ACTION ITEM
FINAL
MINUTES
Michigan Council for Rehabilitation Services (MCRS)
Customer Experience (CE) Advisory Work Team
Tuesday June 16, 2015
2:00 p.m.
Teleconference
Members Present: Sharon Bryant, Trina Edmondson, Deanna Middlebrooks, Caryn
Pack Ivey, Michael Poyma (Chair), Zach Tomlinson.
Members Absent: Sara Grivetti, Adam Kaplan.
Staff Present: Marlene Malloy, Shori Teeple.
1. The meeting was called to order at 2:05 p.m.
2. The draft agenda was reviewed and approved through consensus of the
members.
3. The draft minutes (4/21/15) were reviewed, with support received by consensus
of the members.
4. Workplan Review – Members reviewed work plan updates. S. Bryant’s name will
be added and Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) number references
will be added under ‘Relates to Mandated SRC Functions’ section.
Strategy 1 – Designated State Unit (DSU) Dashboards
Once FY 2014 data from Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) becomes
available, the information will be plugged into both Dashboards for the Team’s
review during the next meeting.
Strategy 2 – Partnering with the two DSUs on the creation of Customer Satisfaction
Survey (CSS) tools and implementation processes. Plans are moving forward for
the Council to partner with the DSUs for their customer satisfaction surveys.
Michigan Rehabilitation Services (MRS) continues to work with Project Excellence
for their CSS tools, processes, and reports. Since the Council is still relatively new
to working with the Bureau of Services for Blind Persons (BSBP) for their CSS
processes, discussion has taken place over the last couple years about the Council
wanting to be more involved in their process. Just last week, the BSBP Director
approached M. Malloy and requested that the Council begin working with them to
move forward with their CSS process.
Strategy 3 – Review and analysis of BSBP/MRS services to transition-aged youth.
Following discussion, a suggestion was made for inviting a panel of transition
experts from BSBP, MRS, Special Education, and others to speak to the
membership at the September Council meeting. Individuals who presented at the
recent MARO Spring Conference provided an outstanding presentation about the
collaboration of vocational rehabilitation and education for services to transition
youth. Members were in agreement that this would be highly beneficial to helping
to educate the membership about the needs for and outcomes of services to
transition youth. The Team was supportive of developing a set of questions that
would result in an active dialogue between panel members and the membership. It
was also encouraged that the membership become more educated about new WIOA
requirements for Pre-Employment Transition Services or PETS.
Strategy 4 – MRS Customer Focus Groups
A meeting to discuss the focus groups took place with the MRS Director last week.
An overview was provided of outcomes of the meeting. The Statewide Independent
Living Council plans to pull out of the joint focus groups with the MCRS and conduct
their own quarterly, regional focus groups to obtain different types of information
for their State Plan for Independent Living writing process. The Environmental
Scanning tool was discouraged, conducting focus groups with Vendors was
discouraged, and concerns were expressed about conducting two separate
transition youth focus groups. Plans are continuing for the Council to host a pilot
focus group on Thursday June 25th from 11:30 – 2:00 p.m. at the MCRS Office.
A “Plan B” was discussed for the focus groups timeline. Instead of conducting all
events statewide through the end of September 2015, it was suggested and
supported that they take place quarterly over a 3-year timeframe, focusing on
general MRS customers with separate focus groups for transition youth.
Trust and transparency concerns from MRS staff were expressed about the Council
insisting that MRS staff not be present during focus groups. Following yesterday’s
MCRS Executive Team (ET) meeting and discussion, ET members came to
agreement that MRS District/Site Managers may be present, as observers only, for
the pilot focus group, with the issue to be revisited for future events.
In response to a question about the Environmental Scanning Tool, it was referenced
during last week’s meeting that each MRS District had been previously asked to
complete a ‘Community Report’. These reports might provide the Council with
information similar to that requested in the Environmental Scanning Tool.
This work team will need to meet following the pilot focus group, with materials for
review to include the transcript and written responses available for review and
discussion.
A consensus vote was reached to approve the updated CE
Strategic Work Plan.
5. Other Business
A new date/time will need to be determined for the July CE Work Team meeting to
discuss outcomes of focus groups.
6. Adjournment
With no further business for discussion, the meeting was adjourned at 2:46p.m.
Next Meeting: Date/time to be determined.