we're challenged with right now is, you know, we are serving a lot of people. We are expending a lot of funds and case service dollars. And really, it's about -- I know Dee Torgerson and other leadership in D.E.E.D. really taking a look at where we're at in terms of our budget. So at this point it's not on our immediate next steps to revisit the PBA structure at this time. And I know that we'll have more information coming CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT up in the coming months. But that's where we're at right now. That's why we have not been moving forward with a restructure or reconsideration around the PBA amounts. And, again, more information will be coming in the coming months. >> Sara Sundeen: Thank you, Chris. The next question is that job coaching cannot be done within ten hours, and we're having issues getting authorizations. A typical employee takes 30 days to train in, and even more so with individuals with IDD. >> Michelle Chmielewski: This is Michelle. That would be a great time to consult with the counselor. We want to make sure that we are providing the supports that the individual needs. I think, you know, the ten hours may be just on that initial authorization. But if you're talking with a counselor, opening up that communication, letting, you know, the counselor know that the person needs additional support and help, that would be a great place to have that conversation. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT >> Sara Sundeen: Thank you, Michelle. >> Chris McVey: I'm sorry, just one last thing. Michelle, I could not agree with you more. So often with, especially with those E1MN individuals and those individuals that have developmental disabilities, really, it is a conversation with the VRS counselor, with other members of that team, to make that determination. And that certainly as a provider, if you're seeing that this person truly needs that additional -- those additional hours, do talk to that counselor well in advance of that ten hours being utilized, which we know that can be used up pretty quickly. So, yeah, couldn't agree with you more, Michelle. Thanks. >> Sara Sundeen: Thank you, Chris. Our next question is kind of a two-part question, so I'm gonna ask the first one first for clarification. Lori, this goes -- we're talking about with monthly progress reports. But the first question is, is it still policy that the PBA milestone payments cannot be paid if they are missing any PBA monthly progress reports? >> Lori Thorpe: Yes, that is true. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT >> Sara Sundeen: Okay, so if yes, then clarify, the policy that you stated now, is that VRS will not be reaching out to request reports. So if a PBA milestone invoice is submitted, it might not be paid if any monthly progress reports are missing? >> Lori Thorpe: I would say, in that case, here, I feel like I'm taking it back, but I feel like that in that case, if there's one report, and -- Yeah, I think we would reach out. Quite honestly, and say we're not paying it because we're missing, you know, November's report. And so it's -- it's more the kind of frequent ones where we're kind of reaching out and we're saying, please bill us. We're at day 80. We're at day 85. We need to be billed. That's more what I meant. So that's a great clarifying question there, Sara, and whoever submitted that. So -- We definitely do want to pay. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT Let me be clear. We want to pay. So, yeah. Thank you. >> Sara Sundeen: All right. And right now, that is the only -- well, that is the extent of the questions that have been submitted. So if we want to give people just a minute, if anyone has any more questions, you can put it in that -- in our question form. I'll just post that one last time in case people have questions, we could give them a minute. >> Lori Thorpe: Thank you. I just so appreciate these forums, you know, the chance to come together and hearing the same message and have our questions answered. And you bring up good questions. Sometimes we have to go back and verify. So appreciate that as well. >> Sara Sundeen: I think one more question has come in here. So -- All right. One more question here. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT For clarification, once an authorization hits 90 days, techs can go ahead and close authorizations without confirmation from the vendor? >> Chris McVey: So this is a great question. This is Chris McVey. And as we are looking at -- and this is VRS is looking at closing authorizations that are 90 days past the end date of an authorization. We appreciate when there is knowledge about, you know, let's say, the provider's made it clear that they've done the final invoicing. There might be an extended balance. That can be canceled. It's part of how we're managing our budget is to know what we have available in terms of cash flow. So we are definitely at VRS taking a really, you know, strong look and asking our VRS teams to review authorizations that are open past the end of 90 days past the end authorization date. We understand that, you know, in some cases, very few cases, there is a need to reverse, if we close an authorization out. There's a need to reverse that, and that takes time and our field operations specialists are the ones that do that. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT But, yes, we are encouraging that we close hots out that are 90 days past the end date of an authorization. For community partners, this is, please, please, please get your invoices to us as quickly as possible after the services have concluded. We know that you need time to write reports and get the invoices ready. But really, I mean, there's 30, 60, 90 days past the end date of that authorization that you have to submit that to us and we really believe that that is a reasonable period of time for us to request that information from you. Just know that our staff are being directed to close those authorizations that are the 0 days past the end date of that authorization. And again, that is one of the ways that VRS is managing or has awareness around its available budget. So I hope that's clear. >> Sara Sundeen: Thank you, Chris. One more question came in. And I'm gonna just read it verbatim here. It says people without waivered services have no opportunity to participate in the phases as in the CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT E1MN process. Is there thinking of adding some services through V.R. for these people to help prepare for job search, find? >> Chris McVey: This is Chris McVey again. And I appreciate the question. What I think helpful for us as disability services practitioners is that, you know, we work with people with all different types of disabilities. And you're right. Many, if not most of the people that VRS serves are individuals who are not on Medicaid waivers. And so they're oftentimes just a lot of preparation that goes on to help that person not on a Medicaid waiver, prepare for an employment search, for a job search. And so I don't see that there are any gaps or issues with an individual getting support to prepare for a job search. But at the same time, we really believe at VRS and hopefully most of you do too, is that, you know, the -- there's a lot -- there has been in the past a lot of preparation work to help somebody prepare for a job search. And oftentimes what we find is helping that person CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT just initiate a job search is really part of helping them move forward into finding employment. Some of the people that we work with, again, not on Medicaid waivers, will always need support in job search until they get the job. And so for me, I don't see that there's any barriers to individuals not on Medicaid waivers to have those same experiences and preparations to enter into the job search. So that's just my take on it. >> Lori Thorpe: Yeah, I would agree, questions Chris, and there again, I think it's that conversation with the V.R. staff person and sharing what you as a provider are seeing and vice versa, and coming to an agreement on what services are necessary. And for that individual. So thank you. >> Sara Sundeen: Yes. Another question just came in. It said, please explain seasonal/permanent jobs and the billing on PBAs. >> Lori Thorpe: Evie and Michelle? >> Evie Wold: Yep, there is a form on the CP site that talks about closure considerations. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT And we get this question quite a bit. If the person is fully informed, and happy with that position as a seasonal position, and they understand the impact on their benefits and they -- you know, all the pieces that go into that, and they choose to take on those seasonal positions, we can pay a third milestone or closure at the 90-day mark. So it's really looking at each person. If they're fully informed, and they're going in eyes wide open, and if it's a great fit, then we can do seasonal employment as a final milestone payment. But take a look at that closure considerations form. It really walks through, you know, all the components that need to be in place for the job to be -- to meet that third milestone, a successful closure. >> Sara Sundeen: Thank you, Evie. That is all the questions that I see, Lori. >> Lori Thorpe: Great. Well, thank you, Sara, for moderating that today. And again -- was just so good to have so many of you here. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT And we look forward to seeing you again on February 4th. So take care, be well. Bye! DISCLAIMER This text is being provided in a lightly edited draft format and is the work product of the CART captioner. Any reproduction, publication, or other use of this CART file without the express written consent of the captioner is strictly prohibited. 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