LIGHTLY EDITED FILE

              VRS Community Partners Forum

                    August 21st, 2020

           Vocational Rehabilitation Services

                         Remote

              9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. (CDT)

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So, welcome to the VRS community partners forum today.

We have a lot of our leader here today to present

various updates to you and talk a lot about some of the

changes that are happening.

So and one thing that we really want to make sure that

we have a good question and answer session, and we will

be using the chat for that.

So I'm gonna pass it over to Dee Torgerson, our VRS

director, to welcome you more formally.

>> Dee Torgerson: Hello, good morning, everyone.

We're so happy you could join us today.

As Ann said, we have a big agenda, lots of changes and

lots of updates that we're excited to share with you.

I just want to recognize too, Ann and Gretchen.

You know, one of the -- one of the things that we've

had to quickly learn and become accustomed to and many

of you probably the same is doing these remote

trainings and meetings.

And Ann and Gretchen have just -- they quickly got up

to speed on all of the different options for us and

have helped us figure that out, and are expert

facilitators and have learned those skills in a very

short time.

So hat's off to them.

And we're thankful that we have them helping us

navigate some of these technologies and helping to

train us and also facilitating with us.

So I thought I would just start out and give a brief

update of the lay of the land of VRS.

Right now.

So as you can see, we are mostly still all doing remote

services.

We're coming to you for the most part from different

places in our homes, as many of you may be as well.

And we have been out since the middle of March.

We left very quickly from our offices, and we have

continued to stay open and provide remote services as

best that we can.

For the most part, it's going pretty well.

You know, we do have a few people who would prefer

in-person services, and of course we have some services

that are a different intensity in person.

We have submitted a plan to our -- to D.E.E.D., to our

agency and to the state of Minnesota.

And we're hoping to be able to see people in person by

appointments soon.

But at this point right now, we do not have permission

to do that, so we are only allowed to do remote

services right now.

So I hope to get an update within next couple of weeks

on that.

And we will share that with all of you as well.

For all referrals, I would say -- overall, referrals, I

would say are down significantly.

We're waiting, as you all are, to see what happens with

referrals.

And it's still unknown.

It's sounding like most high schools in particular with

students, fall is usually really busy with students,

and most of you know about half of the people that --

right now are students in transition services, and

students in high school.

And it's sounding like most of the education will be

remote at least starting this year.

So we are -- we're not sure what that's gonna look like

for us either.

And we're trying to navigate and just stay on top of

all the schools and their policies and what we're gonna

be allowed to do as well in terms of, you know, if a

school is open, will we be allowed to meet with people

in person in those schools?

So referrals are down significantly.

But we're also in a hiring freeze.

So we have been in a hiring freeze.

I think that went into effect for all of state of

Minnesota in April.

And there's some agencies -- agencies are categorized

in terms of, like, health and wellness and safety,

and -- and priorities of services.

So there's four priorities.

We're in priority three.

One and two services, that would be, like, unemployment

insurance, Department of Corrections, some of those of

that are essential to the health and safety of

Minnesotans, they're able to continue hiring.

So I know, a bit of confusion around that, why some

state of Minnesota agencies can hire and some cannot,

and that is why.

So VRS and job services and most of the other -- most

of the other divisions within D.E.E.D. are under that

hiring freeze.

So even though our referrals are down significantly,

you know, we've had some shifting and movement of

staff.

We've had some retirements, so our staffing is also

down significantly.

And so that's limited some of our ability as well to

move forward with serving additional participants.

So we still just have one category out of four that

are -- at this time.

We did take off 317 people off of our waiting list in

May.

While we were doing remote services, most of those

people chose to move forward.

Some did not.

Some said I am gonna wait until this COVID stuff is

over.

Or until we can meet in person.

But most of them chose to move forward.

And we were able to do a lot of, you know, preparation

and planning with those folks.

We still actually just yesterday, I checked the

numbers, and we currently have 318 people on our

waiting list.

Just 19 of those are in category -- it was category 2

that we had taken everybody off in May.

And about 56 of those are students.

So I expect in the fall that's gonna tick up a bit with

some students.

We're working right now, all of the -- working with all

of the teams to look at capacity.

Our funding right now is good.

We're stable.

We have stable funding for now.

So funding-wise, we're able to serve those people, but

it's really more our capacity that I'm concerned with

as we have so many vacancies right now.

But I think we're gonna have some capacity to be able

to bring more people off of that waiting list soon.

And so we're just checking to make sure that we can do

that across the state.

Because there have been different numbers of referrals

and different things that have affected some teams.

For instance, some of the closures of -- we've had a

couple of day training programs that have closed, and

we've been unyoung dated with -- inundated with -- in

some very specific geographical pockets.

To keeping that into mind.

So that's a little bit of what our world looks like.

And I know that Kim Babine and the community

partnership team has been working frantically to -- to

get the P.T. contract amendments open.

We've been making changes and to communicate with

people and getting recommendations, and so that's part

of what we want to dive into today.

And so I'm open to questions, if there are some in the

chat, or if we have time later.

But otherwise I'm gonna go ahead and hand it over to

you, Ann or Kim, I am not sure.

Thanks, everyone.

>> Ann Macheledt: I can introduce Kim.

So Kim Babine, our director of community partnerships,

is going to be doing our P/T contract updates.

I know there's a lot that's been going with the

amendments and some of the changes with pre-ETS, and

even the transportation numbers have changed.

So I will pass it on to Kim to fill you all in.

>> Kim Babine: Good morning.

Thanks, Ann.

Thanks, Dee.

Good morning, everybody.

It is good to see you, and -- well, see your names, and

connect with you in this way.

So thank you for joining us.

And we've got a lot of information we want to share

today.

So first up, wanted to talk through the open amendment

period that was announced at the beginning of July.

And goes through September 2nd.

So we've got a few weeks left for you to get your

amendment applications in.

So you can make changes and submit that application,

that application is online.

And you can submit them through September 2nd, but also

want to share that we have a new staffing structure in

VRS with Sara Sundeen joining Anne Paulson with us on

the community partnerships team.

And both of them are supporting community partners as

you -- or focused on P/T contracts.

So they are your go-to people, even if you're putting

your amendment together, if you have questions, what

about this service, I'm not sure, or -- feel free to

give them a call or send them an email.

If you go to the community partners listing on our

website, you'll see the list of the partners.

Go down and find your name, and then it'll have either

Anne or Sarah's name next to -- and that'll be your --

they're assigned one or the other, but always feel free

to contact both of them, throw me in there, we'll make

sure you greater weight to the right person.

But that's just a way that we've split up the work,

divided the work so that they can get to know you a

little bit better and be able to -- be able to connect

with you on a different level.

So those generally Anne is working with the providers

in the northern region, Sarah's working with the

providers in the southern region, and the Metro region

is split between the two, not necessarily by geography.

So that's generally the breakdown.

Once you've completed your application for an

amendment, you can send it to a new email address.

You can send it to VRSptcontracts.DEED@state.mn.us.

So when you send those contract documents, that

amendment application back, then Anne and Sara and I

are looking at that inbox, but that'll help us keep

things organized.

And then you should also expect, once we go through the

whole process of getting your amendment ready, the

email will come from that email address to go out with

your contract to sign, the amendment to sign.

So be sure to be looking for that email.

Maybe put it in your email address book so it doesn't

go to junk mail.

A couple things that you can -- that you can request on

these amendment applications is rate increases.

We know that we asked partners to wait on rate

increases last year when you requested them.

We are not quite finished completing the analysis on

the rate methodology, but we've got a few pieces in

place, and we want you to be able to request those

rates that you need, and so you can add those to your

contract this time, and we will -- or your application

this time, and we'll consider those.

Same thing with service changes.

I know we asked people who didn't get in that first

round of pre-ETS to wait until we had another open

amendment period, and here it is, so if you're hoping

that if you don't currently offer pre-ETS, we're really

hoping that you'll consider it.

There is a lot of work that needs to be done in that

area, and we think it's a great opportunity for

community partners.

So think about that.

If you have questions about those services, reach out

to Anne or Sara.

They'll bring in a list of clients, as needed, so we

can talk through those as well.

There's a couple specifically to pre-ETS, there's some

changes for P/T contracts specific to pre-ETS.

So about a year ago was when we put pre-ETS on your

contracts first.

And it was the -- we had started with the grant model.

We were told we couldn't do that.

Is he we tried -- you know, we put on P/T contracts and

we did the best we could, but these are new services.

As Dee likes to say, it's an entire new kind of book of

business.

It's an entirely different world that we're in here,

and so we put things on the contracts and now we know

there's a few things that we want to change.

So first of all, with pre-ETS work experience wages,

there -- that is -- we've learned from you that that

rate wasn't enough to cover your costs.

And that's not what we want to have.

And so we are increasing that rate based on input from

you.

And so instead of being work experience wages being the

wage plus 25%, it will now be the wage plus 50%.

To cover those administrative costs.

So we're excited about that.

We hope that will be a positive for you.

And we'll be able to offer more of those work

experiences.

Then when we get to the pre-ETS service titles, we

broke down the services and the service titles into

pretty distinct separate titles, and we thought at that

time that was the level of reporting and information

that we would need to be able to provide to RSA.

We're finding that we don't necessarily need to track

down to the very specific level on a couple of these.

And so we're kind of making an umbrella and having

those things be activities that can happen under an

umbrella.

So hopefully it simplifies things a little bit.

So this was all detailed in the email that I sent out

on July 22nd, and is in the application on the website.

Just a little plug.

If you've missed any of the emails that have come out,

we are now putting them on the website.

So you can go back and look -- look at those emails

that have been sent out before.

So we're excited to have those archived and available

for reference.

So the first one is workplace readiness training for

pre-ETS.

So there were four services listed under workplace

readiness training that are no longer going to be

separate services.

That's gonna be under the umbrella, and then these will

just be activities that can be performed under those.

So there's four that will go away from your contracts.

That's benefit information services, independent

living -- wait, VRS -- yes, pre-ETS benefits

information services, independent living services or

soft skills training, job seeking skills training, and

public transportation training, will all go away from

your contract.

We still want you to provide those services, but

they'll just be authorized under work place readiness

training.

Similar with pre-ETS work-based learning.

So there's five services that were under that umbrella

that are now gonna go away from your contracts.

Again, we still want the activities.

It's just gonna be authorized under work-based

learning.

And it will be -- we're actually not authorized under

work-based learning.

We're calling this group the pre-ETS introductory work

activities.

So career mentoring experience, informational

interview, job shadow, service learning and the

workplace tour field tripe will all be authorized under

a new title that's called introductory work activities.

Work experience services and work experience wages will

remain separate and distinct service titles.

So we're just kind of moving things around a little bit

with those.

In the amendment, we try -- the amendment application,

we try and spell that out for you, so you don't

necessarily have to, you know, take -- do all that work

yourself.

I called it a package.

Like you're going for the pre-ETS package, so if you

have any questions on the application or how these will

work on your contract, feel free to reach out to me or

Anne or Sara.

Again, we talked about this at our last forum, but

because of the flexibilities that RSA give us around

pre-ETS, we're gonna make some changes to the contract

based on that.

So we are adding intake fees for pre-ETS services.

This is -- intake service, when it is a student who is

eligible for the V.R. program.

VRS will still authorize for a first meeting for

potentially eligible students, both of these

flexibilities are only apply to services who are

potentially eligible.

Not -- or who are eligible for V.R., not those who are

potentially eligible.

So they gave us some flexibilities, but they didn't go

all the way.

So the other one is work-based learning coaching.

Is this, like, job coaching.

We just have to use work-based learning.

So we'll be able to have that coaching service on that

as well.

And that can be added to your amendment -- or by

amendment to your contract.

Some of you have special programming like a class or a

training that you do that doesn't necessarily -- that

includes several pre-ETS service titles.

And we -- we're kind of taking a look at those and

making sure that we have them accurately on your

contract and then accurately -- we can accurately

authorize for them with the right service titles, and

report those to RSA.

So before you submit your application, if you have that

special programming, reach out to Sara and Anne, and

they'll kind of walk through it through with you and

talk through it exactly how it might look.

And then the other thing with pre-ETS is that we know

that these pre-ETS services are great, and students who

are eligible for these pre-ETS services may be in those

services and then they might all of a sudden become not

eligible for pre-ETS.

So they -- I always use the example of kind of aging

out.

They might grow -- be too old for the services.

They might pass the eligibility date with a birthday.

And we don't want to necessarily have to, you know,

hard stop, take them out of the pre-ETS services, and

so for this -- this is just for students who are

eligible for the V.R. program.

That we want to be able to then authorize under general

services so they can continue or kind of finish out

those pre-ETS services.

So, again, potentially eligible students will want

to -- we'll want to keep an eye on because we're not

able to do anything after they are no longer eligible.

But for these eligible students, we're calling them

same or similar general services.

And so we're adding a few service titles, and we've

matched up the other ones so that if you have a student

who's doing work-based learning, they're in their

work-based learning, and then they have a birthday,

then you can talk about authorizing under general

services.

So you may be adding a few service titles under your,

we're calling them general services.

So that's the pre-ETS stuff.

I'm gonna keep going and then take questions at the end

unless there's any, Ann or Gretchen, you can throw any

out that are in the chat.

I have trouble watching the chat while I'm presenting.

So I'll just keep going unless someone jumps in.

So the other big thing that we announced on July 2nd

that we're really excited about is we wanted to find a

way to compensate providers for reasonable

transportation costs.

So that those transportation costs aren't a barrier for

you to providing services to our individuals.

So we want to make sure that services are available

statewide to all the individuals that we serve.

So we are now going to be reimbursing for some

transportation costs.

And we did a whole lot of work on this over lots of

months, and we engaged with the community partners

committee, and we engaged with our management and

staff, here at D.E.E.D. -- or VRS, and we made some

policy decisions.

And there were good arguments on either side, and we

had to come down in one place.

And so these are -- these are decisions that we made,

but we -- it's the first try.

So we're committed to having an ongoing conversation

about these costs and how we're reimbursing them.

We're gonna try them out, and do review, and continue

to gather information.

And if something needs to be tweaked, we're not afraid

to do that.

So the first decision is that we're gonna reimburse

costs related to travel when a provider is transporting

an individual for the purposes of their employment

plan.

That's something that we already did, but we're also

adding when provider staff is traveling to or from the

individual.

So that's new.

That's a really big deal, and it's a really big change

for us.

And hopefully that is -- will be a positive thing for

you.

For general services, we will reimburse providers for

costs related to staff time and travel.

And not travel expenses such as mileage.

For general services, we're gonna reimburse at $28 per

hour.

And then pre-ETS is different.

Pre-ETS services, we will add the travel time to the

service authorization.

So if you currently have a travel differential on your

contract or different reimbursement rate, such as the

IRS rate, you -- we're gonna have this transition

period where we'll have a couple different ways that

people can do it.

So if you already have it on your contract, you can

keep the way that you have it, it if that makes the

best sense for your organization, you can stay as is.

In the future, we'll probably move everyone to one

model.

But right now we are allowing to keep it as is.

And then you're also able to choose the new

transportation reimbursement model that -- the $28 per

hour, but you have to choose one or the other.

The transportation reimbursement is for when we are

authorizing for hourly services.

Not the PBA, the job placement and retention PBA.

And we know that there are transportation costs that

are related to the PBA.

And we are working on that.

Chris McVey and Amanda Jensen Stahl and Anne and Sara,

we're looking at that PBA as part of the MOU work that

Chris McVey is working on for us.

And we know that we need to kind of take a fresh look

at that.

So we're bringing in the travel and transportation

costs into that conversation as we look at it

holistically.

So it's not -- never -- it's not a forever no.

We're just needing to take a look at that holistically.

So the one thing that's really important to mention

here is that the state, when we are getting services

from you, you all are probably familiar with the fact

that you can't start services until after the

authorization is in place.

If you start services and the authorization is in

place, or maybe there's an authorization you -- for 20

hours of job coaching and you go above that, that's

what's called a purchasing violation for the state.

And that is a breach of state law.

And it's something that we get in trouble for.

And so we -- you can't do that.

And so there's a lot of opportunity with this

transportation rate for there to be those purchasing

violations.

But the -- what I want to make perfectly clear is that

we -- we will not take purchasing violations for the

transportation costs.

So it is only transportation time that has been

authorized prior to the transportation occurring.

And only transportation time that falls within the

number of prior authorized services will be paid.

So we -- if there's a mixup or you didn't estimate

correctly, we won't be paying that cost.

We just aren't able to.

The -- it's -- the responsibility of our community

partners staff to request additional hours for

transportation if necessary.

And I just want to be clear that the -- prior to

authorizing the number of authorized hours for the

transportation, will be negotiated with VRS staff and

community partner staff, but then once that's

negotiated, then we need to stick with that, unless you

have another conversation with VRS.

Staff.

We understand that accidents, road construction, bad

weather, can't always be predicted.

But we -- even when there's those unpredictable

circumstances, VRS is not going to pay in those

situations if it goes over the authorized hours.

So some people were asking when is this effective?

So the effective date is immediately.

So July 2nd, when this was sent out.

If the provider currently has transportation

reimbursement on your contract, you can start to

receive part of this.

You can start to receive authorizations to reimburse

costs relate teed travel when a provider is both

transporting an individual and when they're not, when

they're traveling to and from the individual.

So that can start right away, but keep in mind that you

have to talk with the VRS staff and establish that

you're gonna be starting -- that you'd like to start to

charge for that.

And make sure that the hours reflect what it needs to

be.

And that responsibility is on our community partner

staff.

You need -- we would like you to call VRS and make sure

that that is -- that is all clear and your

authorization is okay.

So if you do not have transportation reimbursement on

your contract, then you need to request an amendment to

put it on your contract.

And then that effective date becomes whenever the

amendment is fully executed.

So that is when things kick off.

So also, I mentioned that we are archiving the emails

that we send out with all the information, but we also

put a link on there, on our website, for you to sign up

for emails, so if you've gotten them forwarded to you

in the past or maybe you're newer to the organization,

or you're a manager and you know a couple other people

who might be interested in these emails, please sign up

online, and then we're just building that list and

trying to give a more inclusive and -- so more people

can get these messages.

And we're also putting the past forums online.

So we just posted the one from May.

It's got the forum and the transcript and the agenda on

there.

And if we have additional documents at any of these,

that's where those will be as well.

Ooh, so that is a few things going on with P/T

contracts.

I'm gonna stop for now and turn it over to Chris McVey,

director of strategic initiatives, who's gonna give us

an update on performance-based agreements and some

changes there.

So, over to you, Chris.

>> Ann Macheledt: So, Chris, I'll give you a little

bit of a intro too to get a chance for your camera to

come up, and I know, Kim, we had some questions come

up, but why don't we just slot those for the Q&A time,

because that probably makes the most sense.

So Chris McVey, director of our strategic initiatives,

I know PBAs are a common thing that all of our

providers are supplying, so we're really excited to

talk about these changes, and I'll pass it to Chris.

>> Chris McVey: Good morning, everybody.

Can you hear me?

And see me, Ann?

>> Ann Macheledt: Yes, we can.

>> Chris McVey: Okay, perfect.

Well, happy Friday, everybody.

So good to see -- to know that so many of you are on

the WebEx today.

Wanting to provide you some information and updates

around the reporting for our performance-based

agreements, the PBAs, replacement and retention

services.

I'm also joined by Maureen McAvoy, one of

D.E.E.D./VRS's placement specialists, she and Evie Wold

have played a really big part in making sure that our

document requirements meet the RSA, our Rehabilitation

Services Administration standards and expectations.

And so she'll be walking through some of the specifics

regarding the documents that we're gonna go over this

morning.

You know, one year ago, we had the Rehabilitation

Services Administration come in and do what's called

a -- a monitoring review.

And folks from Washington, D.C., landed in our offices

in downtown St. Paul for the better part of a week, and

they reviewed everything.

Regarding our program, and performance as well as our

documentation.

And one of the things that RSA told us a year ago was

that we were missing some of the essential elements for

reporting when somebody starts a job, and then at the

time of employment closure.

So since that time, Evie Wold one of our placement

specialists down in the southern part of Minnesota, she

really took a lead in developing the documentation as

well as preparing a webinar which lives on the

community partners page as well as another webinar

specific to VRS staff.

But I'll go that in a minute.

So what we want to be able to bring to you today is

really just a matter of reviewing information that we

sent out back in March of 2020.

It feels like so long ago.

And at the same time what we recognize is there was a

lot happening back in March.

We were all moving from our business as usual, our

lives as usual, into something completely different

called COVID-19.

And so I completely understand why folks would be

feeling like this is new information on both the VRS

side as well as our community partner side.

So what we're doing today is just bringing this back to

you and giving you information on where you can find

details about it.

On the community partners page.

Really, this is about reporting, and making sure that

we have the right information documented at the right

time.

So that our counselors that are referring people for

placement services, whether it's internally for our

placement coordinators or through our community

partners that offer placement and retention services,

making sure that that verification and that additional

information is there.

So I'm just looking at my notes here.

That the V.R. programs federal funded under RSA is

requiring now that employment verification details be

reported and what we want to do right now is bring you

to the updated placement and retention services

overview on our website.

And I don't know, Ann, if you're able to bring that up.

Thank you so much.

For those of you who have been with VRS and with the

community partners, our disability employment community

for years and years, this document hopefully looks

familiar to you.

I also recognize that we've got a lot of new people

that have started, and we want you to just take a look

at this document.

It shows the process and the flow of what happens

throughout the entire placement process starting with

the signed placement plan, which is the first PBA

milestone, where the placement professional joins the

team of the VRS counselor and the individual, the

person who is looking for employment or the job seeker.

Perhaps what we could do first -- oh, and then the

moving forward to the 60-day check-in, and then the

second mile stone which is the Employment First shift

completed, which is the second mile stone, and then all

the way to the third milestone payment which is the

successful employment closure.

And we just want you to know that that entire -- all of

the documents that we're talking about today and the

review, it's all on the community partners page.

And we want to just make sure that you know where to

find it.

So I'm excite teed see that there's been a lot of work

that we've done to provide information for both our VRS

staff as well as our community partner staff about what

to expect during the entire placement process and what

it is that VRS counselors are going to need in order to

be able to pay on invoices that are received, and so

this is really, again, a review around that.

The first piece is around -- that we wanted to review

again with you is about the first milestone placement

plan.

So the VRS placement plan has been updated now to

include both pre-employment transition services and

customized employment services, in addition to the use

for a PBA.

So for those of you that have that -- you have the

competency review completed and approved by

D.E.E.D./VRS, we wanted to make things more accessible

and less, like, different forms for different things.

So I'm really pleased that whether it's a -- helping a

student access a work-based learning paid work

experience or whether it's customized employment,

performance-based agreement, it's all that same VRS

placement plan form is going to meet those

requirements.

We ask you to use that new version of the VRS placement

plan or your own agency plan with the roles and

responsibilities for each team member which includes

the job seeker, the counselor, and the employment

professional, and identify those distinctly about who's

responsible for what.

The updated placement form plan can be found on the

forms tab of the PBA web page.

What I'm gonna do at this time is ask Maureen to kind

of walk us through in order to issue payment for that

first milestone and what are some of the pieces on that

placement plan that we want our community partners and

VRS staff to be aware of.

>> Maureen McAvoy: Hello, everybody, can you hear

me?

>> Chris McVey: Yes.

>> Maureen McAvoy: Okay, great.

So, Ann, if we could look at that summary of the --

there we go.

Thank you.

So this requirement is not new.

We rolled this out several years ago with the placement

and retention services training that a report -- or the

signed placement plan meeting was required.

And this template was developed to make it easy for

people to provide that information.

So this is just a reminder that this is available.

It's a fillable form.

And it is on the community partners website.

And I don't know if you can scroll down a little bit,

Ann.

On this.

Maybe not.

But it is just a pretty simple fillable form.

And as a reminder, you do not have to use this to make

your report.

You can use your own form.

As long as all of the same information in your own

report is what's on this form here.

And so this report after the signed placement plan

meeting, along with signed placement plan itself, and

your invoice would be required for a milestone one

payment.

>> Chris McVey: Thanks, Maureen.

So if you and I can tag-team the next set here, which

is essentially the change that we identified in March

that we rolled out to both VRS and community partner

staff in March.

We're -- the additional elements of employment

verification that we need, that RSA said, looked at our

files and said, nope, you need the information,

additional information in your files regarding

employment verification.

So it's now part of the communication update form.

And should be completed when a job seeker accepts an

offer of employment, and when we are closing a PBA.

So these are really essential elements, again, that

both our community partners that provide placement and

retention services as well as our placement

coordinators within VRS must be including at the time

of employment start or when an offer of employment

is -- is accepted by the person, and then also when

closing a PBA.

And, Maureen, would you mind walking through those as

well?

>> Maureen McAvoy: Sure.

Ann, if you could pull up the communication update

form.

Thank you.

So you're all familiar with this form probably if you

use it.

And if you could scroll down to the second page, Ann?

We'll show you -- there we go.

Thank you.

We'll show you what information has been added that RSA

is requiring that we now document.

So the details on accepted job offer section, that

first bullet or line there is fairly similar to what

was required below.

We do have level of benefits on there.

And we just want to point out that be as specific as

possible in all of the benefits that person is

receiving because that is an area that RSA really wants

some detail on from us.

So just make sure you capture all the benefits they're

receiving as well as include the other information.

Just as a note:  We are hoping to make a few tweaks to

this form to provide a little bit more clarity for

everyone, and we'll let people know when we make those

changes.

No new information will be added.

Just some clarification.

Just some clarifications.

>> Chris McVey: So, Maureen, just a quick

question, regarding benefits, are we talking about

health benefits, or what type of benefits are we

talking about, just as a general so that people can get

a sense of it?

>> Maureen McAvoy: Yeah, oh, thank you for

bringing that up, because specifically in our Workforce

One case management system, we have check boxes in the

areas of benefits for dental, health, life, retirement,

vacation, and other.

So you can list out any other benefits.

And we do need to -- our VRS staff needs to have all

that information in order to successfully close out a

file.

Going --

>> Chris McVey: Thanks, Maureen.

>> Maureen McAvoy: Sure.

To the next item, name and contact information on the

person obtaining the information, so we've had a lot of

questions about this one, and the next one, who

provided the information.

In most cases, the person obtaining the information is

the placement professional if there is a placement

person involved.

So in that line, if you're the placement person, you

would put your name.

And for contact, we need a phone number.

For the next one, name and contact information of the

person providing the information, in most cases, that

is the job seeker.

So as we know, most times the placement person gets the

information from the job seeker.

So then you would put the job seeker and their phone

number.

There are times when maybe a placement person is not

involved.

So perhaps the VRS counselor is talking with the job

seeker and getting that information, so it would be the

counselor for obtaining and the job seeker providing.

The employer sometimes can provide that information to

the placement person or V.R. counselor.

So we just need to know who those people are and their

phone number.

The next one, the date, has generated some questions,

the date person verified.

So that's the person who received the job offer

information, again, typically the placement person, and

just the date that you received that information.

And then if we can move down just a little bit to the

employment verification at placement closure, please?

Oh, I can do that.

Thank you.

Okay.

So this section is new also, and as Chris mentioned, we

have to not only capture this information at job offer

but at placement closure.

So we tried to make it easy and just have a check box

if all of the information you entered above is

accurate, just check yes, and then put today's date in

there.

If things have changed, and we know things do change,

you would check no, information has changed, and then

you would put any new information in there, like often

a person will start part-time and then they will move

to full-time, or perhaps the company moved and they

have a new address.

So then you would just fill out that information there.

So those are the primary changes to the form.

And just as a reminder, if you do -- if you don't use

the communication update form, if you use a case note

or some other format, just please be sure to include

each of these details on your own form or case note,

however you submit that.

>> Chris McVey: Thank you so much, Maureen, for

that really the details regarding the documentation

requirements.

A couple pieces that I just want to follow up on is

that this information is so essential to the agency, to

D.E.E.D./VRS reporting back to RSA that we have created

some barriers for our counselors to be able to move

forward in advancing in our case management system, if

they put in the documentation that you send in a

communication update about acceptance of employment,

and those additional elements are not there, they

won't -- they will not be able to move to another

screen, nor can they save it in a pending screen until

they get that additional information.

So it's gonna mean lost time for our VRS counselors

when they don't have that information.

The second piece is that case closure, the same thing

again, a PBA closure, the counselor will not be able to

close that case without those additional elements, and

we've really done that to kind of, like, force -- not

force people, but we have to have those elements, so

that's an indication just how important those

additional elements are.

And from what I understand, really that information

should be coming with an acceptance letter or

verification from that employer when somebody accepts a

job.

And so this information should not be overwhelmingly

difficult to get.

It's just -- it's being mindful of those additional

elements that have to be there.

So as a way, again, to just let you know as community

partners especially about the important of getting

those additional elements, we are not able -- VRS will

not be able to issue a payment for either milestones

two or three until the employer verification details

are received.

And so that's something that you should be aware of is

that without those additional elements included on the

report that accompanies that invoice for either the

second or the third milestone payment, that invoice is

not gonna be paid until those additional elements are

there.

Now, we believe that in many -- most cases, we've been

able to get ahead of this, meaning that this is not

happening large-scale at this point.

Where counselors are going in and wanting to input

information or, say, a V.R. tech, putting in the

information in and finding themselves not able to

continue.

And then having to circle back around to the community

partner or to the VRS placement professional.

We're wanting to get this to you ahead of time so that

you can be proactive in making sure that those

additional elements are there.

We want to pay our providers.

We want to have our counselors and other VRS staff

being able to move forward and not have to duplicate

their efforts.

So, again, we're wanting to get this out to everyone as

a review of what we previously sent out in March,

pre-pandemic.

We also wanted to let you know that there is a

training, a webinar, again that Evie Wold developed in

concert with some other voces at VRS that we're so

appreciative of.

It's focused on placement and retention services.

It's an excellent training resource for both new and

existing staff.

So those of you who are middle managers in community

partners that have new placement staff as they come on

board, we really invite you to ask those staff or work

with those staff to ensure that they're going through

these trainings.

And it's something that we will be putting through and

making available to you as we have new information and

new trainings for staff, and it's not a bad thing for

those of us that have been in the field for a long time

or working for some time to go back and review those

elements as well.

The last thick I want to say about how we support this

work or where we can have some additional conversation

about the additional elements is through the business

engagement networks.

I can honestly say having attended all of the business

engagement networks in Minnesota, we have a great team

of folks that are supporting the business engagement

networks.

Our placement coordinators, by and large, are the ones

leading this.

We also have placement specialists such as Evie Wold

and Maureen McAvoy that are as well supporting this.

These are places for your staff to come and ask

questions.

If those of you who are managers of placement staff are

interested in joining, we invite you to do the same.

We also -- Kim has asked that Anne Paulson and Sara

Sundeen also join those business engagement networks.

It's a place where people can come and ask their

questions and hopefully we can have the dialogue

necessary to help people feel confident in the work

that they're doing.

And so I just really encourage you and your staff to

attend those business engagement networks in your area.

Finally, if you have any questions about the changes to

the placement and retention services process, I really

do invite you to reach out to Evie Wold or Maureen

McAvoy, and I believe their contact information is

hopefully on the screen.

I'm looking at another document right now.

I believe that we will get -- I'll just say that email

addresses really quick here.

So maureen.mcavoy@state.mn.us.

Evie.wold@state.mn.us.

Thank you, everyone, and again, happy Friday.

The sun is shining, and I'm gonna hand it off to Ann

Macheledt for questions and answers.

Thank you.

>>

>> Ann Macheledt: Thank you very much, Chris.

So now is the time to be able to put some of your

questions into the chat.

I know we have some already.

I know we had quite a few come through on Kim's

presentation.

So maybe we can start with the first one, and I know

Gretchen's gonna help me on the back side --

>> Kim Babine: Ann, this is Kim.

Can I jump in before the first question?

>> Ann Macheledt: Sure.

>> Kim Babine: Excellent.

All right.

I was just so excited that I forgot to mention one

other big change to pre-ETS for the contract

amendments.

So -- and I think you'll all be pretty excited about

this one.

So I had prepared my notes before we made the position,

so that's why I didn't say it.

So we heard you.

We know that those pre-ETS group rates have been very

complicated to say the least.

And we know that going on.

We were trying really hard to get you the best bang for

your buck and then also, you know, be cautious and

conservative with taxpayer dollars as well.

So we were trying to make sure we were getting the

right thing for our buck, and so it was -- that's why

we had different rates for every number.

But we know that we -- we knew it was gonna be hard,

but we have found out that it's just too hard.

And so we are changing it, people!

We're changing it!

So we are going to move to one group rate for any size.

So we'll have the individual rate at $75 an hour.

That won't change.

And then any group, anything above 1, 2 through

infinity, will each participant will have $30 per hour.

So -- and we -- we recognized that there is one level

where you will receive less than -- where you could

receive less than what is currently on the contract.

And that's when there are 2 people in the group.

So right now, I think that's at 40 per person.

And we're gonna do the flat rate of 30.

So we want to encourage larger group sizes, and we

think that this balances out in the grand scheme of

things.

We want larger group classes.

We know that people will cancel and sometimes you'll

end up with 2, but we think that's going to be rare

enough that it will balance out in the long run.

So we are going $30, and I'll be putting out a message

that has that in it, and we'll change the application

form.

You've already submitted your application, you don't

need to do anything.

We'll just have Anne and Sara follow up with you to

make sure that you know what's going and why it'll look

different when you get the amendment.

But that is a change we'll be sending out shortly and

is -- we're gonna do for this amendment period.

So hope that is exciting for you.

All right, Ann, back to you.

>> Ann Macheledt: Okay.

So I think the question that's first come through for

you, Kim, is, has -- it's from Jeremy.

Has VRS approved any provider contract amendment

requests since the open amendment period has started?

>> Kim Babine: Hi, Jeremy.

That's a great question.

We have not.

So we -- we're getting a few in.

And we like to be able to see kind of what things are

coming in so that we can make some overall decisions,

and then we've got enough that we can kind of see where

things are.

Last couple times, we held them and didn't make any

decisions until we have received them all.

We're not doing that this time.

We're ready to get going on some.

We were waiting on a few other pieces to come together

and we'll start making those decisions shortly.

>> Ann Macheledt: Great.

Some people have been asking about a reference to some

of the changes, and that maybe what we can do is kind

of reinforce those resources as a follow-up, and we do

any follow-up with FAQs or whatnot that came out of

this session.

>> Kim Babine: Yep, absolutely.

It's all up there kind of on the website right now,

except for the group rates, but we'll take this and

make some notes and send it out again so people have it

handy.

>> Ann Macheledt: Great.

There was a question from Doris.

About asking why it might take so long to get some

contracts signed.

Why is that process a longer process?

>> Kim Babine: Excellent.

Maybe I'll do -- I think I went through it quickly in

the last forum, maybe I'll do, like, an extra little,

like, YouTube video and go through all the steps in

great detail for you.

But it is just a process that takes a while.

So for those who have already submitted their

amendment, again, we were kind of waiting to see how

things were coming in.

And that's where we made, you know, we were able to

kind of pivot and see that the group rates weren't

great, and so making that decision, and so that's why

sometimes that takes a while to even get it to a

decision point.

So the way it works is, Anne and Sara -- we have so

many wonderful Anns, and so Anne Paulson and Sara

Sundeen receive the amendment application, or maybe in

your case, a new -- a new contract, and they are able

to put the -- they take and they put the information

into an analysis.

And so they do the initial analysis on services, what

services are you asking for?

What ones make sense?

What rates are you asking for?

And they kind of do some analysis on that.

Then it comes to me, and I share it with the leadership

team.

And we make a decision on whether everything looks

great or if there are some things that we want to push

back on and negotiate a little bit.

And that just takes a little time, a couple weeks to

get on people's schedule and get that analysis done,

and get it done.

So that takes a little bit of time.

And then once we've made a decision and we're ready to

press go, then we've got templates drafted up for these

amendments or for new contracts, but then Anne and Sara

have to go in by hand and fill out the information

specifically to your amendment, and so that is

everything from name and address and business, you

know, specific business address to expiration dates and

new contract amounts and old contract amounts.

Authorized representative, there are these pieces that

need to be specific to yours, and then especially that

attachment being the services.

And so if it's an amendment and we're changing, then

it's striking through some things and underlining other

things.

So it's pains staking because we also want to look --

you have to look at the contract that is in place with

an amendment and you have to compare it back and forth.

And there's just a lot of details that we have to pay

attention to.

After they get the draft done, then it goes to one of

our financial staff in VRS to take a look and make sure

everything looks good.

Then it comes to me and I do another check.

And then it gets put into our system that -- there's

staff under the team who puts it into our accounting

system, and then that goes to our D.E.E.D. fiscal

department.

And so all those checks take a couple -- a day, you

know, depending on if people are in the office.

If there's any issue with it, then it might have to go

back and start over or we have to do some editing so

things can take an extra day here or there.

And then once it gets to the D.E.E.D. fiscal, then they

do a review.

And as I've said, as some of you might -- this might be

familiar to you, every time there's a new contract

person in D.E.E.D. fiscal or a new contract person at

the department of administration, they do things

differently.

And want things to look differently and want, you

know -- I want this here and this like this.

And so everything -- we think we've got a good process

and we think we have a good template, and then things

change.

So we're always kind of dealing with it.

So then there's a kind of back and forth.

What does this mean?

You know, I think we should have this in there.

So it goes back and forth with D.E.E.D. fiscal for a

little while.

After they okay it, then there's some accounting and

financial stuff that needs to happen in addition to

their signature.

So that takes a little bit of time, and again,

depending on the volume or their availability they were

one little piece of all the work that they do, so that

can take a couple days.

Then it comes back to us.

We send it out to you, that usually happens pretty

quickly.

That's again that administrative contract staff who's

on our team who sends it out to you, or actually I'm

sorry, that's a different process.

In this case, it'll be Anne or Sara who sends it from

that new P/T contract email.

Usually you all do that pretty quickly.

But sometimes it's tough to track down your executive

director or maybe someone's on vacation or you got to

find a board chair, whatever it is.

So, you know, sometimes providers don't return it to us

for a week or two, and we have to find of poke you to

get it back.

Comes back to us.

Again through that email.

We check it over, make sure everything's okay.

We put it in the system that we then get Dee

Torgerson's signature on it.

And again, availability, usually it can get done pretty

quickly, unless someone's, you know, out of town,

something like that.

And then it goes back to D.E.E.D. fiscal.

Someone has to put it in the system it back to D.E.E.D.

fiscal.

And then that goes into a system for the department of

administration office of state procurement.

So the office of state procurement at the department of

administration is the entity that actually at the end

of the day owns the contract.

It's a contract with the state, not -- it's with us,

but it's the state that's responsible.

So they're responsible.

So they go through their contract lawyers and they go

through everything and might pick at something and say,

nope, that can't be was way.

And so hopefully everything is perfect by that point

and they sign it and return it to us.

But sometimes there's some back and forth and

negotiation with them.

Don't worry.

We go to bat for you.

Like, at that point, we are, like, defending the

contract we've put together.

And are going to bat for you.

It's better actually it's a quicker turnaround right

now than it used to be, because your state government,

Ladies and Gentlemen, the department of administration

used to be all paper.

So literally D.E.E.D. fiscal would have to send it

over -- or I think maybe they allowed for the email,

but then they wanted to physically sign it, and then

they would inter-office mail it back to us, and that

would take days.

They would take a week to turn is a around and then

inter-office mail it back to us.

So that took extra time.

But now with everyone working at home, they have come

along with the technology age and are doing those

signatures electronically.

Again, it depends on volume.

We're just one piece.

They've got a million other contracts they need to get

through and sign off on.

We might be, you know, last on that list.

But that takes a couple more days, and then it gets

back to us and that's when technically it's executed

when the office of state procurement signs it.

Things can begin.

However, there's a couple more steps that need to

happen.

We need to get the contract, know that it's executed,

and then have that change made in Workforce One.

So Sherry Hendrickson usually makes that change in

Workforce One.

So that needs to change.

And then one other step is that we take the contract

that's come back, again, our great administrative staff

take that and they put it online and they put it in our

SharePoint, so then our staff can reference the new

contract.

That takes a couple days.

If there's, like, a huge rush, then we can have you

start as soon as it's in Workforce One before it gets

up online, but we don't put stuff online.

The D.E.E.D. communications department is the only one

who can put things online, so we have to, like, get in

the web request queue to get those contracts online.

So as you can see, like, all of those steps,

technically could just take a second, you know, like

just turn on a dime, but when you've got human beings

with large work loads or just out of the office for a

day, sick for a day, things can take a few more days,

and so that's why it ends up -- it has a potential to

take a while.

So that's your step by step to the amendment and

contracting process.

And why it takes so long.

>> Ann Macheledt: I think that gives a lot of proof

to the length of the process now.

So that's a lot.

We do have a question, and I think if we can bring

Alyssa Klein up, that might be a good question for her

to field.

The question is:  About pre-ETS.

It's if a student was going to college, but changed

their mind, are they still pre-ETS or a person who

would receive pre-ETS?

>> Alyssa Klein: Hi, everybody.

This is Alyssa Klein, VRS transition and pre-employment

transition specialist.

Ann, can you hear me?

Okay, just making sure.

So the -- RSA tells us that a student needs to be

enrolled in an education program that yields a

credential in order for us to fund for a service

considered to be a pre-ETS service.

So in student is enrolled, and let's say right now a

student's enrolled to attend a college in September,

you know, they're enrolled, even though they're not,

you know, attending right now, it counts.

When a student quits going to school, they're no longer

enrolled, so then they are no longer considered a

student who can receive pre-employment transition

services.

However, if that student is enrolled in our traditional

V.R. services, it comes down to more of, like, how a

service is funded, and that's why as Kim mentioned,

we're adding these pre-ETS services as a regular V.R.

service so hopefully there wouldn't be an interruption

in any service a student is receiving.

It's just a matter of how we're funding it.

So the short answer is, if a student's not in an

education program, they're not pre-ETS.

But the long answer is, we still want to be able to

provide the services a person needs, and if they are a

student or a person eligible for V.R., we're gonna have

more ways to make sure that happens.

Can I say one other thing, Ann, since I have the mic?

I -- today an email went out through the email listserv

that Kim has been talking about today that is reminding

everybody about regional transition/pre-ETS meetings

that we're hosting.

We had one on August 11th for the northern region.

We have one next Tuesday, the 25th, for the southern

region.

And then we have a third one for the Metro region on

September 1st.

If you want to involved, and more discussion around

pre-ETS, we -- the afternoon portion of the day, from

1:00 to 4:00 p.m. is for VRS staff and our community

partners to come together and talk more about pre-ETS.

So please read that email carefully that came out

today.

It's a two-step registration process.

One step tells us which breakout session you want to be

involved in.

The second step gets you linked into Zoom getting you

the link for Zoom.

We just switched from WebEx to Zoom -- whoo-hoo -- for

those meetings.

So, please, if you want to be involved in those

meetings, look at that message.

Right, Ann?

>> Ann Macheledt: Yeah, thanks for that plug.

In order to make those breakout sessions a really good

experience, it's really helpful to preassign you all.

So those two steps are really critically important, so

we really appreciate your taking them on to join those

meetings.

I do have another question, and Alyssa, you might be

able to field it or Kim.

But it's about what if a V.R. counselor sets up a

meeting, and does not get the authorization completed

by the first meeting.

Is it the responsibility of the CRP to manage that and

make sure the offer was done or not, or is it really

the counselor?

And I'm sure it's a little bit of shared.

So, Alyssa, do you want to field that, or do you want

me to bring Kim back on?

>> Alyssa Klein: So the -- I think Kim might be

better just in general, rather, it's a pre-ETS meeting

or not.

Maybe, Kim, you want to address that again in terms of

MS-16s and, you know, that piece.

Thanks.

>> Kim Babine: Yep, absolutely.

So I was using the word "Purchasing violation" before,

and the other way you might hear it if someone mentions

is MS-16s, so Minnesota statute chapter 16 is where the

law is that says no service can happen, and we cannot

expend funds before either a contract is in place or

under your master contract, an authorization is in

place.

And so when services happen, before an authorization is

in place, then we're breaking the law.

And if we pay for that service, we're breaking the law.

And we have been told that we shouldn't break the law.

Strange.

[ Laughter ]

And so we are -- we're trying to be really careful

about this.

And so you need to, as a community partner, you should

not be meeting with students, whether it's pre-ETS, you

shouldn't be students with individuals unless you have

the authorization in place.

So I know that that can be a little tricky.

Sometimes you have schedules or whatever else.

But you really need to be in touch with either the

counselor or the rep or the tech, whoever you're

working with, to make sure you have that authorization

in place before anything happens.

Because we should not be paying, and we are -- we will

not be paying if that happens before the service.

And so that just be in really good contact.

Be in really, you know, try your best to be in touch

with that V.R. staff to make sure you've got the

authorization in place before any services happen.

>> Ann Macheledt: Great.

Thank you.

Thank you, Kim.

Appreciate that.

And I know, yeah, sometimes it's just the nuance of

just checking in with your counselor, and saying, hey,

I didn't get the autho, how do you want to handle this

meeting?

That relationship space that you all are so good at

doing.

So it's always helpful.

Helpful to get reminders sometimes.

I think another -- let's see.

Another question -- or we had a couple of comments that

came in around some of the forms, the placement forms.

The communication report form, somebody just wanted to

reiterate that we're -- the contact information for the

person really is the name and phone number

specifically, so making sure to reference that.

But Jim actually had a good idea the benefits side, and

said, how about check boxes for benefits that are

typical in a job offer?

So I don't know if Maureen or Chris have some thoughts

about that idea as a way to lay that out so that it's

maybe a little bit more specific or clear?

>> Chris McVey: This is Chris.

I don't know if you can hear me, Ann.

Okay.

So what I would do is, we'll consult with our policy

specialist, Heather Farmer, and then take a look at the

RSA guidelines.

My first impression is that we have to provide some

specifics, rather than a check box.

But that's definitely something we can run to ground.

So thank you.

>> Ann Macheledt: Yeah, thank you, and I'll have

you stand -- as well, the question that came through

is, do you list the benefits that are available in the

form even if the job seeker is opting to not take those

benefits?

For instance, some may have medical insurance available

at a more reasonable cost through an exchange or MA

rather than taking the employer's health care.

>> Chris McVey: Hi, this is Chris again.

I would say that's something else we should run through

ground, but I think the availability of those benefits

is probably what they're looking for.

As opposed to whether that person accepts those

benefits.

But, again, I can check on that.

And then we can find a way to get that out to this

group.

Or to community partners and VRS staff because I'm

guessing that we all have that -- eventually have that

question.

>> Ann Macheledt: Great.

And there's a little bit more on this.

This form.

Somebody had said that many employers don't supply

offer of employment letters.

But is it fine if we put that info in our reports?

>> Chris McVey: This is crick again.

And -- this is Chris again.

And I'm gonna ask Maureen if she would weigh in here

because I know that she's much more closely connected

to our business contacts as well as on the ground

placement activities.

But I would say that including that information in your

notes or in the communication updates or the

documentation is absolutely what we'd be looking for.

Because it's coming directly from the employer and it's

verifying what they're offering.

Maureen, is there anything that you'd want to add?

>> Maureen McAvoy: Yeah, that's exactly it.

It does need to be included in the communication for

the job offer and closure.

If you do have a letter from the employer, yes,

certainly include that, but as someone pointed out, we

don't always get that.

>> Chris McVey: I just -- just as an FYI, I just

got an update from Heather Farmer who is our policy

person.

She let me know that it's availability of those

benefits that matter.

We'd want to be documenting if someone turned it down,

so that's on the VRS side.

Or our community partners reporting that.

But it's fine if they make an informed choice to turn

down those benefits.

What we care about is the availability of those

benefits.

So that is the word.

And we're sticking with it over here.

Thanks, Heather.

>> Ann Macheledt: Great.

Yeah, thanks, Heather, for providing that clarification

as well.

We do have a lot of great comments around the group

rate.

People are pretty happy about that coming into effect.

And then there's another question about, will the

service types and titles for pre-ETS be changed for

counselors and employment plan so they match exactly

where the services on the P/T contracts?

>> Kim Babine: Hi, this is Kim.

I can take that one.

So, yes, and actually, I think they're already in

there.

I think they're already in Workforce One.

Yep, okay, Alyssa.

So already done.

>> Alyssa Klein: Well, let me say another --

>> Kim Babine: Okay.

>> Alyssa Klein: Sorry.

I'll say another word about that for our V.R.

counselors.

When we're doing an employment plan, only the service

types are in there anyway.

So we're not changing the service types.

It's just the titles.

And we will update the service types and titles

spreadsheet that's on SharePoint as soon as contracts

are amended with the new titles.

So you should be fine with everything in Workforce One

in terms of plans and all of that.

And any authorizations you currently have in place.

>> Ann Macheledt: Great.

Thank you for that.

There's another one.

Karen was asking, will providers be notified with the

contract amendment requests have been received?

>> Kim Babine: Sure, this is Kim.

Yes, I have -- I think maybe because Anne and Sara are

checking that mailbox, and they usually need to follow

up with you anyway to just kind of talk through the

amendment, and so I can make sure that they respond in

those -- when they are submitted to just at least say

"Received" and then you can expect maybe some follow-up

from there, if they need.

If it's straightforward, they might not.

They'll probably just move it forward.

But we can make sure we do at least a "We got it."

>> Ann Macheledt: Awesome.

Let's see, and, Gretchen, let me know if you're seeing

any on your back end as well.

I see some recommendations from somebody, just about

our PBA process, and maybe more check box kind of

options, so maybe it's something that we can take as a

consideration, and it's just, forms to put more check

boxes and details and options that are similar to

what's in Workforce One, because that's sometimes

helpful.

>> Kim Babine: This is Kim.

I'm seeing one that says can backups be put in place

for people at all stages of the contract process?

We do have backups.

You know with backups in your own organization.

Sometimes if someone is just out sick for one day, it

takes longer for the backup to figure out what's going

on than to just wait the day until the person comes

back, or, like, Dee's signature, like we need Dee to

sign, and so there's not a backup there, so we do the

best we can, it's just, I was just trying to give an

example of why things might take a couple days as

opposed to one.

Even if there's a backup, it takes a couple days, or

not a couple days, it takes a little while tomorrow the

backup to figure out, okay, yep, this is how it's

supposed to be and double-check things.

>> Ann Macheledt: Okay, thanks, Kim.

And then we do have a reference about, will there ever

be a point that all rates are the same statewide?

There are some rates that vary widely from one agency

to another.

>> Kim Babine: That's a good question.

I don't have the answer to that.

That is definitely something that is in the

conversation when we talk about rates.

So you can see that we've been trying them out on a

couple different things.

Obviously we have the PBA, we've had that for a while.

We've tried it out with customized employment process,

discovery process, internships before that.

There are -- and then with all these pre-ETS rates.

We did some standardized rates around benefits

coaching, and we're trying them out and seeing how they

go.

And our and are taking note of when they work and when

they don't work, and we'll bring that into the

conversation we have as we look at -- like, we're

continually looking at the rates and how to judge the

increased rates that come from -- requests that come

from you.

So it's -- we're kind of moving that direction on some

pieces.

And it may work on some and may not on others.

We acknowledge that there's a wide gap, and so we're

just taking it step by step and one step at a time, I

guess, and being cautious about that.

>> Ann Macheledt: Great.

And I might field two more questions, because I know

we're close to time.

We've got five minutes, and I want to make sure Dee can

wrap up.

So the one question, just as a reminder again, one is

what is the end date of the contract amendments?

>> Kim Babine: So I'll answer that in two different

ways because I'm not sure.

So the last day to submit your application for an

amendment is September 2nd.

If you're asking about once you amend your contract,

what's the expiration date of your contract, usually

when we do amendments, we don't change the end date,

and so for most folks, you had five-year contracts that

started in 2017.

And those through June 30th, 2022, so that end date

won't change necessarily just when you're changing

services.

>> Ann Macheledt: Great.

And the other one was when the group rate goes into

effect, just a reminder again about that.

>> Kim Babine: Yep.

So we -- that needs to be amended onto contracts,

because right now your contracts are -- say

differently.

And so as soon as -- so I like to say it's kind of

effective now until you get your amendment through.

So if you want it sooner rather than later, we'd love

for you to get your contract applications in sooner

rather than later here.

If they all come in on September 2nd and there's just a

big pile we have to get through, so if we can get some

more off the plate and make some decisions, then we can

get started.

And then as soon as that's fully executed, then that

will be in place for you.

>> Ann Macheledt: Great.

And I know we're -- we only have three minutes left.

So we still have some remaining questions in the box.

So what we will do is capture those questions and do a

follow-up to all of you from this meeting so that you

have the recording and some of those questions

answered, if that makes sense.

So with that, I do want to turn it to Dee to just wrap

us up here.

And -- so, Dee?

>> Dee Torgerson: All right.

Thanks.

Wow, time flies when we're having fun, huh?

Thanks, everyone, for joining us.

We're glad that we're able to connect with all of you

across the state.

We know there's a lot of details, a lot of updates.

You know, we've been working hard within VRS and making

some shifts and changes and trying to adapt to our new

landscape, and we've also at the same time been trying

to connect with you and stay in tune with what's

happening in your worlds as well.

I know that some of you are navigating some difficult

situations as well within your organization, and we

have been trying to do what we can to adapt as well

here.

So you'll see that.

If you do have other questions, please follow up with

us.

Community partners, your partner liaisons, which would

be Anne Paulsen or Sara Sundeen and then of course Kim

Babine as well, and then Alyssa Klein has been our

pre-ETS specialist, and Chris McVey is overseeing all

of our pre-ETS work with John Thompson's recent

retirement and departure.

So Alyssa's is our, as you know, pre-ETS guru, and I

know it seems like we spend a lot of time and focus on

the pre-ETS, but as Kim talked about earlier, for us,

even though it still is a new and evolving line of

services.

And we're still trying to, you know, get the contracts

in place.

I know some of you are still dipping your toes into it.

Some of you are well on your way in those services, and

we want to add just as much support as we can to

everyone around that.

So if you have any feedback on any of these things as

well, we want to hear from you.

Again, contact any of the people that were on the panel

today.

As well as anybody who's on the community partner

committee group.

And some of your colleagues from other community

partner organizations are on that group, and we meet

monthly.

That is a great way to put forward some of your

additional ideas and suggestions, and check in on

what's happening.

And then of course as always, be sure to check out the

community partner website that we have set up.

So with that, thanks again, everyone.

It looks like a beautiful weekend.

So hope you're able to get out and absorb the last bit

of summer sunshine this weekend.

Thanks, everyone.

Thanks for joining us.

Until next time.

>> Ann Macheledt: Thanks, Dee.

And just one other reference in the chat.

I did put a link to just a survey, evaluation, for us

to get feedback from you about today and what was

helpful and what you could use more information on.

So feel free to click on that link and/or copy it into

a browser.

We'll send it out to all who attended as well, it's

just nice to get while it's fresh in your mind.

So that is available as well.

But thank you, everybody, for your attention today.

Thank you for all of our VRS staff who were able to

step in and give these updates and let us know how we

can support you going forward.

Have a great weekend, everybody.