Meeting Minutes-March 18 Full CMT Meeting

Full CMT Meeting

Mountain West Bank
March 18, 2010

Call to Order

Bylaw Review and Approval
Changes to the Missoula CMT bylaws were highlighted. The full CMT voted to approve the new bylaws.

Case Management Roundtable Discussion
Information was provided about the case management roundtables that the CMT facilitated in the past. The primary purpose of the roundtables was to meet with partner agencies to discuss potential referrals, and a secondary benefit was networking and information. It was suggested that if we restart these meetings they be held every other month. It was decided that the CMT Core Group will continue to discuss and plan starting the roundtables again. The consensus from the CMT is that it would be helpful.

Agency Updates
Sundee Carr-Missoula Correctional Services (Missoula Pre-Release Center)
Residents are experiencing an uptick in finding jobs. They are waiting to see what budget cuts will be handed down by the Governor. Right now the program is a 6 month program, allowing more offenders to come through the program. It is challenging for residents to meet all the criteria for graduating from the program in 6 months, because they must have a job and save at least $1,200.00 before graduating. This is challenging in a tight economy where there is heavy competition for each job.

Maggie Driscoll-Human Resource Council
The Youth Employment Program this summer was very successful. The HRC saw an increase in the youth participating; the enrollment was more than double what it was three years ago. The Ravalli Sapphire Health Clinic is now open.

Kelly Deniger-Missoula WORC Program, SNAP, FSET, STEP
The STEP program has been very successful, 43 people are employed due to the program, many in jobs that pay over $20.00 per hour. The WORC Program is experiencing very high caseloads, and one interesting trend is an increase in large families. Kelly also provided an update for OPA. OPA in Missoula is taking more applications than any other office in the state. There are many people who were self-employed who do not have UI benefits, and OPA is also seeing an increase in homelessness.

Naomi Thornton, Bonnie Buckingham-WORD
Naomi reported that WORD is seeing an increase in people pursuing their educational goals. Approximately 70% of the young parents they assist have dropped out of school. Many are going beyond their GED and pursuing post secondary education. WORD has been doing field trips to employers. Naomi stated that they have counted over 500 homeless children in schools this year, a 25% increase over last year. Bonnie reported that they have opened a local living center in Florence, and have started support groups for grandparents raising children. WORD will not be continuing the Family Resource Center program. Each individual school will choose to support the program and continue it independently, and each school will be different.

Wolf Ametsbichler-Missoula Job Service
The Job Service is serving many of the Smurfit-Stone workers who are eligible for a retraining program called Trade Adjustment Act. Western Montana is applying for a National Emergency Grant to serve the people affected by the changes in the timber industry. The grant will be submitted this week. The Job Service has partnered with the Lifelong Learning Center to serve many of the people who have been laid off. Right now with all the extensions to UI some people will be collecting benefits for 73 weeks. One frustration that many people pursuing retraining are dealing with is knowing what to train for, because it is hard to predict what type of work will be available in two years.

Jodie Rasmussen-Lifelong Learning Center
Spring schedules are now available. The LLC is helping many laid off workers move towards further education, many at the College of Technology. Their building is packed and classes are very busy. This quarter they are offering a Supervision and Management Certification in addition to their usual certification programs. Adult Basic Education (ABE) is very busy, but is experiencing reductions in the budget. They have more students and less money for ABE.

Tamara Kindred-Missoula Housing Authority
Please keep in mind that the Winter Shelter Committee is still meeting, so if you hear of people who need rent or security deposit help please refer them to Tamara. Right now MHA has over 2,000 households on their waiting list, which means that the wait time could be over three years. On a positive note, MHA received additional Section 8 funding which allowed them to lease up to 700 vouchers.

Marge Doyle-Missoula County Public Library
The library is offering free computer classes to teach fundamental computer skills. The class dates and times are listed online at their website: http://missoulapubliclibrary.org/events/Computoclass.htm. They also have a new self-paced keyboarding and 10-key program for patrons. The library is now an official passport application facility. Computer labs at the library are available for test preparation classes, and the library offers many test preparation resources on their website. The use of the library has increased across the board; they currently circulate close to 65,000 items each month.

Pat-AWARE Inc.
AWARE employs over 1000 full-time and part-time workers in Montana. They have two grant-funded benefit planners who can assist anyone with reviewing their Social Security benefits.

LDS Employment Services
LDS employment services are available to anyone, free of charge. They hold career workshops and classes on subjects including cover letters and resumes. They also provide a self-employment workshop and maintain a website for job postings. Their phone number is 728-3137.

Jenece Jacobs-Sharkey-Opportunity Resources
ORI has been affected by the closure of Smurfit-Stone. They lost a $400,000 contract for the production of backing of paper rolls in railroad cars. They have a cleaning crew employed at Out to Lunch, and a business improvement crew downtown. They recently reorganized their corporation. They have a new program offering support to disabled registered sex offenders.

Diana Reetz-Stacy-Missoula College of Technology
For the first time, students will be able to use Pell Grant money for summer semester courses at the COT. The summer programs are filling up fast. On April 7 they will hold an Early Advising Night. The COT Ed2Go program was recently certified for OPI renewal units.

Deverie Kelley-Job Corps
The Anaconda Job Corps Center has a new director. All the Job Corps centers are currently full with a 2-3 month wait. Many Job Corps students are going on to advanced training because of the economy.

Brooke-Vocational Rehabilitation
There is a new state director for VR, Jim Marks. Vocational Rehabilitation has been separated into a new division called Disability Transitions. The Missoula office has hired a new counselor, and they are experiencing very high caseloads. They continue to hold their weekly intake meetings, shortening the length of time for applications for VR services.

Training Needs
Suggestions for upcoming training were brainstormed. Sundee suggested self care topics for front line workers, including how to deal with traumatic situations and how to refresh after stressful experiences at work.

Meeting Adjourned