Fifteen Minnesotans have been named to a new Quality Design Commission established by the Minnesota Department
of Human Services (DHS) to oversee the quality of various programs and services for people with disabilities and long- term illnesses. Two project design teams have also been named one to provide consumer and stakeholder input in the development of new models for consumer-driven personal care assistance services and another to provide an information, referral and assistance system for people with disabilities. The commission and project design teams have been established under a federal Real Choice Systems grant provided by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The Quality Design Commission’s first meeting is June 10. Project design team meeting dates will be announced later.
Quality Design Commission members include: Jeff Bangsberg, Minnesota HomeCare Association; Alex Bartolic, Hennepin County; Connie Lee Berg, Red Lake; Sylvia Carty, St. Paul; Alma Curry, Minnesota Council of Blacks on Aging; Kathy Denman-Wilke, Stillwater; Nancy Dmohoski, St. Paul; Carol Flesner, Southwestern Center for Independent Living; Iris Freeman, Alzheimer’s Association; Christopher Harmon, St. Paul; Michael Neumann, Indigenous People’s Task Force; Kenneth Rogers, Minneapolis; Pat Siebert, Minnesota Disability Law Center; Jeffrey Skwarek, Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities; and Joan Willshire, State Council on Disability.
The Personal Care Assistance Project Design Team includes: Jeff Bangsberg, Minnesota HomeCare Association; LeAnne Dahl, St. Paul; Sandra Foy, Ramsey County; Gordon Grimm, Center City; Eva Hansen, Metropolitan Center for Independent Living; Ann Kranz, University of Minnesota School of Social Work; and Melvin Reinke, Ortonville.
The Information, Referral and Assistance Project Design Team includes: Caroline Allshouse, PACER Center; Alex Bartolic, Hennepin County; Bob Brick, Arc Minnesota; Ann Partridge, Independent Lifestyles Inc., Saint Cloud Center for Independent Living; Miriam Reibold, National Consumer Coalition of Organizations on Aging; John Schatzlein, Catholic Charities; and Donna Wallace, Disability Basics.
The Quality Design Commission and project design teams reflect the people served by DHS and their advocates and service providers, including people who have been traditionally underserved or underrepresented. Members were chosen from across Minnesota, including tribal and urban American Indians, other people of color, and people with the most severe disabilities. More than half of the commission members have a disability. The Commission also includes family members of people with disabilities, and representatives from advocacy and community organizations, service provider organizations, and county agencies. Areas of experience represented include those of people who are blind,
deaf-blind, deaf and hard-of-hearing; people with physical disabilities, developmental disabilities, learning disabilities, traumatic brain injury, and mental illness; people who are aging; and people who have HIV/AIDS or another chronic illness.
For more information on the Quality Design Commission, meeting times, and activities, contact Karen Langenfeld at 651-582-1941 (voice), 651-582-1808 (fax), 711 (Minnesota Relay Service), karen.langenfeld@state.mn.us, or at Minnesota Department of Human Services, 444 Lafayette Road N., St. Paul, MN 55155-3872.
