Pass It On Center National Task Force

Annual Review and Planning MeetingApril 26 and 27, 2011

NTF members present:Chris BrandAmy GoldmanNancy MeidenbauerSara SackBarclay ShepardCathy Valdez Caroline Van HoweJoanne Willis

PIOC staff and guests attending:Connie FreierJoy KniskernLiz PersaudCarolyn PhillipsMeredith PhillipsTrish RedmonMartha RustGuest, Day One: Naomi Walker

NTF members absent:Nell BaileyRita HostakLee LearsonBeth MineoKerri MorganJulie NesbitBruce StovallRobert Todd Meeting Objectives: To review and discuss progress and proposed plans of the Pass It On Center To further focus the goals of Task Force Study Groups To provide a forum for sharing and exchanging information about national AT reuse issues To discuss sustainability strategies for the Pass It On Center

Welcome, Introductions and Meeting ObjectivesCarolyn Phillips, Program Director, and Joy Kniskern, Principal Investigator, opened the meeting with a welcome to participants. New NTF members Cathy Valdez, Executive Director of Project MEND in San Antonio, and Barclay Shepard, AT specialist with Virginia Assistive Technology Services were introduced. Joy

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noted that this meeting is the Year Five meeting and that a significant portion of the meeting will address sustainability for the Pass It On Center and its key initiatives.

The Year in Review

Promoting AT Reuse Carolyn Phillips, Joy Kniskern and Liz Persaud reviewed activities performed during the past year to promote AT reuse. These included the use of several methods.

Expanding Reuse through Specific Events:o State Summits were held in North Dakota, Arizona, and California. North Dakota is interesting

because Project HERO, once dedicated to sending aid to foreign countries, recognized the need for AT reuse within the state and brought together interested parties for this summit.

o Pass It On Center presented an all-day Pre-Conference session on Expanding AT Reuse: Getting from Point of Availability to Point of Need and Reuse Strand of seven sessions in both Orlando and Chicago. The Center also had a booth in the exhibit hall for both events.

o PIOC attended the AgrAbility National Conference, the National Hurricane Conference ando Alaska’s Midnight Sun Expo. Pass It On Center and Chris Brand (NTF and FODAC) presented

information at the Hurricane Conference on April 18, 2011, on assistive technology and DME, AT reuse, emergency management, response kits and accessibility.

Expanding Modes of Communication:PIOC created blogs on general topics and Emergency Management and developed an e-mail newsletter of PIOC activities. It also developed a presence on Facebook and YouTube, using YouTube as a venue for the videos documenting activities in reuse programs across the country, including sanitization models, warehouse tours and success stories. The Facebook pages have received 230 “likes. The PIOC YouTube Channel (http://www.youtube.com/PassItOnCenter) has experienced 996 channel views for a total of 2,789 upload views.

Training and Technical Assistance

Website activity. Liz Persaud reported on website enhancements and usage for the previous year (ending March 31, 2011). Website usage statistics are very encouraging, especially in average hits per day and average length of session.

Total Sessions Total Sessions 133,544.00 133,544.00

Total Pageviews Total Pageviews 530,818.00 530,818.00

Total Hits Total Hits 1,139,910.00 1,139,910.00

Average Sessions Per Day Average Sessions Per Day 365.87365.87

Average Pageviews Per Day Average Pageviews Per Day 1,454.30 1,454.30

Average Hits Per DayAverage Hits Per Day 3,123.04 3,123.04

Average Length of Session Average Length of Session 00:12:0500:12:05

Reuse Locations Database. The database has grown after repeated encouragement to update profiles and add all known programs. The current entries show (compared to last year):

116 conduct reassignment activities (113)116 conduct reassignment activities (113) 98 conduct refurbishment activities (84)98 conduct refurbishment activities (84)

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53 conduct equipment exchange activities (42)53 conduct equipment exchange activities (42) 58 conduct reassignment & refurbishment (10)58 conduct reassignment & refurbishment (10) 21 conduct reassignment & exchange activities (17)21 conduct reassignment & exchange activities (17) 17 conduct refurbishment and exchange activities (13)17 conduct refurbishment and exchange activities (13)

Webinars. PIOC has facilitated 28 webinars over the past five years, including six this year. Participation has increased with the offering of CEU and CRC continuing education credits. Programs offered thus far this year included:

How to Develop a Continuity of Operations PlanGoing Green I Schools: and Effective AT Reuse ExperienceMaking the Business Case for AT ReusePeople First Language: Words with Dignity for People with disAbilities

The PFL presentation will be re-packaged for use by programs to train staff or volunteers. This is one of several that PIOC proposes to make available as a reusable training program.

Webinars planned for the remainder of the year and Year Six include:Emergency Preparedness: Strategies and ResourcesLessons Learned from the 12 Demonstration ProjectsHow to Build a Statewide Reuse NetworkExpanding Reuse through Public/Private PartnershipsCreating Your Own Sources of RevenueSustainability in Tough Economic TimesAnalyzing the Return on Investment for AT ReuseMeeting the Need: “Outside the Box” Reuse

Development of an AT Reuse Business Plan Template. After the 2009 Reuse Conference, Trish Redmon offered to assist Helen Baker, director of Alabama’s STAR Program, and Jim Branum from the Birmingham Baptist Association (BBA) with the start of a new reuse program. This was to be another of Alabama’s public-private partnerships. BBA wanted to create a durable medical equipment (DME) reuse program. Trish created a task list for a start-up AT reuse program based on the Indicators of Quality for AT Reuse (IQ-ATR). The task list could be edited to identify he relevant tasks, then loaded to Microsoft Project or used as a Word document. This task list was used in the development of ReMEDy, the new reuse program in Birmingham.

In late 2010, Pass It On Center received a request for technical assistance from a physician at Dallas’ Parkland Hospital who proposed to start a large-scale DME reuse program for the uninsured in the metro area. He represents an interfaith coalition of Jews, Catholics and Protestants. Cathy Valdez, a new member of the NTF, provided in-person consultation at Project MEND in San Antonio. To further assist Dr. Pomarantz and his supporters, Trish Redmon developed a guide to writing a strategic plan and a business plan for an AT reuse program. These documents are based on the cumulative work of the NTF: definitions of reuse activities, promising practices embodied in the IQ-ATR, development of budgets and other financial forecasts, staffing and marketing. Provided first to Dr. Pomarantz and the Dallas DME team, they are now available for use by anyone in need of a guide to a business plan and were included in the supplementary materials for the webinar on Making the Business Case for AT Reuse. (The Business Plan Guide is available in the Knowledge Base.)

Consultation for Washington State Summit. PIOC has been asked to provide on-site assistance for a summit on August 10 for Washington. A diverse group of participants will first address the needs of the western half of the state, the eastern half being largely rural with different needs.

Exploring Solutions through Special Initiatives

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AT Reuse and Complex Rehabilitation

o Survey Findings of FODAC Participants . Joy Kniskern and Chris Brand reported on the research into complex rehabilitation needs through a survey of a sample of FODAC customers. The results of the lengthy interviews are being compiled for a report and publication.

o Complex Rehab Updates . Sara Sack reported on activities related to Complex Rehabilitation issues. Sara had multiple discussions with PIOC and the Georgia team and met with Georgia Medicaid staff. Joy and Sara attended the National Medicaid Summit on Complex Rehabilitation Technology hosted by the National Coalition for Assistive and Rehab Technology (NCART) in Nashville in October 2010. Sara also participated in additional stakeholder meetings focusing on reuse of complex rehabilitation devices.The Kansas Legislature requested testimony regarding the impact of Medicaid Competitive bidding on the ability of Kansans to access needed technology. Sara worked with NCART, Ohio NAMES and others to develop testimony. Senator Roberts from Kansas and others sent a letter to President Obama stating their concerns about Medicaid competitive bidding.Sara was appointed to serve on a 13-member NCIL Task Force on Technology regarding Competitive Bidding and Complex Rehabilitation.Two letters of concern signed by many organizations (including ALS, Brain Injury Association, NCIL, MDA, and National Spinal Cord Injury Association) were sent to Representatives Thompson and Altmire in March 2011. As of April 11, 2011, H.R. 1041 had 75 representatives urging repeal of competitive bidding.Efforts continue to create a separate benefit for complex rehab technology. At this time, complex rehab technology refs only to individually configured manual and power wheelchair systems, adaptive seating systems, alternative positioning systems and other mobility devices. A presentation favoring the separate benefit was made to the NCIL Task Force, which recommended that NCIL sign on and support the proposal. (See Separate Benefit Discussion Paper, Appendix A.)

Emergency Management and AT Reuse – Amy Goldman and Jim Cook

o Region IV Summit on Emergency Management and AT Reuse . This will be the first regional summit to follow the national summit held last year. It will be used to define a model for other regions. The Summit will commence immediately after the NTF Meeting ends. Approximately 60-65 people are expected to attend from the eight-state region. Marcie Roth, Director of the Office of Disability Integration and Coordination will be among the speakers. Following the Summit, states will be expected to write state plans, and then collaborate on a regional plan.

o Discussion and Decisions about AT Reuse MOU with FEMA . Amy reported on a Memorandum of Understanding reached between NCIL and FEMA. Using this as a draft for a possible agreement between Pass It On Center and FEMA, she reviewed the draft with NTF and made suggested changes. The draft MOU will be shared with Marcie Roth for review. (See Draft MOU – PIOC and FEMA, Appendix B.)

Networking and Sharing Lunch – What’s New in AT Reuse around the CountryDuring the working lunch, NTF members reported on new activities in their programs:

Christ Brand, FODACJoanne Willis, Touch the Future, Inc. (ReBoot)

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Barclay Shepard, Virginia Assistive Technology System NetworkSara Sack, Kansas Equipment Exchange ProgramCathy Valdez, Project MEND, TexasAmy Goldman, Pennsylvania’s Initiative on Assistive TechnologyJoy Kniskern spoke about the Delaware Goodwill AT Reuse Program.

Exploring Solutions through Special Initiatives, continued

AT Reuse Program Models. Joy Kniskern and Trish Redmon reported that the paper on program models has been given a slightly different orientation (abandoning an attempt to categorize by organizational structure) and will present successful models with examples. The paper should be complete in early summer.

AT Reuse Demonstration Grant Report. Trish and Joy have requested proposals and reports (originally submitted to RSA) from the 12 demonstration models. They will use this information and interviews to compile a “Lessons Learned” paper and webinar in the next few months.

NEED AT: National AT Exchange. Sharon Meek was unable to attend, so Liz Persaud reported on progress in the creation of a national exchange site for AT reuse. The development team has successfully “crawled” and collected listings from multiple exchange sites for consolidation into a national site without intervention to reformat data. The group discussed the usefulness of such a site and whether the word “need” in the name is objectionable. PIOC will explore alternative names.

ATIA Updates and What’s New and Possible. Caroline Van Howe reported on ATIA’s latest initiatives. [Does anyone have any notes or recollection of what she said?]

New Approaches to Fostering and Supporting AT Reuse

NEW: Developing Affordable Pre-ATIA Summit: Building and Strengthening AT Reuse Programs and AT Reuse in State AT Act Plans. Trish Redmon, Liz Persaud and Joy Kniskern reported a new approach for use of the pre-conference day at ATIA. Based on a review after the Orlando conference, it was the all-day Pre-Conference workshop has not attracted a level of participation commensurate with the time investment by PIOC staff. This may be partly due to the additional cost to the participant. Conversely, the PIOC booth in the exhibit hall attracts very high levels of interest on the part of both AT professionals and members of the community. Caroline Van Howe generously offered PIOC a free room on pre-conference day to be used in an alternative manner. After discussion with the entire PIOC team, it was decided that PIOC should capitalize on local interest and hold state or regional summits in conjunction with ATIA. Some preliminary plans are in the works for both Chicago (November 2011) and Orlando (January 2012), each being slightly different.

Illinois: Hold summit for stakeholders. Involve Illinois AT Act Program and Lions Clubs, Goodwill, Lighthouse for the Blind, agencies, CERRC (Ohio) and AESs (Iowa) school technology specialists. Invite Willie Gunther, AT Act Director for Illinois, to share a booth with PIOC, and include PACER for Chicago Summit.

Florida Summit: Focus on education with possible lead of Florida Independent Living Council with invitation to FAAST and the Florida Diagnostic and Learning Resource Specialists (FDLRS) network of paraprofessionals, families and children. PIOC has been

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invited to meet with the FLIC Board to discuss the development of an AT reuse network in Florida.

NEW: Planning an Integrated ATIA Reuse Strand. Carolyn Phillips and Liz Persaudreported on the decision to integrate AT Reuse as a virtual strand at ATIA. This effort will focus on working with the strand advisors and special interest groups for each strand at ATIA to create sessions on reuse topics that integrate with the strand. This strategy should foster new collaborations with manufacturers and AT professionals and draw attention where the separate reuse strand might be overlooked.

Updates on 2009 Data from the National Information System on Assistive Technology (NISAT). Sara Sack presented the national statistics compiled by Diane Golden from the NISAT data. (See Appendix C for the data slides.)

Reutilization Programs Financial Support from Collaborating Partners and Other Sources. Sara Sack updated the status of financial support for statewide AT Act Reutilization Programs. From 2008 to 2010, the number of programs receiving financial support from collaborative partners increased from 12 to 16, and the amount increased from $629,227 to $970,706 (or 54 percent). Funding came from a variety of sources – state appropriations, Health and Humans Services, CMS (Real Choice and Medicaid), Blind Services, a family trust fund, restricted donations and fines from a local law. Given the state of the economy, increases in leveraged funding is surprising and positive. Kentucky and Massachusetts reported support for the first time. PIOC should consider collecting leveraged funding data from other reutilization programs and consider creating a promotional piece highlighting the collaborative partnerships.

ROI and the Business Case for AT Reuse. Sara Sack reporting on activities related to calculating return on investment and building a business case for AT reuse. Technical assistance was provided to ten states and one manufacturer. Two presentations were made at ATIA and ROI information was incorporated into the March 2011 webinar on Making the Business Case for AT Reuse. Return on Investment statements were clarified to include “after costs were recovered” statement. Other valuable tools and resources for calculating return on investment include the Virginia (Free Foundation) Fall Prevention Data, Landfill Weight and Cost Data and Volunteer Time Resources by State. In some cases, return on investment calculations include access to needed equipment, increased community living and the prevention of institutionalization, increased independence and less personal assistance, reduction of work absence by having back-up/secondary equipment, prevention of injuries from falls, reduction in the number of emergency room visits, calculation to determine value of waste kept out of landfills or value of repurposed scrapped materials, and the value of increased time producing homework with refurbished computers. Virginia concluded that, even considering the 2007 estimates, $465,585 was saved for each 100 recipients. Sara presented other ROI examples from Tools for Life, FODAC and Kansas. [Did group agree on any recommendations for future ROI activities?]

AT Reuse Start-up in Dallas, Texas. Trish Redmon and Cathy Valdez reported on the technical assistance provided to Dr. Stanley Pomarantz and the interfaith group staring a DME reuse program in Dallas. (See earlier comments on Business Plan Model.)

The Road Ahead

Building Blocks of Sustainability: Spark the Discussion

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Joy Kniskern noted that the original grant for Pass It On Center ends on Sept. 30, 2011. The Center will request a no-cost extension for Year Six. The issue to be addressed is how to sustain the core initiatives of the Pass It On Center into the future.

Joy used SWOT analysis to assess the present circumstances. She identified the following:

Strengths• Branding and reputation• Staff: Experience, knowledge and creativity • Technical Services: Webinars, Summits, TA• Unique Tools: IQ-ATR, Knowledge Base, Reuse program locator• Strategic Alliances and NTF Partners• National Network of AT partners/programs• Work in Emergency Management• Mitigation of program liability

Weaknesses (or Challenges) • Staff wear many hats• Currently in state agency bureaucracy• Large scope of work• Need for more outreach to DME manufacturers

Opportunities• Additional strategic alliances, partnerships• TACE partnership• Product development: NEED AT & Apps• Green practices – environmental • Curtailing waste of gently used AT• Third Party Collaborations • Diversification funding sources• Industrial Design for AT Reuse – Georgia Tech.• Advertising for Partners, Manufacturers on website• Aging populations (includes developing countries)

Threats• RSA Cooperative Grant ends 9/30/11• Shrinking public funding• More competition for private funding• Repercussions of just one lawsuit (if that ever happened)

Participants were asked to make at least one sustainability suggestion for consideration on Day Two. The suggestions included:

1. Evaluate various segments of services at end of five years (i.e., economic, cost data, environmental, etc.). Consider repurposing NISAT section on AT reuse to gather reuse data.

2. Consider fees for services: How much would grantees and other states have paid for consultancy services and what would they have paid for?

3. Follow up with Qatar contact [for what purpose?]4. Exhibit and make contacts at major farm shows (to look for sponsorships there)5. Capture/use video vignettes of how basement reuse programs grew to current scope; e.g., FODAC,

FREE Foundation, Touch the Future, Inc., Project MEND7

6. Put web statistics on Facebook 7. Package training curricula into smaller training modules8. Consider marketing to People First Rehabilitation9. Expand access to vendors by:

a) Developing a comprehensive survey of vendors concerning AT Reuse (20-30 minute electronic survey) that includes what vendors are doing or would be willing to do regarding demo loans, emergency response, etc.

b) Preparing a webinar for vendors and AT reutilizers based on results of the survey.c) Considering fees for one or two webinars through ATIA such as on School Swap. d) Continue with a series of articles on PIOC for the ATIA newsletter’s 6 issues with 14.5K

distribution.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Sustainability Planning for the Pass It On Center:

Round Robin: Every NTF member offered one new or expanded upon a previously-presented idea. The group discussed pros and cons of ideas. The objective was to identify best ideas, designate work groups and a Pass It On Staff or Consultant Liaison for each.

1. Develop Products or Services:

Webinar Series:Staff DevelopmentCore Reuse TopicsEmergency Management – large audience

Package as CD series, or on-the-ground training and/or webinar-based trainingConsider potential audiences: EM staff, schools and agencies

Consider consulting fees for summits, on-site TA: $1- 2K should include time plus travel expenses

Create a landscape of fees for services Talk with Therese Willkomm [about????} Create advertising-supported online journals Sell ads on PIOC web site Bundle PIOC products/services with ATAP membership Offer ads as comp benefit Identify collaborative partner for free webinar platform (TACE or AUCD) Combine Webinars, Summits , TA in service package for fee Subscription to on-line PIO journal Partner or “funder” to sponsor specific entities or roles (e.g., Association of Recyclers) Apply for grants related to some PIOC specific initiatives

Other idea: Invite John Hager to serve on NTF (He’s leading the Sorenson Institute). Establish a John Hager Award to AT Reuse programs.

2. Possible New Initiatives: Expand reuse initiatives in schools (Pilot in Georgia. Get testimonials. AT Act Partners to fund

pilot districts.) Employment Training – Identify jobs in Reuse functions.

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Explore Infinitek Model [for?] Training for Employers in Disability Etiquette

3. Develop a Pass It On Center 501(c)3 to carry on functions of Pass It On Center: Copyright name/domain name Retain brand if partnering with another 501(c)3 Check with funders to see if above is an issue (Chris Brand) Loan current PIO “staff” to grow the non-profit entity Develop and infuse guiding principles into framework of non-profit organization Launch a “Friends of the Pass It On Center” as a member organization with supporters (bumper

stickers, T-shirts, etc.) Engage AT manufacturers (ATIA membership survey) Connect with Rotarians, Young Matrons, Eagle Scouts (Find users of AT within these

organizations for promotional activities) – Create a “story to tell” for each partnership Association of Home Care Givers (Amy)

Workgroups: Pass It On Center Non-Profit: Chris Brand, Cathy Valdez, Barclay Shepard Webinar Development/Membership Products and Packages: Caroline Van Howe, Nancy

Meidenbauer, Joanne Willis ATIA Survey of Manufacturers: Caroline Van Howe, Amy Goldman School and Tots Reuse Initiatives: Amy Goldman, Joanne Willis – Amy will get P.I. contact with

Tots and Tech Evaluative Needs Assessment of AT Act Programs [who?]

Staff Liaisons for each group will be assigned.

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