FLORIDA COORDINATING COUNCIL
FOR THE DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING
Virtual Quarterly Meeting
Thursday, May 7, 2020 
9:00 a.m.

Remote CART Captioning provided by
Lisa B. Johnston, RMR, CRR, CRC
www.providingcart.com 

** This is a rough‑draft text file that was produced by a live CART Captioner (Communication Access Realtime Translation) to ensure effective communication for persons who are deaf or hard of hearing.  This file is not a certified, verbatim record, and it should not be quoted as such. ** 

* * * * * 

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Good morning, Cindy, how are you?  

>> CINDY SIMON:  Good morning.  Before we get going, can you tell me what the mute is?  

[Pause].

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Do you know how to mute?  

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  I think it's pound six or asterisk six?  I forgot.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Okay.  Let me go back to my ‑‑ I sent everybody directions. 

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  Oh, okay.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  So I'm gonna go get it right now.  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  This is Gina.  Mute is supposed to be star two.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Mute is star two.  

>> Rebecca Blitch, interpreter. 
>> OPERATOR:  Has joined the conference. 

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  Is the CART on yet?  

>> Yes. 

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  No, I'm using my CapTel. 

>> CART is on.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Okay.  She's seeing the CART.  

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  Okay.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  I'm using a CapTel phone.
Okay.  Someone is coming on; I thought I saw a screen come up.
I cannot call this to order because I'm just the coordinator, but I will say good morning, everyone, and I'm so glad that you've all come to join us here at the Florida Coordinating Council quarterly meeting.
We're still waiting for Karen to join, because... 

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  I don't see no CART yet.  

>> CINDY SIMON:  Karen is on the chat. 

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  Oh, I got it. 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Good morning, good morning.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  She's on the chat?  Good morning, is that Karen?  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Yes, good morning.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Good morning!  How are you?  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Good, good.
Is there a Zoom link or a ‑‑ you said Whereby, is that correct?  

>> Whereby is for the interpreter. 

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  Good morning, everybody, this is Darlene.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Good morning, Darlene.  

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  Yes.  Tiffany, is it possible that... um... I know that they were discussing the Robert's Rules and things like that.  Is it possible to ask Karen to call on people if they have any comments?  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Yes. 

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  Because we can't just see who's lifting their hands up.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Right, I definitely can't see who's lifting their hands up.  We actually have ‑‑ 

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  It would be great if she calls each person individually to see if they have any comments.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Okay.  So we have ‑‑ 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  [Audio cutting in and out]. 

[Background noise on telephone].
[Feedback; CART Captioner unable to hear].

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  Can everybody hear me?  

>> Yes. 

>> Yes. 

>> CINDY SIMON:  I can.  

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  So I'm on Whereby right now.  Is anybody else on Whereby?  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Yes, Cecil and Glenna and Debbe and myself.  

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  Karen ‑‑ I mean Glenna, yeah.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  I only see the three interpreters on Whereby.  

>> I don't see anybody. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Three interpreters. 

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Three interprets. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  I don't see on Whereby. 

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  As a matter of fact, I don't think ‑‑ y'all don't see any interpreters, right?  

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  No.  

[Pause].  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  I'm on Whereby.  I see all the interpreters.  There's only four people on Whereby, it's me and three interpreters.  

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  Are you ‑‑ 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  ‑‑ are you in the same room or something?  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Yeah, it's the room that has the interpreters.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Okay.  So this is the thing [indiscernible]. 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> OPERATOR:  Please record your name after the beep followed by the pound or hash sign.  
Has joined the conference.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  This is Karen.  I wanted to know if I am supposed to see everybody on ‑‑ 

>> OPERATOR:  Has joined the conference. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  ‑‑ Whereby. 

>> Barb Page. 
>> OPERATOR:  Has joined the conference.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Okay.  I'd like to know how we're supposed to ‑‑ so, Glenna, [audio cutting in and out] do you see interpreters?  Do you see interpreters, Glenna?
Karen, could you [audio cutting in and out] 

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  No, I don't see any interpreters; this is Debbe.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Okay.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Um... Tiffany, please send out the link to Whereby again so everyone can ‑‑ 

>> OPERATOR:  Has joined the conference. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  ‑‑ can get on it.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Okay. 

>> OPERATOR:  Has joined the conference.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  We're having some feedback on, I think on Whereby we're having feedback.  

[Pause].  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Okay.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  All right, we're just working on technical, this is Karen, we'll start in just a second as soon as we get all of the technical issues together here.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Okay.  We all have ‑‑ Karen?  We all ‑‑ 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Yes, ma'am?  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  We have the ‑‑ could you tell me what... what... um... what you're in?  What is the link that you're in?  Because four of us are on this link and I don't... 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  Let me give out the entire address.  AQI Services ‑‑ 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  You can send it ‑‑ type it as a chat item.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay, I'll type it in.  AQIservices.whereby.com/AQI.
All right.  I just sent that in.  

[Pause]. 

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Okay.  So AQI is not it.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Huh?  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  AQI Services, put it in the chat, once I can find it. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  The one I typed in is the one that I'm on and it's working beautifully, I see the interpreters.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Okay, okay.  It's AQI or is it ‑‑ 

>> Can you type it in?  

[Talking over one another]. 

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  I'm about to send it. 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  I typed it in the chat. 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  The one that you already sent.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  I'm gonna see what I can ‑‑ 'cause I don't see it.  

[Pause]. 

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  I'm sorry, you guys!  I apologize.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Whoever sent this link, and I assume it's you, I believe ‑‑ okay, I put it into the chat box again.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  I know.  We don't have that chat, because we don't.
So, let me... um... I'm looking for it in the e‑mail that I sent out to you guys, but it was ‑‑ 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  I just sent you the e‑mail again; Tiffany, I just sent you the e‑mail again that has it, and my e‑mail says please send out the Whereby link, and if you look on the e‑mail that I replied to, it has the Whereby link that you sent me.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Okay.  

>> CINDY SIMON:  This is Cindy.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Good morning. 

>> CINDY SIMON:  I just went in there to see what it looked like and it said that it's full and rejected getting in.
So, I don't know if anyone else will have that issue.  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Rejected at the door, Cindy, that is so sad. 

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Okay.  It says that we can't go in because it's full.  

>> Just a second, just a second.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  So that's... 

>> Just a second.  

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  Good morning, everybody, this is Chris.

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Good morning, Chris.  Are you at ‑‑ 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Good morning, Chris.  

[Talking over one another].

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  Good morning. 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> The room is full, the room is full.  Okay.  Thank you.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Who was that voice?  

>> That's me, I'm here.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Who is that?  

>> I'm sorry, guys, that's Lisa, that's Lisa.  We're opening up the room.  So sorry.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Yes, it's the one with Leads.  Okay, good, that's the one we're supposed to be on.  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Chris has his hand up.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Yes, Chris?  

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  Good morning.  Yes, I was just going to say that it was my understanding that if you did not need to use a sign language interpreter, that you were not supposed to go into the Whereby.  The Whereby only allows a certain number of people.  And I'm getting the same message "Sorry, the room is full."
So, certainly we want to limit that to the people that use the interpreters for the meeting.
I, myself, am fine if I only need to use the captions, but Lisa Schaefermeyer texted me with the link but I'm fine 

>> This is Lisa. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Go ahead, Lisa.  

>> LISA:  Okay.  Everybody try now, and I apologize for that.  We just opened up the room.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  What's the link one more time, Lisa?  Because we are both in different rooms.
My ends with AQI Lead.  

>> LISA:  No, that's what we tested with.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Oh. 

>> LISA:  So it's AQI, forward slash AQI.

[Feedback.  Lots of whistling going on] 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Chris, can you mute your phone?  Can you mute your computer?  

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  How do you do it?  [Echo]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  At the bottom, there is a microphone.  Just mute it.

[Feedback] 

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  What's the code?  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  On your phone, this is Gina, on your phone it's star two. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  The room can now hold 50 people.  

[Pause]. 

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  I'm sorry. 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay, at the bottom, Glenna is the mic.  Mute your mic on the computer.

[Feedback].  

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  Hi, Tiffany, this is Darlene.  I am not going to be in that room, so I just wanted to let you know that, okay.

[Echoing.  Feedback] 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  This is Karen.  There's feedback.  So everybody who's on Whereby, please mute.  The only ones who should be unmuted are the interpreters when they are interpreting.  Okay?
Otherwise let's use a combination of the phone and the Whereby for interpreting.
And there is no limit now to the number of people; we can have up to 50 in there.
So thank you, Lisa, for making that correction.
So I think we should get started.
All in favor?  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Oh, aye, aye... [laughs].  Yes, aye.  All in favor.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  I want to make sure everybody who needs to be in having access to the interpreters has that?
Is there anybody on the line who wants to get into Whereby for interpreting services?

Okay.  Somebody has shared their room, and thank you for unsharing it; there's a lot of people in there.
Okay.  Um... 

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  I'm looking for my agenda; I have too many things open on my computer, I have to go to here.  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  This is Gina. 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Good morning and Cindy said aye to starting the meeting. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Good morning, everyone, this is Karen Goldberg, the Chair of the Florida Coordinating Council for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and welcome to the May 7th quarterly meeting.
This is a first for all of us, and I believe a first for the Council, in the history of the Council, that we are doing it all remote.
And I want to thank everyone who has worked so hard to set this up.  Tiffany, thank you very much.  I know a lot of work went into creating [audio cutting in and out] things and I appreciate that.
I'd like to start with a council member roll call.
Good morning, Cecil, good morning.
Okay.  So I'm Karen Goldberg, I am the Chair of the Council and I represent Hearing Loss Association of America, Florida State organization, I guess.
And we'll have people go around the room.
Let's start with Gina.  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Hey, this is Gina Halliburton, Vice Chair, representing Florida Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Good morning, Gina.  Debbe?  

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  This is Debbe Hagner, I represent HLAA.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  As the president of HLAA.  

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  Yes.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay, fantastic.  Welcome.  

[Talking over one another]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Glenna?  

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  ‑‑ three of them. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Glenna?

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  Hi, this is Glenna, I'm representing the Florida Association of the Deaf. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Welcome, Glenna.  Chris Littlewood?

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  Good morning, everybody, this is Chris Littlewood from ALDA Suncoast, the Association of Late‑Deafened Adults.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Good morning, Chris, and welcome.
Um... I'm trying to think of who else?  Cecil?  I'm going with who I can see first.  

>> CECIL BRADLEY:  Good morning, everyone, I'm finally able to connect!  This is Cecil and I represent [no audio]. 

[Note from CART Captioner]:  CART Provider has no audio.

>> CINDY SIMON:  I think we did do one other meeting totally on the phone in the past, about ten years ago, if I recall correctly, and I just want to say that Miami meetings have been a nightmare for me.  Any time I needed to go to a meeting, I had a kid graduating or something like this halted it, so... it's nice to see you virtually in my neck of the woods.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Good morning and thank you for being here.
Debra Knox?  

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Is she here today?  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  I have learned and spoke with Debra, she is ‑‑ has a whole lot going on with the college and she is hoping to be able to come in throughout the day, but for right now, she will not be here, so she will not be present this ‑‑ today, generally.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  

>> She may pop in. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  When speaking, please say your name first for the CART Provider and for the interpreters.  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  This is Gina.  Mary is on the chat.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Oh, yes, Mary.  

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> MARY HODGES:  Good morning, this is Mary Hodges, Department of Elder Affairs. 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Good morning, Mary, welcome.  Is there anyone on the line that I have not called out?  

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  This is Darlene.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  I'm sorry, Darlene.  

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  That's okay. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Go ahead. 

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  This is Darlene, I am on the Council as an individual who is deaf‑blind.  And I am not on the CART because it freezes my computer up.  And I am not on whatever you call it, Whereby, something like that.  So I am just on the phone.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Well, we're happy that you're here, Darlene.  

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  Thank you. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Thank you for being here. 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  Can I make a suggestion?  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Yes, ma'am.  

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  Is it possible that every time everybody has to make a comment or anything, if you can ask individuals individually if they have any comments?  So that way, nobody is left out?  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  That's a very good suggestion and thank you, and I'll be sure to do that.  Thank you, Darlene.  

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  You're welcome.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  Anybody that I did not announce that is here?  And I'm gonna announce the interpreters in just a second.  

[Pause]. 

>> Hey, this is Anna Simmons calling for the Department of Health on behalf of Shay Chapman, she has been activated during the COVID‑19 experience and sent over to our emergency operations center, so she's not able to join the call and has sent me to listen in in her place.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay, thank you very much, Anna, and welcome.
I might also like to announce and welcome our interpreting team.  We have Lisa, who I don't see right now, has stepped out, I think, for a second; we have Rebecca and Rebekah ‑‑ oh, okay [laughs].  We have the two Rebeccas.  Okay.  And thank you, very much, everyone, for being here.
Let's see... so ‑‑ 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  I'm sorry?  This is who?  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  This is Gina.  Cecil wants to remind Karen and Tiffany that he has to leave at 10:00 a.m. and will return after lunch, for a doctor's appointment.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  That sounds just fine.
All righty.  So I want to remind everyone that we're gonna have to do the recognition a little bit differently.  If you would like to be recognized and you're on the CART system, please type in "hand up" and I'm gonna ask Gina, do you have access to the CART?  Can you keep an eye on that, if somebody wants to share?  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Yes, ma'am.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  Thank you very much.  And we'll recognize you.  And this is to minimize us speaking over one another.
Okay.  All righty.  I'm just trying to think ‑‑ yeah, please make sure you state your name before speaking.
Anything else on housekeeping that I did not bring up that anyone would like to bring up?

[No response].

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  All right.  And Tiffany, I didn't have you announce yourself, and I'm sorry.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Good morning, I'm Tiffany Baylor, I'm the coordinator for the Florida Coordinating Council for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Good morning.  And thank you for being here.  

>> My name is Debbe.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  First thing ‑‑ 

>> OPERATOR:  Has left the conference.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Oh [chuckles].  So Debbe left the CART (sic).  Hopefully she'll come back.  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  All righty.  So first thing on the agenda is to take a look at the minutes from February 6th and 7th.
Does everybody have a copy of those minutes?  

[Pause]. 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Yes, I do.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay, thank you.  

>> CECIL BRADLEY:  This is Cecil.  I have them but I am unable to open them. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Any reason that you're unable to open them?  

[Silence].

>> CECIL BRADLEY:  This is Cecil.  I'm having an issue because I can't look at two things at once.  I'm watching the CART and I can't read the minutes at the same time.
So, you're going to have to excuse me for a moment as I go back and forth 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Got it.  Yeah, I have the same thing, I have multiple screens open, so I understand.
So, anybody who has it open, can we get an approval of the minutes?

[Pause]. 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  This is Gina.  I approve them.  And also in the chat, the CART Captioner is Lisa Johnston.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Oh, thank you very much, Gina.  And thank you, Lisa, for being our CART Provider.
Okay.  Anybody would like to make a motion to accept the minutes from February 6th and 7th, 2020 meeting?  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Cindy scheduled, this is Gina. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  So Gina has made a motion, Cindy has seconded it.  All in favor, I see hands going up.  Okay.  Debbe ‑‑ 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  I need to put mine up too.  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  All right.  The approval of the minutes ‑‑ 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  ‑‑ has been passed.  Would we like to have any discussion of the minutes?  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Yes, Tiffany?  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Good morning.  Brendaly gave me information that her title of the minutes was incorrect and that she is working with the ‑‑ with the name of the company that she's working with, and so I need to know ‑‑ I need to bring that up so that we can possibly change that in the minutes, or update it so that it is accurate.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  From the last meeting?  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  No, when she speaks, I want it to be accurate, who she's with.  I think it listed that she was with vocational rehabilitation and she is not, so she wanted to make sure that I ‑‑ that's the only update or revision or addition to the minutes that we note ‑‑ that she noticed and she wanted me to bring that up.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  All right.  This is Karen.  I don't think we need to amend the last minutes to correct that.  And that was the information we had at the time.  And I think it's fine to have incorrect information in the last meeting.  We're gonna correct it for this meeting so that we have the correct information of who's presenting.  

>> Okay. 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  This is Gina.  Karen, in the CART, Diana Tift asked her if someone could e‑mail her the agenda and the reports?  Her e‑mail is in the chat, if someone can do that.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Certainly.  Tiffany, can you send Diana Tilt (sic) the agenda for today and any PowerPoints?  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  And it's in the chat?  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Yeah, she's given her e‑mail.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  I sure will.  I don't see it in the chat yet.
Oh, you're talking about our chat.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Yes, ma'am. 

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Okay.  I don't have that on because I'm using a CaptionCall phone for the captioning. 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  This is Gina.  It's Diana, D‑I‑A‑N‑A, Diana@cil‑drc.org. 

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Thank you, I will do that right now.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Thank you very much.  Debbe had her hand up.  

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  I don't see the chat on the CART, so... um... I was just curious. 

[Pause].  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  

[Pause].  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  And now we have our next item is gonna be the adoption of our current agenda.  Does everyone have a copy of the current agenda?  Please chat or raise your hand if you do not have a copy of the current agenda for today's meeting.  

[Pause]. 

>> CECIL BRADLEY:  This is Cecil, I have it.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Perfect.  And Tiffany is holding up what it would look like.  Okay.  All righty.
So, has everyone had an opportunity to take a look at this agenda?  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  I'm not seeing any nays, okay.  Can I get a motion to accept the agenda as it is written?  Debbe is making a motion to accept it. 

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  Yes. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Can I get a second?  Cecil seconded it. 

>> CECIL BRADLEY:  Second. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  All in favor?  

>> Aye. 

>> Aye. 

>> Aye. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  I want to make a discussion, if I can open it up.
Our second presenter today at 11:00 a.m. is Chris Wagner, he is the National Association of the Deaf representative, he's gonna discuss emergency preparedness.
We're also gonna ask one of our council members who's got quite a bit of experience in this, to give his perspective at that time, Chris Littlewood.
Anyway, I just got an e‑mail from Chris Wagner that he's asking for the Zoom link for the meeting.
Tiffany, can you please reach out to Chris Wagner right now and give him all the information on how to access the interpreters and how to do his presentation today?
Will there be a Zoom link?  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  No, ma'am, this is Tiffany speaking, no, ma'am, there is not going to be a Zoom link.  Zoom is not approved through DOH and so we could not use Zoom.  This is why we're ‑‑ 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay, thank you.  Okay.  How will a PowerPoint be presented?  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Um... I sent everyone in the packets, the resource packets, I sent everybody all the pieces that will be done or needed for any presentations and any things going on today.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  Can you reach out to Chris Wagner ‑‑ or I can do it, because he did just e‑mail me ‑‑ and give him the information for the Whereby link?  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  I sure will.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  ‑‑ 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay, hold on one second, Cindy, I'm coming with you ‑‑ to you in just a second.
I'm actually going to take a second, since he did e‑mail me, to respond to this e‑mail.  So Gina, can I have you take over for a second while I do that to make sure Chris Wagner has the information?  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  This is Gina, sure.
We have Cindy and Chris who approve the agenda.  And we have Cindy with her hand up.  Go ahead, Cindy.  

[Pause]. 

>> CINDY SIMON:  Hi.  So I was curious as well, because with everybody doing these virtual meetings, would something like GoToMeeting, and there's a couple of others which are safer and may be approved by the Department?  Should this continue and in three months we continue to have to meet virtually, being able to get a visual or allow people to present their PowerPoints visually may be helpful.
Isn't this something we can look into?  

[Pause]. 
[Talking over one another]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  This is Karen.  I think that's a very good idea.  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Debbe has her hand raised. 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Karen, are you back?  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  No, ma'am, I'm sorry, I just heard a pause and I apologize.  

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  This is Debbe.  I do know that the Whereby has a "share," where you can share the PowerPoint.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Yes.  

[Pause]. 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Chris ‑‑ this is Gina.  Chris is in the chat and he says that he can see everyone and he has access to his camera but cannot see himself.  Can anyone address that, on Whereby?  

[Pause].

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  He has to have his video on, camera on.  

[Pause]. 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  This is Gina.  He says his camera is on.  

[Pause]. 
[Silence]. 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Okay, this is Gina ‑‑ 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  Good morning, everybody, this is Chris, I only have two monitors on my phone.  I can see the captions, I can see everybody on Whereby, but it looks like my camera and my microphone are black.
I've changed the settings.
To my knowledge, I had my mic muted from the beginning, but maybe I'm mistaken.
Regardless, I can see the interpreters and the captions, so I'm fine.  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  This is Gina.  Okay, thank you, Chris.
Moving to the next item, DOH update, action items.  Tiffany, could you go forward, please?  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Yes, I surely can.  I was trying to make sure I sent these people this information right quick.  But I'm gonna go ahead and ‑‑ so, could you let Diana know I'll be there in a minute?
Let's see... where do I start... all right!  If you would go on down to section... Section 7 will be the action items, I labeled them in sections in what I sent.
The action items list is somewhat short.  This is the action items.  And here we go....
Okay.  So, one of the action items was to request permission to allocate funds to the Council for ‑‑ 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  ‑‑ attend the Hurricane Conference and of course we learned that the Hurricane Conference was cancelled due to the COVID.
The request was for the PowerPoint for the budget coordinator that she gave that had the two links involved in it, and from Latheria, you requested that she send that to you all and it was sent to you guys on Friday, February [audio cutting in and out] 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  [Audio cutting in and out]. 

[Note from CART Captioner]:  Someone is drowning out Tiffany speaking.  Lots of background noise.  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  This is Gina.  Can everyone please mute their phones while someone is presenting?  Tiffany, we're going to need you to repeat because there was a lot of background noise.  Everyone please mute your phones and only Tiffany is talking.  Thank you.  

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  This is Darlene.  I hate to butt in but I wanted to make a comment about the mentioning of the virtual venue.  

[Pause]. 
[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Okay.  I am going to go ahead and finish the action items, because I'm not quite sure... uh... my CapTel is running a little lower, so I'm just gonna continue.  It just got quiet, so....
Um... so, we were supposed to get clarification regarding the budget from the budget coordinator regarding line five of the budget.  

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  Unbelievable... 

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  ‑‑ of 80‑40 or something like that, under encumbrance, I'm going to see if I can get that.  I spoke to her and she sent us all a response.  However, there was still questions following, and so she will be present today during the committee updates section to speak and share information regarding the new budget and she will explain the line items as we go so that we all have very good clarification when we leave this meeting regarding our budget and because we're moving onto new year's budget coming up on the 30th of June.
Okay.  The next action item, number four, was to speak with Shay Chapman regarding the changes to Senate Bill 596 and what they were.
I sent in the e‑mail a packet, things the Senate 596, Senate Bill 596 and where they did the strike‑thrus and the additions visible, so you guys can see what was changed and what was added and what was omitted, because the issue was that it was... uh... unnecessary language that you guys were worried about and what constituted obsolete language, and so that you guys can see that it pretty much obsolete language, they changed it, a "and" to a "the "or something like that.  You have that now.
Number five was request clarifications regarding permissions of posting pictures of the senators and the legislators that were visited last February onto the website.
As we all know, DOH cannot post any of those photos.  The DOH FCCDHH website.
However, you all, on the Facebook website, I think they would like that, because they would like to show them doing things in the community, for people in the community, and so you're more than welcome to post those on the Facebook website.
And that is what I have for the action items for this meeting.  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Okay, this is Gina.  Thank you, Tiffany.  Darlene had a comment about the virtual venue.  And if anyone else has a comment, would you please put it in the chat.
And let's hear what Darlene's input is at this time.  

[Pause]. 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  This is Gina.  Darlene, are you there?  

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  This is Darlene.  I cannot get on the chat.  And I am not on the Whereby.  So that's why I asked in the beginning if those on the phone could be asked if they have any comment.  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Okay.  This is your opportunity.  You said you wanted to say something about the virtual venue.  

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  Thank you, thank you.  What I want to recommend, though, is whatever kind of virtual venues that you use for future meetings, is it possible to do a test run?  Especially from the deaf‑blind individual that will be in the meeting, so that she won't get frustrated like I have.

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  This is Gina. 

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  Thank you. 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  To my knowledge, that would not be a problem.  Tiffany, you should probably address that question.

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  I'm sorry, what?  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Yes, I would love to. 

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  Okay, go ahead.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  I'm looking for it, but in an e‑mail that I sent out to you all ‑‑ okay, let me tell you all actually what's going on with this virtual thing.
So, what has happened is that when we learned that we had to do virtual, my first go‑to was, after I talked to Karen, Karen and I had a meeting, that we would go with some kind of virtual thing, like Zoom or something that most people are familiar with working.
And after we discussed that, I called a meeting with our assistive technology and IT department, supervisors, and several of the workers.
And I believe someone from AQI and someone ‑‑ the CART.  And we had a ‑‑ and their supervisors.
So, we had a huge meeting, discussing what we can do to make sure that it's accessible for as many people in the Council and in the community as possible.
This was an extensive meeting and we went through major detail with AT (sic), that I don't even close to understand, because I'm not a techy.  So it was great that we had those people there.
And it turns out that DOH only has specific approved accessibility options available to us, and the one that they had was ‑‑ was Open Voice.  They don't do Zoom because I guess it has some security measures.  And we have to look at security based on ‑‑ we have health records and Social Security numbers and things like that in the whole realm of DOH.
And so they're very specific.  And we had to go with the Open Voice verbally and audio and then AQI was kind enough to let us work with their work ‑‑ Whereby system and we did two trial runs, I believe, and one we had to try and things didn't work, we left, we came back, talked to our supervisors, came back, tried it again.
So this was actually quite an extensive encounter to try to make this all work out.
Once we did set that up, then I ‑‑ we ‑‑ I sent an e‑mail out to everybody informing them that what they had to do to access and what plans we were going to use in order to conduct this meeting and how we were going to do this remotely.
From there, I added, please contact AQI Services.  I suggested you all do a trial run.  And if you still had trouble, to contact AQI Services about the Whereby access of it and to try this and to practice prior to this.
And I believe that was a week or two ago.
And so we were trying to meet all the needs that would make it accessible to everybody, because we all have so many different things, not only some are deaf, and I'm blind, and so it's just ‑‑ the ‑‑ the logistics of it all was quite the undertaking.
So we kind of figured this out quickly ‑‑ 

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  Okay.  This is Darlene. 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  I didn't get an e‑mail on that.  But I know that everybody else on the Board is pretty well visual.  And with someone that has limited vision and limited resources, it's gonna be difficult for that deaf‑blind person to be able to communicate and be a very active participant of the meeting.
So, um... I'm not sure what can be done to help in that next situation, but I do hope something happens so that the person will feel comfortable working with the Council.  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  This is Gina. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  This is Karen. 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Thank you, Tiffany, thank you for your hard work.  I would ask that ‑‑ DOH double‑check back with Zoom, because my understanding is they corrected the security issues by requiring a password.
I also have Cecil with his hand up and a comment from Cindy regarding the chat being different depending on what device is being used.
And we also have Karen online.
So, Cecil, if you could go forward, I would appreciate it.  

>> OPERATOR:  Has left the conference.  

>> CECIL BRADLEY:  Hi, this is Cecil, I'm sorry, I just wanted to comment.  I understand Darlene's frustrations.  I understand it's not easy to meet all of the DOH requirements, but I believe if you have two computers ‑‑ 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> CECIL BRADLEY:  ‑‑ or one computer and an iPad, that would be helpful, because one can use to watch the interpreter.  It's much easier to do this kind of remote work if you have two monitors.  So that's an option.
Maybe, Darlene, if you can set up two different devices and have one ‑‑ 

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  Um... 

>> CECIL BRADLEY:  ‑‑ where you can see everybody and the interpreter, and then you can have another one where you can have something else that you need to look at.
If you have one ‑‑ if you try to do everything on one screen, then the pictures of the participants are too small to actually follow.
So I would suggest two monitors or one computer and an iPad.  That's what I'm doing right now.  I've got two monitors open and it's much better.
So just food for thought.  

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  This is Darlene.  I can no longer see hardly anything on the screen.  So there needs to be something different.  And I don't know what it is.
And as far as having more than one computer, that isn't an option when you don't work and you don't have any agencies that's willing to work with you.
So, you know, you have to do with what you have.
And I really feel that if this next deaf‑blind individual, if they are in the same boat as I am, they're gonna be frustrated and they're going to be... um... intimidated by not being able to do the work.
And it's sad that it's that way, but... I'm not sure what to do about it.
But I just wanted to mention that whatever you decide on, do a test run.  That would be better before waiting to get into the meeting and trying to test it all out.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  Thank you, Darlene.  This is Karen.
I want to thank you very much for sharing with the Council what your challenges are with accessing the technology ‑‑ 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  Chris Littlewood. 
>> OPERATOR:  Has joined the conference. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  ‑‑ I have really appreciated that you're sharing what your experience is.  I think that some of the tech issues sound like they may be challenges on your end that I would be happy to speak with you about outside of the council meeting to see if there's a way to help you so that you have a more positive experience with the council meetings.
In terms of ‑‑ I've seen that other people have wanted to share during this and I want to make sure that we give everyone a chance, because we do have a presenter at 10:00 a.m.
So, right now I saw that Glenna had her hand up, then Tiffany.  And am I missing anyone else?  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  This is Gina.  Cindy has her hand up as well.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay, thank you.  So we'll do Glenna, Tiffany, Cindy.  Please start, Glenna.  

[Pause].  

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  Okay.  We were talking about two computers.  It's not necessary to have two computers.  You can have one with a monitor.  So you just have that screen connected to that single computer.
So, you can purchase a used monitor or borrow one from someone or something of that fashion.  

>> CECIL BRADLEY:  This is Cecil, yes, that's very possible, two monitors.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Thank you, Glenna.
Tiffany?  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Hi.  I hadn't quite finished, and so that's why I'm back on; this is Tiffany.
The bottom line is that it had to happen kind of abruptly and, therefore, this isn't the final fix.  This is where it all happened just trying to sort of figure out a way to make this work for as many people as we can right now.
My situation of being deaf ‑‑ or hearing impaired and blind, also I do see the difficulty and also that I have an extremely old computer here, so I'm actually juggling between a whole lot of different things.
So, I do get the thing that you're saying.  And I surely don't want to discount your feelings, because, one, I get it; and two, I ‑‑ I ‑‑ I ‑‑ I don't want you to think this is the final way we're going to do it.
This is the maiden voyage and we intend to work it out until we figure out how to make it better.
The good thing is I will have completely three full months for the next time.  Having it go on the way it is now and seeing the difficulties that we are having is where you see me constantly reaching down here taking notes, what we have to fix, what has to happen better next time.  What do we have to do [audio cutting in and out] 

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  Okay, thank you, Tiffany.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Thank you, Tiffany.  

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  I realize that.  And today is my last meeting.  So I just wanted to let you know that the three people that have a slide, I hope ‑‑ one of them I have for sure, so I just want that out there just in case the other person is, you know, has difficulties as well.  So, thank you, Tiffany.  I know you understand.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Thank you, Darlene.  And thank you, Tiffany, for that explanation.
Cindy has her hand up.  

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> CINDY SIMON:  Very briefly what I wanted to suggest is to consider having an SSP for Darlene even during this meeting to help her navigate this and better have full accessibility to everything going on.
We have provided SSPs in the past for our deaf‑blind member, including Darlene.  In a situation like this, which is difficult for most of us, I can't even imagine what it's like for Darlene.
And Darlene, I assume, and you said this is your last meeting, it's because your term is over.  But remember, till they select someone, you come back.
So, I would like to consider having an SSP for Darlene for these meetings.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  I think that's a great suggestion ‑‑ this is Karen ‑‑ I know that we've had SSPs in the past for Darlene and perhaps that is something that we need to consider again.  It sounds like that is a good suggestion and necessary for access to communication.
I think that any time we have to emergently do a distance remote meeting, there are going to be challenges and we're not going to get it all exactly right, which is why I see Tiffany taking notes, and I appreciate the comments that everyone on the Council has about how this is working for them or not working for them.
So, thank you very much for speaking ‑‑ excuse me ‑‑ for speaking up, Darlene, and advocating for yourself and for individuals who are deaf‑blind.  Okay.  

[Pause].  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  This is Gina.  Karen, are you back leading the meeting?

[No response].

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Okay.  Is there anyone else who has any comments on any of the things we've discussed so far?

[No response].

>> This is David Lee from the University of Miami. 
>> OPERATOR:  Has joined the conference.  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Good morning and welcome.  I just realized I was on mute.  So Gina you asked a question if I was back and I was talking and [laughs] ‑‑ I just read that it said "No response" and I was trying to figure out why you didn't hear me.  So I was on mute.
Okay.  So, at 10:00 a.m. we have a presenter and we have about five minutes until 10:00, so I want to just check in with council members.  So far, you know, we've heard from Darlene about how this is work and some of the challenges for her.
What are some of other folks' experiences right now?  Since we have about five minutes before the presentation.  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  This is Gina.  Cecil says he's leaving now and he'll see everyone after lunch.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay, thank you.
Glenna has her hand up.  

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  This is Glenna.  I'm fine with reading the CART on the iPad and watching the interpreters on this screen, but it's strange that I can't get any sound.  So I can't hear any talking or anything.  I'm completely deaf at this point!  So I've been trying to play with it a little bit here and there, but I have no sound at all!  I'm completely deaf!  I can just take off the ears now.
I don't know why I don't have any sound.  Uh!  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  I wonder, does anybody have any ideas on how we can help with the sound issue for Glenna?  

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  This is Glenna.  I've already played around with it and tried different things and nothing's worked yet, so....
On AQI Lead, I practiced, when I tested with AQI, I had the sound.  But now that we're here in the meeting, I actually don't have it.  

[Pause].  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Rebekah, do you have a hand up?  

>> INTERPRETER:  Yes, this is Rebekah, the interpreter.  I just want to clarify for you, we're all on mute on the Whereby program because we're using the conference line.  So that's why you can't hear anything because there's nothing to hear through the computer, it's all through the phone.  

[Pause]. 

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  Oh, okay, that's separate.  Gotcha.  So I can call into the conference line on my phone, or you've done that ‑‑ oh, gotcha.  Okay [laughs].  Not gonna mess with that!
I got the iPad, the computer screen, and then have a phone?  No thanks!  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay, all right.  Well, I'm glad we solved that mystery.
Um... so, anybody else on the Council would like to make any comments before we have our first presenter?

[No response].

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Tiffany, have we heard from the first presenter and if they're going to join Whereby?  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Actually Mister ‑‑ Dr. Lee has joined the conference verbally, audibly, right now.  I heard him come on. 

>> DAVID LEE:  Hi, everyone!  I'm on. 

>> BRENDALY RODRIGUEZ:  And Brendaly Rodriguez is also on the conference line. 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Good morning. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  All right, good morning.  So they can, if they want to be visual and to see other people, they can also join the Whereby, is that correct?  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  They have the other ‑‑ they have the ‑‑ I'm sorry, this is Tiffany speaking ‑‑ they do have the link; however, if they are not in need of a sign language interpreter, it would be really good if they just went on the audio.  And the reason for that is because the more people that are on the Whereby, the smaller the screen, the little squares of people show, and the interpreter becomes in a smaller and smaller and smaller ‑‑ 

>> DAVID LEE:  Yep, yep, yeah, this is David, I'm happy to stay on the phone, yeah, just on the phone line, that will work.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  May I ‑‑ ladies and gentlemen, they are going to be presenting, this is their [audio cutting in and out] it should be in your packets.  What I'm trying to do now is see if I can share the page on the screen for the people who are on ‑‑ 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> BRENDALY RODRIGUEZ:  We have a PowerPoint presentation that was sent last night and that will follow what Dr. David Lee and myself are gonna be presenting today.  The one‑page handout was from the last meeting that I previously commented.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Yes, thank you for that, whoever is speaking.  I'm holding up for them the PowerPoint that you sent me last night.  

>> BRENDALY RODRIGUEZ:  Excellent.  Thank you.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  And Tiffany, did you send out that PowerPoint to everyone this morning?  

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Yes, yes, I did.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  So we all have copies of that.  If everybody wants to open up the PowerPoint.
And while you're doing that, I am happy to introduce our first presentation and presenters, Brendaly Rodriguez and Dr. David Lee, co‑leads at University of Miami building research and capacities in hearing loss and prevention in Hispanic and Latinx or is that Latino misspelled communities?  

>> BRENDALY RODRIGUEZ:  Latinx. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  Thank you.  Feel free and go ahead and start your presentation whenever you're ready.  Thank you.  

>> DAVID LEE:  Brendaly, do you want to get started?  

>> BRENDALY RODRIGUEZ:  Yes, my name is Brendaly Rodriguez I'm a patient bilateral with hearing loss and I want to add for the correction of the minutes that I am from the Florida community health worker coalition, not workforce, and that was the correction to today, in last meeting's minutes.
And I'm also a manager for the University of Miami.
And here I will be joined by Dr. David Lee, professor at the University of Miami as well.
Next slide.
We are part of a coalition that just formed some months ago in collaboration between the University of Arizona and University of Miami, comprised by audiologists, public health experts, Community Health Workers, and patients, like myself, from the two organizations and their community partners who are community health centers and free clinics in their respective locations.
Next slide.
And today we want to discuss and present a brief overview of hearing healthcare disparities within the Latino/Latina, and we abbreviate that as Latinx community.
We will describe an engagement on our project that we aim to put together for the next 24 months and come out with a research agenda on hearing healthcare intervention to address some of the ‑‑ 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> ‑‑ of patients 50 and older that we face coping with hearing loss. 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> ‑‑ and to be supportive of Latinx patients, caregivers, and communities. 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> ‑‑ and we will be requesting some feedback on incoming activities. 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> ‑‑ and now ‑‑ next slide ‑‑ we will be hearing from Dr. David Lee.  

>> DAVID LEE:  Good morning, everyone.  Thank you for the invitation to present.
I am a chronic disease epidemiologist at the University of Miami and I've had a long‑standing interest in the health of Hispanic communities.
And in fact, when I was a graduate student 35 years ago, the very, very first comprehensive population‑based study of Hispanic health had been ‑‑ had been undertaken and the data was released by the Federal Government, and this was, the study was called the Hispanic health attrition and examination survey.
And even though we had been doing studies for decades, that study was actually the first to focus on Hispanics and included actual, physical examinations, including receiving hearing tests.
And so I led a team to analyze the data from the Hispanic HAIMS study and we found that there was evidence that hearing impairment in Hispanics was associated with socioeconomic factors and health related risk factors that are more common in Hispanic Latinx populations.
So moving onto slide five, here are the actual prevalence rates of hearing loss in three Hispanic subgroups, Cuban Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Mexican Americans, and this is stratified by age group.
And so you can see here that this is a highly age‑associated condition, with our green bars representing Hispanics that were between the ages of 55‑74 years.
And with younger folks having much, much lower rates of hearing loss.
But you can see that there's some variations here, with the lowest rates we found in this study was among Puerto Rican men at 23% in the oldest age group.
And then relatively similar rates for Cuban American men, women, and Mexican American men, those rates were between 43% and 48%.
Going onto the next slide, this is a really important slide from that original report, and what we're doing here is looking at the ‑‑ now we're just looking at Hispanics who have documented ‑‑ clinically documented hearing loss.  And everyone in this pool would benefit from having a hearing aid.
But when we look at the actual prevalence, as you can see, no more than one out of ten Hispanics with hearing loss actually had a history of using a hearing aid.
And the rates of hearing aid usage actually varied quite a bit from just 2% in Cuban American men, up to nearly 10% in Puerto Rican men.
So that study was 25, or more than ‑‑ well, more than 30 years ago and so there was unfortunately a long gap before the Federal Government commissioned another major ‑‑ 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> ‑‑ health study in Hispanics.  And I'm privileged to be part of that development and the launching of that study, which took place in Miami, University of Miami here, and also at three other sites in Chicago, the Bronx in New York City, and in San Diego.
And this is called the Hispanic Community Health Study, study of Latinos, and this study fortunately also had an audio metric examination of all of the participants 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> And in the ‑‑ next slide.  I'm on slide seven.
The overall prevalence rate of hearing loss, clinically confirmed hearing loss was 15%.  And of course, again, age associated, much higher rates among those that were 45 years of age and older.
And also higher rates in men than in women.
Next slide.  This is slide eight.
Here are the prevalence rates.  And one of the features of the Hispanic community health study was that we expanded the number of Hispanic subgroups that we were interested in looking at their health status, and so in addition to Mexican Americans, Cubans, and Puerto Ricans, we now have South Americans, Dominicans, and Central Americans as well.
And so the prevalence rates of hearing loss here range from about 10% in Mexican Americans and as high as 20 and 21% in Puerto Ricans and Cubans.
Next slide.
So, as I've just shown, those of Puerto Rican and Cubans had more hearing loss and we looked at risk factors of hearing loss and those who had greater exposure, either occupational or in some cases recreational noise exposure, like using firearms or engaged in, you know, a noisy recreational activities, had greater risk of hearing loss, as well as those that were diagnosed with either diabetes or pre‑diabetes.
And we also noted that hearing impairment was less likely among Hispanics who had a greater education or greater income.
Slide number ten, so we also, again, looked at hearing aid usage in this population.  And unfortunately, 30 years later, we see absolutely no improvement in the proportion of those with clinically documented hearing impairment who are actually using hearing aids.
And we found that the use of hearing aids was associated with poor hearing.  So those with more severe hearing impairment were more likely to use hearing aids.
Also those that reported greater problems and handicaps associated with their hearing loss are more likely to use hearing aids.
And also that those that have had greater access to healthcare coverage were more likely to use hearing aids.
Next slide.
So here are the actual percentages.  And again what we're looking at now is just the subgroup of those with clinically documented hearing loss.
So, everyone here would erratically benefit from the use of a hearing aid.  And yet just like we saw 30 years ago in the Hispanic HANES, the age usage among hearing impaired is less than 10%, and in this study, as low as less than 1% in our Central American population.  And well below 5% for Cuban Americans and South Americans.
Next slide.
So, to ‑‑ this is slide 12 ‑‑ to summarize, hearing loss is a growing public health concern, particularly among the aging populations.
And there are issues with access and affordability of care, and especially in terms of hearing aid access.
And that hearing healthcare disparities exist in the United States for this population.
And then finally, and this is part of the work that Brendaly will be sharing with the group, and that is that patients and those with hearing loss face decisional dilemmas, to coping with having hearing loss in different scenarios, you know, like at work, or just in their daily lives, deciding whether or not they should get a hearing test.
And then for those who are diagnosed with hearing loss, you know, to whether or not they would decide to purchase hearing aids or use of a variety of assistive devices that this group is quite familiar with.
And so the question is:  How do we address these problems?
And to answer that question, I'm going to turn the podium over to Brendaly, who will describe our query study.  

>> BRENDALY RODRIGUEZ:  Thank you.  We are going to slide 13.
And let's discuss a little bit about our purpose to address all of those above‑mentioned health disparities.
We decided to form a coalition across Florida and Arizona, because we have some colleagues that have worked previously on this, especially with Community Health Workers.
And we wanted to identify some priorities for research on hearing interventions for Hispanic adults over 50‑years‑old who are hard of hearing, like myself.
And the goal is to collectively define ideas of concern and the local issues between the different Hispanic communities in Arizona and Florida.
And identify those research priorities and education needs and, of course, gather the resources that are relevant on how to manage this age‑related hearing loss in the Latino communities.
And we were successful in obtaining funding for a two‑year project of engagement for research support.  And it will run until 2021 September.  And it's funded by the Patient Center Outcomes Research Institute in Washington, D.C.
Right now we are working on a six‑month extension on that, so we can report later on, based on the current climate of COVID‑19 and expanding our aims.
And we are utilizing a community‑engaged framework to guide the activities to leverage the strengths from multiple stakeholders and experts, as I was indicating earlier, and members of this coalition include patients, like myself, audiology experts, public health, translation studies, and community centers and Community Health Workers 
We aim to sustain this effort later on as we progress with more proposals, engaging more individuals and organizations towards the common goal, and submitting for competitive effective grant research and other types of research based on what we find out through this coalition.
Next slide.  Slide 14.
So let me tell you about the activities to date.  We have been able to put together the coalition across two states.
We have created a logo that has visually the elements of the two different states.  And goals around our collaborative work as the same goal.
We have put together in those six short months of our existence peer reviewed presentations and even posters at several national organizations and state organizations, like the American Public Health Association and this Council, in Florida.  And The Arizona Speech‑language Hearing Association.  That conference got suspended because of COVID‑19, but we have been accepted to present a poster there about our efforts.
We have been able to put together an advisory board and we have regular calls.  We conducted our first two earlier this year, January and March.  And we have about an average of 19 attendees on each call, including the counterpart in Arizona for this group, and it's called Arizona Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, that's why my outreach here as an ongoing relationship 

>> OPERATOR:  Has joined the meeting. 

>> And our next call will be on June the 3rd.  And once those details are ready, we will submit and distribute the information to this Council.
We have put together some online and mobile media resources, a web page, with the link there for you to explore it and see and keep up‑to‑date with our activities 
We also have a Facebook page.
Next slide, slide 15.
We understand that many of our Hispanic audience with age‑related hearing loss may not have access to internet and may rely on other media for their health information.
And there are some studies that backup our claim and we have made outreach for communicating via radio.  And certain radio programs in Spanish.
And for those, we have uploaded those radio programs online.
The team has put together an op‑ed regarding masks and social distancing.  And how does it make it tough for the hard of hearing, like myself.
And providing some communication tips on how to work with your clinical provider in this time.  And also once when we start opening it up and visiting again our clinics and audiologists and all other clinical providers, how to improve, while still wearing masks, as indicated by the guidelines, still communicating and trying to make a better experience between the patient and the provider.
We also created a quick short video, closed captioned, and with the topic on how can face masks make it harder to hear, with a stimulation, so others can really get a tip of the iceberg on how our experience of the hard of hearing is when wearing face coverings and trying to communicate with others.
The link is provided on your slide 15.
Next slide, on slide 16.
And because of the COVID‑19 and the emergent challenges for communication, while given the social distancing guidelines, on this slide, we have decided to go back to our funder, PCORI and try to extend the project for six more months and do some enhancement of activities based on what the current needs and emergent new needs of our population, our target population of Hispanic Latinx age 50 and over with an age‑related hearing loss are experiencing.
This is a community that is not only our grandpas and grandmas anymore, this is a productive group that are working and they have some specific needs and we want to know more about and device and put together methods of research on future interventions.
We want to enhance our radio program offerings in English, to expand, if possible, into English, and continue with those that we are doing in Spanish.
And lastly, we want to lever the expertise and enhance the role of our Community Health Workers for [speaking Spanish] it is here in Spanish in the literature and how to support the Hispanic and Latinx patients and their families and caregivers.
Next slide.  That is why we come to you today and hopefully the conversation will be ongoing for the next 24 months, requesting feedback on several fronts.
We know that the over the counter assistive listening devices that are being approved by the FDA and we want to be there in the decision making points for patients, like myself, in the use of these over‑the‑counter devices and other described listening devices.
We also want your feedback on the platforms and communication on the use of technology for our coalition calls.
Right now we have had the ‑‑ the next one will be in June.

[CART Captioner lost audio].

>> ‑‑ bilingual mode, so all the material is provided in the two languages.
And we are learning about how to bridge the cap with the technology and this call, for example, we are learning a lot of implementation of different systems.
We are not including the sign language, because this project is more for the hard of hearing with age‑related hearing loss, not Hispanic totally deaf.
So we are a very targeted audience in our activities.
We have worked on translation with certified translators on all the materials that we put together.
And we want to request feedback from you on who else to invite to our coalition.
You can be active in just receiving information and attending our calls or also you can be more involved in our advisory board.
And we want to open the floor to other type of feedback that you might have and any topic related to the success of this coalition and the next 24 months.
The next slide is just a Save the Date for our Hispanic Hearing Healthcare Access Coalition Advisory Board Meeting and that will be on Wednesday, June the 3rd, from 7:00‑8:30 p.m. in Florida, Eastern Standard Time.
And we provide on slide 19, our final slide, our contact information via e‑mail.  And of course, we will be welcoming your comments, ideas, suggestions, and points for us to consider in our next steps in the coalition.
So, thank you.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Thank you for that fantastic presentation!  We really appreciate it.
So many things came to mind, looking at the data that you've collected on rates of hearing loss among Hispanic individuals in the different countries.
I was wondering if we had anything in the different ‑‑ in the states or even in the different counties within Florida or Arizona?  

>> DAVID LEE:  This is David.  That's a great question.
The real strength of the Hispanic Community Health Study was that we captured information on hearing loss that was derived from clinical examination.
So, you know, they were brought into a soundproof booth and had their hearing tested.
These kinds of studies are extremely expensive.  So there's nothing similar for the state of Florida as a whole.
The only thing that we can really point to is another surveillance system called the National Health Interview Survey which is done at a national level, but you can in some cases drill down to a state level to get some information on the prevalence on a variety of things.
But that survey is a household interview.  So they're just asking household participants, you know, do you, you know, do you have hearing loss?  Or do you, you know, do you have trouble hearing, you know, other people?
They get just a couple of questions.
So, it's not the same level, you know.
Because sometimes we're not aware that we even have hearing loss [chuckles] so the self‑report is not nearly as accurate as the clinical examination.
So I'm afraid we don't have information outside of the South Florida region here, because we recruited our participants, which were largely Cuban Americans and Central and South Americans from neighborhoods in Miami‑Dade County.
So, these estimates of hearing loss are probably largely representative of the experience of certainly for Cuban Americans in our study, but it's hard to extrapolate that beyond South Florida.  

>> BRENDALY RODRIGUEZ:  And just one more ‑‑ 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Thank you for answering that. 

>> BRENDALY RODRIGUEZ:  Yes, and as far as to clarify, the data we presented on the Haines study in the '80s and the Sole (sp) study some years ago ‑‑ 

>> OPERATOR:  Has left the conference. 

>> ‑‑ this is for individuals within the United States.  We are just noting the ancestry and that's why we call them Cuban Americans or Puerto Rican or Central American.  But they all are here in the United States at the time of the exam.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  All right.  Thank you very much.  Glenna had her hand up, and so did Cindy.  Glenna?  

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  This is Glenna.  Two things.  

>> CINDY SIMON:  Hi, I'm sorry. 

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  ‑‑ first you mentioned hard statistics.  We have that problem, it's hard to get the numbers, statistics for any groups with hearing loss. 
The second thing is I'm curious if you know anything about ALDA and HLAA.  So maybe Debbe and Chris could explain about ALDA and the Self‑Help for Hard of Hearing.
So those organizations and groups are in Florida and possibly Arizona.  So the two of you may want to expand on that.  

[Pause]. 

>> DAVID LEE:  Thank you for that information.  Yeah, I'm not familiar with either organization.  Brendaly, how about you?  

>> BRENDALY RODRIGUEZ:  Yes, certainly so.  I have already sent some e‑mails inviting the HLAA in Miami, the representative, I have attended several of the web meetings and attended different technological devices meetings ‑‑ 

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  Darlene. 

>> ‑‑ earlier in the year. 

>> OPERATOR:  Has left the conference.  

[Pause]. 

>> BRENDALY RODRIGUEZ:  And lastly, we have used some of the resources that the HLAA has posted online and we have incorporated those in our education materials and op‑eds.  Thank you.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Thank you.  Cindy has her hand up, and then Debbe.  

>> CINDY SIMON:  Okay.  I have two comments.  So, Brendaly, I'm right here in your neighborhood, I'm in South Miami, opposite of the hospital, and I do see a lot of this population.
So the next time there are studies, I would love to see reasons, because I think you need to educate in terms of cosmetic ‑‑ 

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  Darlene.  
>> OPERATOR:  Has joined the conference. 

>> CINDY SIMON:  ‑‑ that this is not a negative thing.  That's the number one thing that I have with these individuals, is the concept of feeling old or less... I'm trying to think of how to say it... literally I can tell you a guy yesterday, "I'm a macho guy, I'm not wearing that one!" which would have been better than what he had.
My second comment is, and this goes actually for everybody, in this time of COVID‑19 and face masks where we have a population, even with reduced eyesight and the distancing makes it impossible to get extra cues from watching, there are masks called the clear masks which are clear in the center so the lips can be seen.
The company just stopped making it and they went back into production.  I'm actually on the waiting list to get them so that the people who come to my office will be able to see.
That's something that we may want to consider 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> CINDY SIMON:  And if you do in the future have meetings but with distancing and masks ‑‑ 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> CINDY SIMON:  ‑‑ something that we should all have a supply of in order to more effectively communicate what they're saying.  

>> DAVID LEE:  Yeah, thank you for that.  

>> BRENDALY RODRIGUEZ:  Thank you, Cindy!  Yes, indeed.  When we saw the article with this young lady putting together those initial clear masks and the story being caught by CNN, or NPR, I forgot, sorry, one of those major news sites, we decided it was time for us to make an immediate response, and that's how the idea of the op‑ed originated and we put it together in about ten days from the team and was published, and the link is there in the presentation, where we kind of ‑‑ it really excited our team to take action on this emergent issues from COVID‑19 social distancing and how it is affecting people, like myself and others, with hard‑of‑hearing issues.  Thank you.  

>> CINDY SIMON:  So, I don't know if you know this, but that article you saw, these masks have been around for surgeons for at least five years or more than I know of.
There's an actual factory that makes this and they have so few orders, they stopped manufacturing it.
Now, with COVID‑19, they've gone back to manufacturing.
So there's actually specific audiology supply companies from which you can 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> ‑‑ order these.  I am on the wait list for when these first ones come out.  

[Pause].  

>> CINDY SIMON:  And I'm happy to share the name of the company I ordered from, if you want it. 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> BRENDALY RODRIGUEZ:  Thank you, we will appreciate that, if you put it in the chat or just e‑mail and I would love to continue our conversation outside this call for local efforts.  Thank you so much!  

>> CINDY SIMON:  Okay.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Thank you.  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  This is Gina. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Debbe?  

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  The name of the company is Safe 'N' Clear.  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay, thank you very much.  Anyone else?  Did you want to make another comment, Debbe?  

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  This is Darlene. 

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  Yeah, a friend of mine made mine with a clear, and I have a whole box full of face protecters. 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  So if anybody has a sewing machine, I will be happy to mail it to them and they could cut it out and make those sheet protecters. 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  Another thing, Dr. Lee, have you considered ‑‑ I know that you're going for hard of hearing, but are you helping and preparing them in case they lose more of their hearing or prepare them for cochlear implants or things like that?  

>> DAVID LEE:  Yeah, the ‑‑ when the study was done, the participants were given a copy of their results and then referred on to other providers, you know, for those that had, you know ‑‑ you know, moderate to severe hearing loss.  Thank you.  

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  Also, I thought that Tampa area is another Spanish... um... community. 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  This is Gina ‑‑ 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> DAVID LEE:  Yeah. 

[Pause].  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Mary Hodges has a question for the presenters.  Do you consider the data from the study consistent with the aging population in general?  

>> DAVID LEE:  Yes, because we did see a strong age associations with hearing loss that we see in other non‑Hispanic populations.  

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  This is Darlene.  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Go ahead, Darlene.  

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  Okay.  This is Darlene.  I am on the Council as an individual who is deaf‑blind and I was just wondering in your research, have you encountered any Hispanics who have combined vision and hearing loss?  Which is also deaf‑blind and dual sensory impairment.  

>> DAVID LEE:  Yes.  Unfortunately, when the Hispanic Community Health Study was launched, it had an audiometric component to it but it did not have a visual component.
And we ‑‑ I'm now co‑leading a new study that is funded by the National Eye Institute to actually now bring those participants back for a comprehensive eye examination.
So, we're ‑‑ we were supposed to launch that study this summer, but we've been delayed because of the whole COVID pandemic.
But it's going to take us about three years to test everyone and bring everyone back in for their vision examination.
So unfortunately I won't have an answer to your question for probably another three or four years.  

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  Thank you.  I don't know if you know this, but the Mississippi State University, along with two other entities, did a study on senior citizens on the combined vision and hearing loss and dual sensory impairment, and they found approximately 21% of the population, of that population, had the combined vision and hearing loss.
So I was curious to find out how it is in Hispanics.
And that is great news about it being considered.  And I hope you will keep us informed.  

>> DAVID LEE:  Yes, I would be happy to.  Happy to come back.  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Fantastic.  Any other questions or comments from the Council for our presenters today?

[No response].

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Um... I really want to thank both of you for presenting today.
One of the things I think would be really interesting to see, and I think is necessary, is really a breakdown of the numbers of deaf, hard of hearing, and deaf‑blind within Florida, as, you know, broken down by county, broken down by other types of characteristics, so that we can get that information to Florida's Legislature.
I'm not sure how we can get all that information, but it's certainly I think something that we would really need to ‑‑ it would be a worthwhile endeavor.
The other thing that's interesting....

[CART Captioner lost audio].

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Hold, please, our CART Provider has lost audio.  

[Note from CART Captioner]:  I am back.  Not sure what happened.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay, it looks like we're back online.
Okay, yeah, I was really surprised with the census 2020 there were minimal questions.  I was expecting to make good contributions on details that I'm hard of hearing and, you know, what kind of family household I had, and it was just so minimal.  I think I was done in five minutes [laughs] 

>> DAVID LEE:  Right, yeah.  

[Talking over one another]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  It used to be much more extensive?  

>> DAVID LEE:  Yeah, I can ‑‑ yeah, I can comment on that.  The decennial census is what we're answering right now is mandated, it's part of our ‑‑ it's embedded in our own Constitution, so the questions that are being asked right now are basic, you know, just taking an enumeration or counting the number of people that live in the United States.
The Census Bureau is also continuously doing more extensive surveys, and so you might get ‑‑ you might be randomly selected for one of these surveys that would really drill down and ask many more questions about your household and health status of members within the household, but not for the decennial census, the goal is to simply count the number of people that are in the United States.
And then do your earlier point about the need for county‑level information, I might make a suggestion, because this group might be able to ‑‑ to put some pressure on our legislators at the state level to fund that type of a survey.
And the way that could be done is through what's called the behavioral risk factor surveillance system, or BRFSS, and this is a CDC‑sponsored state‑level survey that is done annually in every state.
And the CDC pays for a core set of questions about the health status of people in each state.
And they also have a ‑‑ and because it's very, very focused, they do not ask about vision and hearing loss in the core survey.
But they have a mechanism for doing supplemental surveys at a state level.
So it is possible to get ‑‑ to encourage the Department of Health to do a supplemental survey.  And that survey is designed, the BRFSS is designed to give you estimates that go down to the county level 
So if we could get these questions into the BRFSS, in the Florida BRFSS, then we could actually generate those estimates.
Now, that's self‑report.  That's just asking people, you know, do you have trouble hearing?  Do you have trouble seeing?
So, you know, it's limited, but it would give us a county‑level snapshot of how many people, you know, are living with these impairments.  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  This is Gina. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  That's a wonderful idea. 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Chris had a comment on the chat. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Go ahead. 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  He says he agrees with Karen on the 2020 census for people with hearing loss.  And if you're randomly selected, how would that help with accurate total numbers on the surveys?  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Good question.  

>> DAVID LEE:  Yeah, so that's a great question.  The random selection is actually very deliberate and it's a key feature of determining whether or not your prevalence estimates can be generalized back to the population that you're seeking information on.
So, for example, the two surveys that I talked about, the Hispanic HANES and the Hispanic Community Health Survey, so both of those surveys were done in such a way that we identified households in our catch areas, in this case Miami‑Dade, and randomly‑selected households from these areas.
And that enables you then to say basically that your resulting data is, in fact, representative of those communities.
So the random aspect of doing these surveys is fundamental to our ability to be able to generalize back to these communities that we're interested in studying.  

[Pause].  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Thank you very much.  A lot of potential and good work that can be done here.
I'd like to thank our presenters today for coming ‑‑ well, for staying in and coming to the meeting [laughs].
And really appreciate your presentation and the information.  It certainly was eye opening, and thank you very much for that.
I would like to invite you back to attend future FCCDHH meetings and be an active part of those meetings when you're in attendance.
And certainly let us know what the Council can do and help with the work that you're doing.
Thank you once again.
We are on break until 11:00 a.m. until we have our next presentation.  

>> DAVID LEE:  Thanks, everyone!  Stay safe out there!  

>> Thank you. 

>> Thank you. 

>> Thank you.  

[Break].  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  I want to see if the CART Provider is back.  

[Note from CART Captioner]:  Yes, I am back.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  That's an affirmative.  Okay, everyone, it's 11:00 a.m., I think it's best that we get started again.
I would like to welcome ‑‑ 

>> OPERATOR:  Has joined the conference. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  ‑‑ welcome to our meeting, Chris Wagner from the National Association of the Deaf, and previously a council member, I think actually the original council member for the Florida Coordinating Council for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.  We would like to welcome him back.
He's going to be speaking with the Council today on a general overview emergency preparedness, particularly in light of the COVID‑19 pandemic and we welcome him to the Council today.
And we also have Chris Littlewood who has been active and involved in emergency preparedness as well.
And we would like to start with Chris Wagner first and then hear from Chris Littlewood about his experiences.
Chris Wagner, thank you for being here.  

>> CHRIS WAGNER:  Thank you.  Tiffany, did you want to say something?  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Yes, thank you so much.  This is Tiffany speaking.  I'm supposed to make sure to let you all know that we're here on Whereby [audio cutting in and out] and just one person at a time and, like, when Chris is speaking, all you do is simply go to the corner of whatever picture that person is and you click those three dots that are over to the right and one of them says maximize or large screen or minimize and you click it once and you can see the sign ‑‑ you can see the sign language closer and see it better, for those of you that have vision issues, and if you want to see someone else, you can click those buttons again and minimize it.  Okay?  

[Pause]. 

>> CHRIS WAGNER:  Okay.  Well, thank you all for inviting me to enjoy this call!
It's been a long time since I've been involved with the Council.  And it's good to see Debbe and Glenna!  Wow!  It's been a long time!
But it really is my pleasure to get that e‑mail asking me to speak with you.
We are really in a difficult time.  But before I start talking about that, I want to introduce myself, so you know who I am.
I am the former president of the Florida Association of the Deaf.  I am the original chair of the Florida Coordinating Council for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.  I think that was 16 years ago now.  Wow!  That was a long time!
I also was the vice president of the National Association of the Deaf.
I'm officially retired from public service!  I did that last May when I resigned from the Florida Institute of Deaf‑blind Board, I was there for 13 years and I decided I wanted to concentrate on traveling and doing a few other things.
But it is a real honor for me to be here!
I'm here to talk about communication access and communication needs.  And that's not a new topic.  That has been a struggle for MANY years, especially in the state of Florida.
Now we're talking about emergency services and medical access and employment access and educational access.  Those are arenas where we have had a struggle and has been a hot topic in the community for a long time.
And now we are adding the pandemic.  And access is more critical than ever.
But honestly, we, in Florida, have experience going through the access limits, whether it be from hurricanes or other national disasters in this state.
And to my disappointment, we have not seen much improvement over the years.  And so we have to be honest with ourselves.
When we're talking about access, for NAD I'm very involved in the National Association of the Deaf and I'm still on their past presidents council and we have been meeting monthly with the current president to talk about different issues.
And of course recently we've been focusing on communication access for all deaf and hard‑of‑hearing people regarding the COVID‑19 situation.
So now we realize that we really need to be more active in the community and make sure that people have access to the resources that they need and the tools that they need.
And this does not limit ‑‑ this is not limited to deaf and hard‑of‑hearing individuals, it's limited to anyone who provides services and who provides access to information or in the hospital or in a school, in an employment situation.
We need to focus on all of those areas and make sure that the entities have the resources they need to provide what we need.
And people, when they panic, tend to forget about communication access.
So now we're here in this particular place and time where there are competing priorities.  And we need to shift our priority.
Let's talk about the change in the state of Florida.  Probably in 2004‑2005, around that period, we had a big ‑‑ we had multiple hurricanes come at us.  And there were no interpreters when the Governor made announcements.  There was no captioning at that time, or very little bit of it.
So what did we do?  We had to push our message and make sure it came from the top down.
And I learned a lesson from that time.  That's when I was president of the Florida Association of the Deaf.  And I realized it was not only about the government, but also who provided the services.
We needed to talk to the media.  And we needed to do outreach to the media.  Because they are the people who control the message.
I remember we had an interpreter with the Governor sometime... they would be there but they weren't on the screen.  So anybody who was watching didn't realize there was an interpreter there.
So we realized we were kind of barking up the wrong tree and we needed to talk with the media and let the media understand what we needed for access.
So, we started reaching out to an organization called the Florida Broadcasters Association, I think that's what it was, FBA, yes, Florida Broadcasting Association, and that organization is a membership organization and their constituents were media outlets and we asked them to send it to their membership, reminding them that access, they needed to provide access to 3 million deaf Floridians.
And I know, Glenna, you heard this spiel many times and I keep saying we are 3 million taxpayers and voters and we have to emphasize that we have economic power and when we show their advertisements and they want to show our sponsors, that's us.  And in order to do that.  We need to have access.
So we got to the point where we finally did start to see an improvement in Florida.  And I can't speak for everyone, but if you were looking at our states, we are one of the top five most populated states in the U.S.
And from a national perspective, we are one of the lowest in terms of access for deaf and hard of hearing.  We are at the bottom.  And it is embarrassing!
So, I hear now in California, and their access is phenomenal.  They have interpreters everywhere.  They have captioned everything.
And the state of New York finally has an interpreter on screen!
And many states are starting to understand what we need.  They're ahead of us.
And even Maryland, it's a small state, Rhode Island is a small state, but they're providing access.  And you can see it everyday on TV or through other media outlets on social media.
In Florida, we're not there yet.
We have a lot of gaps in the state that we need to fill.
I would say one of the most important gaps is the need for collaboration with other organizations.
I remember a long time ago Debbe, Chris, Glenna, you probably remember, we all worked together to push our agenda.
But anyway, my point is NAD wants to emphasize the importance of partnership and collaboration, both public and private sectors need to come together.
And we need to emphasize to them that we don't need to educate them about the deaf and hard‑of‑hearing community, we don't need to do that.  We need to just focus on access.
And the deaf and hard‑of‑hearing community is tired of fighting and tired of educating everyone.
And now we need to shift the focus and be responsible advocates.  And as representatives of the Government and we need to remind both public and private sectors of their responsibilities to provide access.
And I feel like I'm a broken record, honestly, because I know we've been talking about this forever.  But I need to emphasize how critical it is that we prioritize specific areas.
Medical access is one of the areas we need to prioritize.
Most places do a good job ‑‑ have done a good job of expanding their medical interpreting access.
FCCDHH has worked with the Florida Hospital Association and we've really pushed the message, we've done publication, we've provided resources to all of the hospitals to make their facility more accessible.
We've been doing that all along.  We've been talking about interpreters, we've been talking about video remote interpreting, and also writing notes sometimes is good communication.
But now during this pandemic, everything's changed and we have some hospitals that don't allow interpreters to come in.  And video relay interpreting sometimes is very limited, because the bandwidth is being used too much.  [Coughing] excuse me.  And the system is overwhelmed and people are picking up the tools and resources that they might not normally have to talk about.
So, writing is something that people use or lip reading.  But now with all the masks, that's another barrier.
So what can we do?  What can we do to meet the challenges?
And I believe it's always better to start with the top.  The individual hospitals aren't going to be able to do what we need them to do, so we need to start with the Florida Medical Association and just share the experiences, share the information with them.
They have a responsibility to share the information and resources to all of their members.
So, my recommendation would be to partner with the larger organizations that represent all of the individual members.
That's an important place to start.  

[Pause].  

>> CHRIS WAGNER:  And they are going to be push back.  Be aware of that.  Because they are overwhelmed. 
But, again, we need to reach out in partnership.  And that's what the Council's goal is, is to provide resources and support to other organizations.  Not only limited to deaf and hard‑of‑hearing organizations in the state of Florida, but you want to reach out to the Florida Medical Association, to the Florida Hospital Association.  You can reach out to the Florida... um... what's it called?  State government ‑‑ no, no, the Florida... Municipality Organization?  They represent all of the counties and cities.
So if you communicate with them instead of having to reach out to 67 different counties and all of the different cities and towns and just say listen, this is who we are, we're here to support you, and remind them that we have 3 million deaf and hard‑of‑hearing voters and taxpayers.  And emphasize that I, as a taxpayer, I expect, I expect equal access as my neighbor has.  

[Pause].  

>> CHRIS WAGNER:  So, with that being said, we should start thinking out of the box.  And let's start thinking about reaching out to those who can easily disseminate that information.
And we'll start with education.  This is a very difficult time for students throughout the country.
Imagine we have 4,000‑plus deaf and hard‑of‑hearing students in the state of Florida K‑12.  4,000‑plus.
And I would say maybe 500 at the Florida School for the Deaf, so that leaves 3,500‑plus students throughout the state who are mainstreamed or in typical classrooms.
So what do we do there?
Of course they have prepared the virtual learning, these students, but the sad thing is not everyone is dealing well with the virtual learning.
So, classroom interpreters have had to change everything now, because a lot of the virtual learning is just reading online and working independently on their own for the students.
So what about these students that are deaf and hard of hearing with communication needs?  They're left out and they're getting left behind.
So, what are we going to do?  We need to reach out to the Florida school superintendents or the Florida School Board organizations and remained them of their responsibilities.
We have the Florida Special Education Association and we need to remind them as well.
As a Coordinating Council, we have the ability to reach out to these different organizations and remind them to ‑‑ they are representatives of the Governor's Office and remind them and give them resources to disseminate.
I would be happy if I would be able to connect with ten different school districts out of the 67, but remember, disseminating this information may only impact a few of those students it needs to impact.
Again, it's not about communication access alone, it's social and emotional access as well.
So, staying at home in‑place orders, these people are isolated at home, and so they have limited communication in the home, typically.
We have to remember, there are other needs that these students have.  The socialization, the emotional.
And so often we think about communication access only, but we need to go deeper and think about the social, emotional needs of individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing.  Especially those elderly folks that are in the nursing homes or assistive living facilities.  Their families can't go visit them.
Their communication becomes incredibly limited and they're all isolated even more.
They're already isolated to begin with, but imagine now the level of isolation they're experiencing.  

[Pause].  

>> CHRIS WAGNER:  So, back to education and talking about medical.  Now we've talked about education.  Let's focus now on employment.  That has been an ongoing issue for the deaf and hard‑of‑hearing community.  We always hear it, again, just like the broken record, 70% unemployment or underemployment in the community.
And now with the pandemic, that is even worse.  And so we have to get a pulse or a feel for have you seen a significant increase in unemployment with the deaf and hard‑of‑hearing people?  I mean... what we've learned, as you know, again, Florida's unemployment benefit system is quite broken.  But how can we inform our deaf and hard‑of‑hearing citizens in the state of Florida, how can we help them?  How can we guide them through this?
Because currently ‑‑ well, you know back in the day, Glenna, Debbe, myself, you know, back in the day, vocational rehabilitation was basically the place you go, you know.  That's where you go to get your support, your services, whatever you need.
But now their mission is different.  That has changed.  And so now where are the deaf and hard‑of‑hearing citizens going?
We need to make sure to provide information and push our message about resources through social media.  We need to push it out there.  Get it out there.  FCCDHH, you know, we should have a list of resources of where they can go.
Maybe someone can set up a signed message, that the benefits website is broken.  Maybe people don't even know that and they're getting very frustrated.
So that's one concern, as far as unemployment.
And then for folks who now may be in the retail industry, they may be going to work, but maybe they work at Costco or some grocery store and all of their peers or the other employees are wearing masks, so that's increasing their stress, increasing their frustration, increasing their communication access frustration.
So they have needs.  So what can we do there?
We need to reach out to as many different individuals in the counties and get feedback and ask, how ‑‑ tell us, give us an idea of how we can support everyone.  Our deaf and hard‑of‑hearing employees in the community, how can we support them through this?
We need to be creative.  And maybe write something on the mask, "I am deaf, I can't read your lips" because sometimes these people with the social distancing is making it increasingly difficult.  So how are they communicating?
One idea was there was a gentleman in Home Depot, I think it was in the state of Kansas or Kansas City, Kansas, I saw this and it said he had a white board, a little hand‑held white board and then he would give another person, there's a desk there with another white board, and he would write down something and then the customer would see that there was a white board for them to be able to use to be able to communicate back and forth.
So, wow!  That was a very creative accommodation he came up with to solve that problem, to help everyone involved.
And now that's for on‑site.  But what about virtual workplaces, such as what we're doing right now, we're working virtually via the video.
I work for a company that is very adept with virtual technology, but there are many people, surprisingly, who don't know how to do this.
And so they're really struggling, you know, trying to keep on top of things.
You know, they're used to having a staff interpreter show up at the meeting on‑site and now all of a sudden everything is going virtual, and so it really requires a lot of work.
And NAD has been working this Zoom.  What's the other one called...?  Adobe?  There are different platforms, different video technologies.
Trying to figure out how we can get interpreters into the Zoom or other video technology platform.
And so that's coming along.  We're making progress.  There are some challenges, you know... it's, like, they tell us okay... well, maybe we're good at technology but not 100% accessible for deaf and hard‑of‑hearing people.
But you know what?  I think this kind of experience will force us to think ahead, meaning after the pandemic is over, this may become the new norm.
And so NAD is now really focusing on how we can get ahead of the game.  How we can start thinking about accessibility for the new normal.
For example, telehealth.  So telehealth is becoming very popular.  Telehealth, you know, okay, so some people have reached out to my company and said hey, there's telehealth here, but the patient wants an interpreter.  Hmm... that's a challenge.
And we're not like all the other platforms.  And so what does that mean for us?  It means we have to start considering interoperability.  How do these things work together with all of these different platforms?
Chris, you know, you understand that interoperability is critical.
And so it's becoming or will become the new norm.
And so we have to figure out how do we get ahead of this game?  How can we start educating everyone?
We used to focus on the community itself and we've realized the power has changed to those at the top that provide the service.  So... 

[Pause].  

>> CHRIS WAGNER:  Right now people are asking "What can I do?"  That's a good question.  We're living in unchartered territory.  We don't know what's going to happen.
And this is a whole new experience and it reminds us to become more alert, to start thinking outside of the box for the future.
And we're talking about the clear masks, the see‑thru masks.  Will that become the new norm?  Possibly 
We're talking about virtual.  Yes, Debbe held up her mask, right, for virtual learning, distance learning.
The schools are ‑‑ have to start thinking about how can they provide resources to deaf and hard‑of‑hearing students and employment for deaf and hard‑of‑hearing individuals.
Medical access.  There's a lot to it.
And Florida is one of the largest states in the United States.  We have to step up to the plate.
I hate to say this, but I think it took this pandemic to wake a lot of people up.  I hate to say that.  It's true, it's true, I can't deny it.  The pandemic, it took a pandemic to wake people up.
So, how do we get our government and all of the public and private sectors involved to become more aware?
I think now is the time.
So, I would encourage you council members to start collecting other resources, all the information, and start sharing it within your state.
You know the old saying, it takes seven times or so to get it through to someone so they fully understand it?  And I think as far as communication, it's time to do that.  We can't overcommunicate.
So I encourage you to start thinking about that.
And I guess my last comment before I turn it over to Chris for emergency preparedness, he's the "master" at that, would be I strongly encourage you all to think about developing partnerships with different state organizations.
For example, the Florida Broadcasting Association, the Florida Hospital Association, Florida Medical Association, there's a whole list of these organizations that you can start partnering with.
And you are the representative for those 3 million deaf taxpayers in the state of Florida.
There are a lot of different resources available out there.  Honestly, we couldn't keep up.  But it's important, and I strongly encourage NAD.org coronavirus, if you go on the website there, there are a ton of resources.  There are also many apps available where they can speak into it, speak‑to‑text apps, you speak into the phone and then show the Deaf person.  And that's something, now the social distancing, it could help some folks, it's not for everyone, because not everyone has perfect speech.  So you'll want to take all of that into consideration when you're looking into what is available 
And so I would encourage you to get all of the information and get it out there to the communities.
I guess that's what I had to say.  All right!
Any questions for me?  

[Pause].  

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  This is Glenna.  It's nice to see you, Chris, and it's very important information.  And I think you're right, we need to do a lot more communication on the state level to get some of this important work out there.  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  This is Gina.  Diana Tift has a comment on the chat.  And she states we need to prepare now because there's another pandemic ‑‑ if there is another pandemic or crisis, because it hits the deaf and deaf‑blind hit the hardest.  We need to have see thru masks for everyone for the future in hospitals and operation rooms so we can read your lips not just for the pandemic, but for all time.  

[Pause].  

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  This is Debbe.  I just sent Tiffany a list of all the apps that could be used, like Ava, Auto and different apps so that can be shared with the rest of the Council and possibly posted on Facebook.
So, have everybody review it before we post it on Facebook.  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Okay.  This is Gina.  Chris Wagner, I just want to say thank you for all of that information!
But also to let you know that Zoom has a tutorial out for how to include an interpreter in virtual learning.  They have that available, as well as streamer.com has where they will caption any live meeting, whether it's Zoom or live stream, any kind of communication, they will caption that or translate it into sign language or other languages.  And that service is, like, $99 a year.  That's just for information.
Does anybody else have any comments?  I think Karen has stepped out.  

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  This is Darlene, I do.  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Go ahead, Darlene.  

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  Okay.  This is Darlene.  And I am on the Council representing as an individual who is deaf‑blind.
I think this pandemic episode has been very... um... an eye opener for everyone.  And the deaf‑blind especially.
There was an article that I shared with the Council, I hope they received it, that was written by The New Yorker author, Robin Wright, and it definitely showed how the deaf‑blind professionals all across the country that were interviewed, that they're not even sure what to do, where to go.  They don't feel like they would be worthy if they're in a medical situation or a hospital situation, because ‑‑ or even an emergency situation, because their vision and their hearing isn't considered.
So, the dual challenges there makes it very hard on the deaf‑blind community.
And I agree that there definitely needs to be some kind of access result from all of this.  And collaboration between all the organizations within the state to promote this 

>> CHRIS WAGNER:  This is Chris speaking again.  Your point, Darlene, is critical.  

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  I'm sorry, what was that?  

>> CHRIS WAGNER:  You're right, NAD has been working with many consumer groups to take into consideration the needs of the deaf‑blind community, and we have been lobbying with the FCC to get waivers to have communication to get equipment that deaf‑blind individuals need is critical and there is a lot of information in there on the website related to deaf‑blind needs.
So please ‑‑ and we ask providers to go there also to get some resources.
And the lack of being able to bring somebody into the hospital to support you in this time is also another critical blocking ‑‑ blockage to deaf‑blind people having access that they need.
So, yes, I totally agree with you.  

[Pause].

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Chris Littlewood, did you have anything you wanted to add from your perspective?

[No response] 

>> CHRIS WAGNER:  The other Chris, yes, go ahead, Chris.  Anything to add?  

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  This is Chris.  Can you guys hear me?

[No response] 

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  Yes. 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  Okay.  I know at least Lisa can, because I'm seeing myself on the captions.
Chris, great to hear from you.  And one of the things that you shared earlier was the thing about how you feel like you sound like a broken record and that's why I was glad you were joining us for this meeting, because I feel like everybody is saying to me okay, we've heard this from you before, we've heard this from you before, to me.  And I wanted to get somebody else's perspective.  And I'm glad for you to join into this discussion.
Just to give you a little bit of an idea of what I've been working on during the pandemic, I was asked to join in the Emergency Support Function 6 group, ESF‑6, people with disabilities, and we meet with the state emergency management and different organizations around the state to make sure that people with disabilities get everything that they need, everything from food to communication, which I'm always sharing everything that I possibly can.
The biggest thing lately has been the lack of interpreters, once again, with the Governor and with other organizations.  That's been a problem approximately since April 13th, where you have not seen an interpreter consistently on the screen.
Early on from that date, April 13th, one of the things that I was noticing is you would see a little piece of an arm or something of the interpreter, but they were not included in the full shot that they're supposed to be included in 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  And that's what Chris was talking about before, that we have to let the media know.  And it's not just the responsibility of the organization.
But if an agency like the Governor's Office or a county or a municipality is paying for an interpreter and then they're not even on the screen, they should be really upset about that.
So, it's their responsibility, as well as ours, to make sure that they educate and explain to the media and the producers and the cameramen how important it is to do what's called a medium two shot, which is two people, not too close up, where you get a full shot of the person speaking, which I call "the talking head" and a full shot of the interpreter.
So communicate that to the agencies and organizations and also the media, including the FAB.  Chris said the FBA, I wanted to make sure I corrected the acronym too, I get those mixed up all the time also, FAB, it's the Florida Association of Broadcasters 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  And I put their website in the chat. 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  And I'm happy to share that again with Tiffany later. 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  One of the things that's very, very important is these organizations hear from people other than me [chuckles] because. 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  Quite often I'm e‑mailing or I'm calling several times a week and they're to the point oh, it's this guy again?  And then we make matters worse, when you've got Chris Wagner and Chris Littlewood and the two Chrises are advocating.  But what about everybody else?
We have more than 3 million people in the state of Florida that are deaf or hard of hearing.  Well, we need to get everybody to step up and do a little bit of self‑advocating and a little bit of reminding ‑‑ 

>> OPERATOR:  Has joined the conference. 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  ‑‑ and it's not just me.
And I know I am very involved in this professionally and what I do with the St. Pete College and center for public safety innovation 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  But it's also everybody's responsibility to do that on their own personally.  The things I'm doing professionally, I'm also doing on my personal time as well. 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  So with the interpreters with the Governor, that's a big problem.
One of the things that I wanted to point out is Disability Rights Florida really wants to hear from you.  

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  Because they need to talk to people where they're getting the information.  And any person who is deaf or hard of hearing who feels that they have not received adequate communication or information related to no sign language interpreters or whatever in Governor's press conferences and the reopening update, can contact Disability Rights Florida and their phone number, and I'll forward this to Tiffany as well, is 850‑488‑9071.  And their website is DisabilityRightsFlorida.org.
They need to hear from other complainants so they can contact the Governor's Office and things like that or on our behalf.
So it's very important to do that.
This May 4th or just a few days ago, when Governor DeSantis was talking about reopening Florida for the first time, in phase one of the plan for reopening businesses and things like that, there was no sign language interpreter on the screen.
And what was worse, for me, is I do not have live TV except for Channel 13.  I stream all my television, but I stream different news apps.
And when I was looking at ABC WFTS in Tampa Bay, on their web app streaming, it was live, but there was no captions either.
So I had zero access.
I was not seeing captions, I was not seeing a sign language interpreter.
And of course I contacted both organizations about this.  I contacted the Governor's Office.  It was talked about in the ESF‑6 meeting.
One of the things that was brought up in the ESF‑6 meeting this week was is the issue came to the interpreter, and through the Florida Coordinating Council for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, do we need to, because the Department of Health supports the Council, have the Department of Health pay for the interpreter?
But I don't necessarily think that's it.  One of the issues is making sure they're on the screen.  And I always say that the success is in the planning.
If you wait for a sign language interpreter right before the time that you're going to have a press conference or something like that, then it's way too late 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  There has to be planning.  There has to be discussions to make sure that you get both the sign language interpreter and the captions working for everybody, so that everybody that's deaf and hard of hearing has full access.  

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  I mentioned the web app.  And I haven't had a whole lot of other people talk about streaming TV.  

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  And I know so many people do that, where they don't have live television anymore.  And they're only having Hulu or Netflix and things like that, maybe they have an antenna where they're able to get one or two channels like I do. 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  But through the Video Communications Accessibility Act, VCAA law, on top of the ADA, they're absolutely, especially in an emergency situation, supposed to make sure that people have access to emergency information.
So, when we have updates from the Governor and there's no sign language interpreter and no captions, you're leaving out, like Chris was saying before, over 3 million people in the state of Florida that don't necessarily have the access that they need for the updates for reopening Florida or in the early stages of pandemic when we were shutting down and explaining to people how to social distance.  

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  So, what can we do?
The things that Chris mentioned are all very, very valid points.
But what you need to do is contact your local media, e‑mail them, go to websites 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  Find their contact information.  They will respond to you.
I know for Bay News line for Tampa Bay Area, one of the first times I sent an e‑mail to them, I got an e‑mail back within a couple hours from the news anchor from Bay News 9 that's on the screen everyday and she said that they will absolutely make sure that they need to step up and approve on the communication access for captioning issues 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  So that is also important for local media too.
When you have different social distancing rules for people that live in Pinellas County versus people that live in Hillsborough County and other areas, it's very important that the local emergency managers get out information and share it with everybody.
And everybody includes people that are deaf or hard of hearing.  So that means that the local county administrators need to make a plan and have a contract with an interpreting agency so that people are in place and on time.
One of the things that I think came up and one of the reasons that I think we saw a drop off of interpreters with the Governor is because he started doing more traveling around the state and listening to people.
Well, as he's traveling around the state, he's also doing press conferences and updates.
Well, it may not be as easy to get the sign language interpreter that he usually uses in Tallahassee when he's traveling to, say, Ocala or some other area like that.  So they're gonna work off the contract that they have with the State for a sign language interpreting agency to support that.
Well, one of the things that I always tell agencies and organizations is make sure that it's not just one agency that you have a contract with, because if one agency is not able to provide the interpreter because of time or things like that, then you have a backup plan.  

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  Just like you would ‑‑ I always say, can you imagine if we have the state press conference and no sound worked, how quickly all the hearing people would be contacting the agencies and the organizations and say, what did they just say?  I have no idea.
Well, that happens to us all the time!  We go and get our information from social media and things like that.
And when you're looking for a top‑down approach, it's unfortunate that the President of the United States does not have a sign language interpreter with him.  And I do know that NAD has already been very active in that and sent a letter to the White House saying that we need to have a sign language interpreter in the Coronavirus Task Force 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  So we'll see what happens there and see what progress.  I know that NAD. 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  ‑‑ and thank you, Chris, for everything that you're doing with them and all that NAD does on the national level for making sure things happen. 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  Let's see... is there anything else that I wanted to talk about?
Oh, real quickly, the mask issue.  I want to play the devil's advocate on masks for just a second 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  I want everybody to keep in mind that even if we do get the masks with the clear opening, number one, it is not effective communication just because you have a mask with a clear opening. 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  Even if there was no mask ‑‑ 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  ‑‑ that does not mean it's effective communication.
Obviously you include the individual's voice, if they want to use speech reading and things like that, of course they can do that, but keep in mind that in a perfect situation, no mask, good lighting, no glare, glass, anything like that, the best speech reader in the world only gets 30‑40%.
So now if you put a mask on somebody and you just have a little clear opening for their lip, you're really not going to get the full amount of the conversation in that 30‑40%, you're going to get less.
Because a lot of the words in the English language are formed in the back of the throat, in the back of the mouth, using the rest of your face and things like that.  That's why it's not really called lip reading anymore, it's speech reading.
So keep that all in mind.
It is not meant to replace regular accommodations.  So that's very important to mention that.
I will say that it's still better than nothing.  A lot of times it does improve communication.
I have seen different models, some have the bigger openings that's clear.  But keep in mind, if you have the whole thing that's clear plastic and nothing else, then the person can't breath 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  So it's kind of six of one half dozen of the other.  Obviously we've got to keep everybody alive first, but we want to be able to make sure that they can communicate as well.
So, I just wanted to make sure that we mentioned that with all the talk about clear masks and clear communication using masks, things like that.
They are helpful, but they are not meant to replace effective communication, especially in emergency and in hospital situations.
It's very unfortunate, and I've expressed to my family how concerned that I am for myself if somebody is exposed or tests positive for coronavirus, they're taken from their family and put in a hospital, in the more serious cases.
Well, they're not going to have an interpreter there.  Even if they do have an interpreter there, the interpreter is gonna have to wear a mask, just like all the healthcare professionals, and that cuts off communication, for anybody who uses speech reading or things like that.
And that is especially concerning for me, because I do use my residual hearing and speech reading quite a bit.
So, the interpreters are not necessarily gonna be available in a hospital, and definitely not 24/7, especially in the coronavirus situation.  

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  The other thing that was mentioned was about using apps and things like that, Ava, Auto, they still require a microphone.  If you're trying to keep six feet away from people, then it's difficult to use a microphone to get the captioning on your app, no matter what you use.  

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  So as my wife and I have ‑‑ 

>> OPERATOR:  Has joined the conference. 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  ‑‑ she uses the idea of social distancing, if you're deaf or hard of hearing, because if I stepped back more than six feet, I've lost the ability to use any residual hearing I have and I can't use other accommodations through technology and assistive devices.  So keep those things in mind.
And like Chris said, you absolutely have to think outside of the box 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  One last thing, I know Chris is dying to jump in here, so give me just one more point. 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Gina needs to jump in ‑‑ 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  And that is through the video conferencing. 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  Also allowed in Zoom, you can also connect in all captions for having captions through Zoom.  That's InnoCaption for telephone communications will also work through Zoom.
So you can read more about that, if you go to InnoCaption's website, InnoCaption.com, I'll share that with Tiffany again, I've also posted it on my Facebook page, I've posted it on ALDA's Facebook page, and I can make sure if I haven't done so already, that it's also on the FCCDHH page.
So, I'll hand it back over to Chris and anybody else who wants to make any comments.
A lot of these different things ‑‑ oh, go ahead.  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  This is Gina.  Hold on, everybody, please.
I need for everyone to please check their phones and their computers to make sure you are muted.  Especially those who are not on the chat.  There is an LOT of background noise and that makes it very difficult for our CART Captioner, as well as those who are trying to hear anything.
So please check your phones and your computers!
While I have the mic, Mary has been waiting to make a comment.  She asked:  Can the Council promote a uniform statement to share with the various entities and communities that Chris Wagner brought up?
So that's it, okay, thank you.  

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  This is Darlene.  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Go ahead, Darlene.  

>> CHRIS WAGNER:  This is Chris ‑‑ oh, sorry.  

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  That's okay.  I want to thank Chris and Chris [chuckles], both Chrises, for their comments, and I believe that is definitely what we need to do is step outside of the box.
I have found that a lot of people aren't willing to be flexible, their mind is set narrowly, they look at ADA and they think that's all that it is.
But it definitely is a need for flexibility when it comes to accessibility.
I had recently the same problem with my local Department of Health.  They were posting on Facebook images instead of putting it in text so that I could read it, so that my screen reader to read it 

>> OPERATOR:  Has left the conference. 

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  ‑‑ and when I contacted her, I was ignored, and I talked to the ombudsman and she sent out a group e‑mail to everyone to advise them to communicate effectively in another way.
So, they linked me up with an e‑mail which is called Live Well and it has been very informative and I thank God that I called them [chuckles].  

[Pause]. 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Thank you, Darlene.  Glenna has her hand up.  Go ahead, Glenna.  

[Pause]. 

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  Okay.  Chris mentioned he couldn't see anything on TV?  But I can't remember which day it was when the Governor was in Sarasota?  I was trying different channels and one of them had the interpreter on there the whole time.
Another channel was kind of going back and forth and panning away from the interpreter.  And the third channel had no visibility for the interpreter.
So it's not standardized whatsoever.
You know, the one had captions, the other ones captions was not so great, and the other one not at all there, so....

[Pause]. 

>> CHRIS WAGNER:  Okay.  This is Chris Wagner here.  So I wanted to reinforce what Chris Littlewood mentioned earlier.  It is important that we remind everyone, all of the different entities, that whatever solution they provide doesn't mean it's the right answer for everyone.  It's not a one size fits all, you know.
So just having the clear mask, you know, that really may not be effective.
So, you're right, Chris, you need to make sure any statement that you put out there, you want to have it say one size does not fit all.
So yes, we want to be very clear in that, that not everyone can lip or speech read.  You know, some of us are pretty good at that.
But for many others, that's not accessible.
And so I definitely think that needs to be a clear message when you put it out there, and I would encourage you all to work together and collaborate with the different bodies or entities.
And put out a strong statement representing the deaf and hard‑of‑hearing community.
Again, I've said it a million times, we don't just represent the deaf and hard‑of‑hearing people, we represent their family members as well.
And as colleagues, we're representing many different people.
And so the state of Florida, because there's a barrier there, it's a larger impact, even on all those hearing family members, that are obligated to try and make sure that the deaf and hard‑of‑hearing loved ones have access to the information.
And so it's really important to emphasize that, that we're representing all of these people.
And honestly, I'm not in public service anymore, but to be blunt, we can't be tip toeing around the issue here, you know.  We just can't tip toe anymore.
John, it's good to see you here as well!
But we can't continue to tip toe around this situation.  We need to speak out and get it out there loud and clear, enough is enough!  We, the people, are relying on our Government, we're relying on the public sectors, the private sector as well, for this communication access.
And it's a vital service.
We have to send out a strong statement through different media outlets.  We can't just assume that one media outlet, like Facebook, is going to be enough.  That's not the only place people will see this.
We need to get it out there.
Maybe we need a PSA, public service announcement.  We've got to get the message out there.
I believe FCCDHH did a few PSAs way back when and that was a very powerful ‑‑ we got a lot of response from the PSAs.
And so I would strongly encourage you all to think about how to think outside the box and then how to get the message out there and how to have a strong stance or position for the folks who are deaf and hard of hearing.  Thank you.  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Thank you, Chris.  This is Gina.  I was wondering, our time is just about up, but Chris and Chris, you both gave excellent, excellent information.  And I'm wondering if you would be willing to put together a dossier of sorts to get out to people so they can educate the general population an idea of what everything ‑‑ that not one size fits all.  That's just a thought.
And I'm sure the EMOT would love to take that on if we could get your input.
But thank you both very much!
Are there any other comments?

[No response].

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Yes, Tiffany Baylor has a comment.  I'm raising my hand. 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Okay, Tiffany.  Go ahead.  What's happening, this is Gina, just so you guys know, I think Karen has stepped out and I am not on the Whereby so I cannot see anyone using the interpreters, so I would ask the interpreters, if you have someone who wants to speak, do a hands up, please, like you've done for Glenna.
Okay, thank you.  Go ahead, Tiffany.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  I just wanted to, just so you guys know, just FYI, when we were seeing or noticing that there were no interpreters at many of the press conferences, the 424, 427, 425, 429, and 426, those are just the ones that are listed here, that the interpreters were not present, DOH did ‑‑ I wanted to just let you guys know that our DOH that's connected to us here at Headquarters, here at work, they were very concerned about that and they discussed that, but then they called and spoke with someone at EM (sp) of Florida and then the coordinator of disabilities for us went ahead and sent out a letter to them that was just asking why is that there are no interpreters present or that it's inconsistent?
Not only did ‑‑ I wish I could have the time to just read this little paragraph of what he wrote, because it was so well written, where he asked why isn't there?  But he didn't stop there, he went ahead and provided information about what is best practices for people who are deaf or hard of hearing or deaf‑blind, and then what is the requirement via ADA.
And he even added the sentence if you need assistance in securing a certified interpreter, there are many available, and I can do whatever I can to help you find some, so a lot of times when you tell the novice outside community who might not literally get it and not understand the whole ADA and why we do this or it's just to follow directions and stuff like that, why we really need it, the way you come about explaining why we need it and then saying well, I'm not [audio cutting in and out] and work with you to get this and then when they get that, then you can hand the reins over and follow suit.
Now, I know the Governor's Office, they are supposed to know this, if they've been told this before.
And it would really be nice and I do so agree with the Chrises that it would be really great if as many people wrote in as possible and said something so that it isn't just, you know, DOH or, you know, only, you know, the specific agencies only.
I guess it's much representing of the 3 million people, it would just be really nice.
And that analogy that one of the Chrises said about if the sound was out on one of the press conferences, how many people would actually call in without even a thought?  Would call in and say hey, what's up with that?!  Why is there no interpreter ‑‑ I mean no sound for your press conference?  How do you expect us to hear it?
We really need to get out there and train.  I do agree with all of y'all.  And just so you know, DOH did try to do something and get some help with that, so... that is all.  

[Pause].  
[Talking over one another]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Thank you, Tiffany.
It is just after 12:00.  I want to thank Chris Wagner and also Chris Littlewood for sharing about emergency preparedness in the deaf, hard of hearing, and deaf‑blind community in Florida, as well as throughout the United States.
Thank you so much, Chris, for coming in and doing this, appreciate you, appreciate what you've done for this Council over the many years.
And you said California.  Does that mean Southern California, Florida?  [Chuckles].  Southern California ‑‑ 

>> CHRIS WAGNER:  Actually Northern California, Karen.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  Northern California community of Florida?  [Chuckles].  Or you live there permanently now?  

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  Darlene. 

>> OPERATOR:  Has left the conference. 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> CHRIS WAGNER:  I'm working for a company that just relocated to California, so during the integration, I'm here.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  But are you still a Florida resident?  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Are you a Florida resident?  

>> CHRIS WAGNER:  Oh, yes, I still do have property in Florida, yes.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Oh, fantastic, because there's some openings on the Council.  

[Laughter]. 

>> CHRIS WAGNER:  Um... my plate is very full right now.  Thank you for the offer!  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay, all righty.  So thank you very much. 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  This is Gina, quick ‑‑ 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  We will take a break for lunch ‑‑ 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  This is Chris Little has his hand up ‑‑ Chris Littlewood, I'm sorry.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Go ahead, Chris.  

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  This is Debbe, I was going to ask Chris Wagner, what do we do with the people who don't have computers or more in the rural area, how can we help them so they're not left out?  

>> CHRIS WAGNER:  That's why I strongly encourage talking with different media outlets, social media, PSAs.  Doing outreach to local agencies. 

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  They don't have any computers ‑‑ 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  You know, they live on the farm ‑‑ okay.  

>> CHRIS WAGNER:  Well, some of them do have TVs and some of them do have mobile phones.  I mean, mobile phones mostly have access.  Finding out that many people don't have computers but they more than likely have a mobile phone or smartphone.  So we have to make sure that any information we share is accessible online and also mobile friendly.  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Chris Littlewood has his hand up.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Go ahead, Chris.  

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  Okay.  I just wanted to make a last comment related to the people that we're seeing on the emergency broadcast when we're talking about the Governor or the mayor or the county commissioner.
One thing that's important when you contact them is remind them that we are not only the citizens of the state, but we are all also registered voters.
So when the Governor's on the screen and he doesn't have a sign language interpreter, that means he's not talking or communicating with 3 million‑plus people in the state of Florida that are deaf or hard of hearing.
And like Chris Wagner was saying, it's not just the people that are deaf or hard of hearing, it's the families and the neighbors and the friends that are also concerned.
So, make sure that you mention that when you contact them.
And please, help do the self‑advocacy where sometimes I know Chris Wagner's plate is overflowing, my plate may be full at times and I'm not able to get everything out, or people are tired of hearing from us and we need other people to help jump in there.  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Thank you, Chris.
I really do need to let everyone have their lunch break.  And thank you all for being here.  Have a wonderful afternoon.  We'll see you back here at, I believe it's 1:30, correct, Tiffany?  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  It is ‑‑ well, 1:00 o'clock, actually is public comments. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  1:00 o'clock.  Okay.  Back at 1:00 o'clock, everyone.  Enjoy lunch.  We're on break.  

>> CHRIS WAGNER:  This is Chris.  It was nice to see you all!  Thank you.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Bye‑bye.

[Break].

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Good afternoon, I'm back.  

[Background noise on telephone].

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Good afternoon, everyone.  Welcome back, I hope you had a good lunch.
Are we ready to get started again?

[No response] 

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  I don't really see anybody else yet on the Whereby.  I ‑‑ hold on, let me try again, I do... hold on.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  I don't see you.  

>> OPERATOR:  Has joined the conference. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  Cindy said she's ready to get started.  Gina, are you back?  

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  Darlene. 
>> OPERATOR:  Has joined the conference.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Darlene is back.  

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  Yes.  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  I don't know what time Cecil is planning to come back, but we can go ahead.  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  I just realized Whereby has a chat function, I didn't realize that. 

>> OPERATOR:  Has joined the conference. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Oh, hi, Cecil is back.  Welcome back.  

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  Why don't we go ahead and get started.  It is a couple minutes after 1:00 p.m. 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  And I hope everybody had a good lunch and ready to go on with the rest of our day.
I want to just check in with everyone and see if there are any current tech issues?  Anything we can do to be of help as we start our afternoon session?

[No response].  

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  Chris Littlewood. 
>> OPERATOR:  Has joined the conference.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  People are joining the different mediums that we have here for the meeting.
Darlene, how's that working for you?  Good so far?  

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  Who was that?  The medium?  

[Talking over one another]. 

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  Yes, I'm using my iPhone with my ComPilot and it's helping.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Oh, fantastic!  I'm glad to hear that.
Anybody else have any tech issues they would like to address before we get started?  

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> [Indiscernible] hello?  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  I'm sorry, did I hear somebody?  Yes, hello?  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Yes, this is Gina.  I just want to remind everybody ‑‑ 

>> Hi. 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Hi.  I just want to remind everybody, please mute your phones.  There's still a LOT of background noise.  So please mute your phone unless you're called upon, that would be great for everybody.  Thank you.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay, fantastic.  Debbe?  

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  How do you meet a cell phone?  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  I use the mute button on my phone.  That's what I use. 

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  Okay.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  That's all I did.  I know there's something like star that, but I get confused. 

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  You can also use the star two.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Oh.  

[Pause].  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  That's what I use, I just mute the phone.  But Darlene said you can also use star two.
Okay.  So from 1:00 until 1:30, we are in the public comment section of our agenda.  This is a time when anybody who is visiting the council meeting wants to share anything, this is the opportunity to do that.
So, do we have anyone online or on Whereby or on the phone who is a visitor and would like to share?

>> This is Barb Page, I'd like to say something.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Yes, ma'am?  

>> Hi.  Good to speak to you all once again.  I think it's been about a year since I was last with you in Daytona Beach so thanks on handing out the information on how to phone in; I appreciate that.
I just wanted to reiterate and kind of piggyback on what Chris Littlewood said earlier.  Disability Rights Florida has been advocating for interpreters in all of the Governor's press conferences since the beginning of March and I have personally been contacting the Governor's Office numerous times since then.
So, again, if anybody feels like they want to file a complaint or feel like they've missed information, I'm always, always welcome to hear your experiences and comments about that.
And, again, Disability Rights Florida is looking ‑‑ is open to hearing what the deaf and hard of hearing have experienced during this pandemic and the lack of interpreters, specifically with the Governor's press conferences.
And I just wanted to say thank you!  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Well, thank you.  And I think we would like to say thank you for ensuring that there are interpreters at these press conferences in Tallahassee.
Can you, since you're here, could you share a little bit about the work that Disability Rights Florida has been doing during the pandemic?  

>> BARB:  Well, I've not been ‑‑ I know that we have several people involved with emergency management team meetings.  I know one of our co‑workers, Chris is on those meetings with her, weekly with emergency management in all the counties.  I personally have not been involved in all of those meetings, but I know that as an organization, we are working ‑‑ we have teams, a team of people that are working with students with learning disabilities from K‑12 and we're working with the different school districts on making sure that no child is left behind and that all of IEPs and 504 plans are not being ignored, and so we are continuing to work with that endeavor to make sure, you know, creating appropriate education is provided to all our kids.
The ‑‑ I'm working on, of course, the interpreter issue.  Carol Dahersky (sp) is working with the emergency management on that scope.
I would venture to say that there is a group of us at Disability Rights Florida also looking at and monitoring some of our individuals who are disabled in the prison system and making sure that they are also being treated appropriately with regards to COVID‑19.
So, it's been active.  And all of our staff ‑‑ and we're all over the state.  We have ‑‑ the majority of us are located in Tallahassee, but I, myself, am in St. Petersburg and we have offices in Tampa, Gainesville, and Fort Lauderdale, and so all of us are working remotely from home right now, so it's, you know, all of us are staying home and continuing our work, though.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  All right.  Thank you very much.  Are you working with FSDB?  

>> BARB:  We have not in a lot of years worked with FSDB. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  I know a lot of their kids are on distance learning right now.  

>> BARB:  You know what?  I'll bring that up to the folks that are specifically working with the kids in the school system.
I don't ‑‑ I've not heard of any complaints about FSDB in a lot of years, but I'm going to double‑check on that, because that's a good point.  Because you're right, all of those kids are now working ‑‑ or schooling from home.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Right.  And I service contract psychiatrist for FSDB and now I'm seeing kids at their homes, which is, you know, all over the place.
I've not heard of any complaints either; I was just curious if you were working with them, so... 

>> BARB:  Not to my knowledge, no.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  All righty.  Thank you very much.
Anybody else have any questions or want to ask Miss Page anything?

[No response].

[Silence]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay. 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  This is Chris.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Yes, Chris, go ahead.  

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  Hi, Barb, this is Chris Littlewood, I want to thank you for everything Disability Rights has been doing during this pandemic.  Somebody from Disability Rights group is always on the call for the ESF‑6 group on Monday afternoon and passing on information about what they're doing and making sure that the State Government is living up to their responsibilities, continuing to push and hear from individuals that can help you get the word out is really appreciated.  

>> BARB:  Well, thank you, Chris.  Always appreciate working with everyone around the state.  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Yes, Debbe?

[No response].
[Silence].

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Yes, Debbe?  

[Silence].

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  I'm posting the Florida disability rights on the FCCDHH Facebook page now. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Fantastic.  Great.  Thank you.  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Chris, I know you shared a little bit during the talk that Chris Wagner was giving about the work you've been doing with emergency preparedness in the state.  And the meetings that you're going to.
I'm wondering, you know, unless there's another member of the public that wants to share something, since we have a little free time, maybe you can share about what you do with the state.

[Pause].  

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  This is Chris.  As I explained, I'm reporting to the ESF‑6 group of the emergency support function.
For those that don't really follow or understand what that is, under the Emergency Operations and Emergency Operations Center, everything is divided up into emergency support functions, everything from finance, to search and rescue, to procurement, everything related to what may be required in a large‑scale emergency or disaster.
ESF‑6, which is medical, also includes and covers people with disabilities.
So I was asked, because I work pretty closely with the Florida Independent Living Council to participate in that group through my work with CPSI, St. Pete College, and I'm just passing on the information that I'm able to about what accessibility needs there are throughout the state of Florida.  

[Pause].  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Thank you, Chris.  I'm admiring of all the work that you're doing on behalf of Florida's deaf, hard of hearing, and deaf‑blind community to ensure that access to communication and getting the information that's needed in the case of an emergency.
So thank you.
Anybody else from the public that has a comment or wants to share anything?
Oh, yes, Glenna, you have something to share?  

[Silence]. 

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  Okay, this is Glenna.  I have a friend that told me that she is going to show up for public comments.  I don't see them yet, but possibly this afternoon, since we do have two public comment times, if she shows up ‑‑ if she doesn't show up this time section, then maybe she will at the next one.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  Thank you very much, Glenna.
Anyone else have a comment?  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  So since we have a few minutes, I'm just curious everyone's opinions from their agencies or personal experience of how the emergency communication access has been for you.

[Pause].

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Yes, Debbe?  

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  Can you hear me now?  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Perfect. 

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  Okay.  I was wondering if Chris can give us a list of what we should be doing.  I mean, who do we contact?  I don't even know where to begin to reach out to ‑‑ I mean, we have the Deaf Service Center here.  Um... I'm sure they're busy.  Or, I don't know, I have a ‑‑ I don't know what's going on with them....
I've seen nothing coming out of the Deaf Service Center.
I don't even know where to begin and who to contact and how to reach out to anyone and say, hey, we have 800,000 Deaf people who live in Pasco County, you know.
I don't know where to start.
So if someone can give us a list of what we should be doing... I mean, I'm jealous that Pinellas where Chris Littlewood lives, he's got things going, I see all kinds of things happening in their county.  But there's nothing going on in Pasco.
So, what is he doing that we could just copy for our counties and for all the other counties?

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  That's a good question.  Chris?

[Pause].  

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  This is Chris.  Yeah, I'm happy to share a little bit on that.  I really can't say for everybody who they should contact.  It depends on what your needs are.
The one thing I will say is if your needs are not being met, contact the media, that would be the broadcast stations, whatever you watch for emergency updates.  If it's using a web app, like I do, and stream TV, or if it's a regular cable television, contact those stations and let them know what you need.
I will tell you, they will answer you.  You must ‑‑ they might answer saying that they're tossing the proverbial hot potato to someone else, but they will get back to you.
Also, to share a little bit about what Debbe was talking about in Pinellas County, I like to think that because I carry a big stick here [chuckles], meaning that I talk and contact them a lot, but in a very friendly way, and they're just absolutely awesome.
I mean, we're not only doing PSAs that include caption and a CDI, a Certified Deaf Interpreter, on the screen on TV, but also on social media and in Facebook.
The commission meetings have captions, they're on social media and everything.
But you have to ask those questions.  Get in touch with your emergency management and get in touch with whoever you can.
It's usually at the county level.  Sometimes if you live in a bigger city ‑‑ I live in unincorporated county, so I go straight to the county people ‑‑ but to be honest, a lot changed when we had more than a little bit of attrition when we moved to the new public safety complex for the county and they did a lot of upgrades.
In addition to all the other things that I mentioned for PSAs and caption and interpreters for emergency broadcast, the county also has a chat line that you can chat with somebody for information on anything that you may need for questions to the county related to emergency.
And like I was saying, the same kind of stuff that I have been doing at the state level, making sure that people are getting the food that they need.
And if they don't know who to contact, they can contact the information line in Pinellas County.
But, I would venture to guess that Pinellas County is not the only county that has some of this stuff.  You just see it because we're Facebook friends and I'm reposting everything that they're doing.
But I do know that other counties have some of this stuff.  And it's important to ask the question to your state representatives, your county commissioners, the county clerk is a good person to contact.
What I mentioned before about FAB, the Florida Association for Broadcasts, one thing I noticed is that they already have recommendations and PSAs on FAB or FAB's website for working with COVID‑19.
However, there is not one single message about accessibility, accommodation, the use of sign language interpreters, and things like that.
So like I said, the biggest thing you can do is just start e‑mailing people, calling people, whatever your preferred modality for communication is, and again, I can't tell you one specific person to contact other than to say contact the public safety representatives and the decision‑making representatives in your county or municipality.  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Diana Tift has a comment in the chat, this is Gina, for Diana.  While we were on break, I was wondering if possible to create a letter targeting to interpreters on the news and explain why it is important and send it to all news channels in your county and mayor and city hall so they are aware that there are a lot of deaf people and deaf community.  I know the mayor in Pensacola.  I did message him about going live during COVID‑19 and it came to my attention that he did get an interpreter and people who comment under the mayor are making bad comments about the interpreter.
In one respect or another, deaf people need access in communication and an interpreter who's willing to do it.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  This is Karen.  I think that's a really good idea.  And I think it's unfortunate that people want to focus on the communication access rather than focusing on the message.
And I've noticed that too.
And some of it's been because there's been some, you know, real situations with interpreters in the past, or lack of qualified interpreters that, you know, got a lot of traction on social media and in the news.  

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  But I think all we can do is just make sure that they are following protocol in these municipalities and making sure they have certified interpreters.
And then, you know, immature people are going to make immature comments, you know [chuckles]... but I've noticed that as well.
And some of the comments aren't always negative, some of them are, you know, they're very curious about the interpreter, and then they notice some outstanding qualities of interpreters.
So, I've been following news from the New York mayor ‑‑ not mayor, but governor ‑‑ and noticed that several times there's no interpreter.  And I even sent an e‑mail to them stating that they need to have interpreters at their ‑‑ even though it's a different state.  But it was just shocking that there's not an interpreter and it's New York, you know.
But I've been pleased, you know, seeing a lot of the news programs and briefings here that there have been interpreters.
I wanted to ask, does anyone have any information or data about deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf‑blind not being able to get testing if they needed it?  Anything like that coming up?
I have not heard anything, but I just wanted to know if others have?

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  This is Darlene.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Go ahead.  

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  I haven't heard of anything about the testing.  But I do know that when I shared the article from The New Yorker about the deaf‑blind thinking, you know, not worthy, a lot of people just did not read it all the way down through.  The title kind of made it negative sounding.
But I even had a friend of mine who is a nurse that told me it's propaganda, and I told her, I said sadly, it happens, you know.  It's just one of those things, it happens.
So, the nurses, the medical staff are probably being overwhelmed by the impact of it all, you know, the different kinds of people and different kinds of needs, it's hard to prepare, and now they're coming to a realization that they're not prepared 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Mmm‑hmm. 

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  And also, I personally, I would like to see a lot more outreach with each community, each county, because they need to know their residents.  They need to know who they are, what they need throughout the county, so that they ‑‑ that would help them become more prepared.
So, that would be something that has ‑‑ that should be done.
I know that they have the special needs program where you can sign up with the Health Department and a lot of people who are disabled don't consider that they have special needs.
And it's very important to reach out to them, just to get the idea to say hey, we know you might need a little extra help, can you give us some information on how we might be able to help you?  Just in case scenario.  So that's my opinion 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Well, thank you, Darlene.
I want to make sure we address Diana's question.  And the question was, is it possible, um... I'm wondering if she's asking is it possible as a Council to write letters?  What are people's thoughts about that?

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Glenna's hand went up, there it is.  Go ahead, Glenna [chuckles].  

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  Well, maybe we could come up with... 

[Pause]. 

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  A template. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Uh‑huh.  

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  That we could just edit to use at our own specific situation, but it would be nice if we had a template that we could send out to the group, as an example, a letter, it would be easier, I think, for people to get it out and more people might be able to actually follow through and send a letter.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Would that be something that we would want to ask the EMOT committee to work on?  

[Pause].  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  This is Gina.  The EMOT ‑‑ 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Go ahead, Gina.  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Okay.  The EMOT Committee, we've explored that quite often, and during updates, I think Cindy is going to share, you know, some of that information.
But yes, I would agree with Glenna to having a ‑‑ kind of like a boilerplate template made of contact information that can be sent out pretty readily for specific counties in specific areas, whether it's mayor, governor, city hall, news media.  I think that's a great idea 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Uh‑huh.  Okay.  Fantastic.  Thank you.  

[Ping sound]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  We'll talk about that at the committee meetings but let's put that on our item list for that.
It is now 1:30, and I just want to double‑check if there's anybody else from the public that wants to make a comment or share something with the Council?

[No response].

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Going once... 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Diana said "thank you."  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Oh, thank you, Diana.  Okay.  Fantastic.
It is now 1:30 p.m. and on our agenda, we have election of officers for 2020‑2021 term.
So this is the time that we elect a new Chair and Vice Chair as per our bylaws.
And Tiffany, can you share what you're holding up right now?  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Hi, I'm holding up the sheet, it's in Section 9, it says Section 9, resources, election of officers or... take a look at that, because it just has the bylaws guidelines, and mixed with also information from the statutes guidelines on why and what and what the procedure is for election of new officers for the positions. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  So it's just a ‑‑ 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  Let me pull that up.  It's in documents ‑‑ you said number nine?  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  It's in Section 9.  There's three nines and that's where all the PowerPoints are, there's nine presenters, nine selection of officers... 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Um... 

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  Just as we're starting, I'm going to read it.  Section 2, powers and duties, the officers shall have the following responsibilities and duties.  Number one, Chair, the Chair shall serve as the presiding officer at all council functions and activities unless otherwise delegated to another council member.  The Chair is responsibility for the content, council meeting agenda, Chair may serve as ex officio member on all standing committees and ad hoc committees.  The Chair shall call and preside at all meetings of the Council and call and preside at all meetings of the Executive Committee.
The Chair may appoint a member to attend meetings, functions that she or he is unable to attend and which are deemed important to the Council.
Okay.  Number two, Vice Chair.  And the Vice Chair shall in absence of the Chair take the Chair's place and perform the Chair's duty.  The Vice Chair shall also undertake any and all duties assigned or delegated by the Chair.
The terms, in Section 3, the officers shall serve one‑year terms.  There's no limit on the number of terms that a member may serve.
And then Section 4, election, the election of officers shall take place at the last meeting of the fiscal year, and that's where we are.
So I don't see anything else as far as procedures.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Oh, no, I'm sorry, there's no procedures on that one, it's just coming out of the bylaws.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  But I can get you some real quick, if you'd like, I have something like that, for sure.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay, right.  So I have served as the Chair for two terms.  And we are... um... I think in need of new ideas and someone else who may be interested in serving as the Chair.
So, do we have nominations?
And you are allowed to self‑nominate.  

[Pause]. 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  This is Gina.  Would Glenna be interested in returning as Chair?  

[Pause]. 

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  This is Glenna.  I'm getting kind of used to being retired.  I could think about it.
Hmm... Vice Chair maybe?  

[Pause].  

>> CECIL BRADLEY:  Maybe her cat, Glenna's cat would be the chairperson.  She's on the screen with Glenna right now.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Do we have any members of the Council who are not allowed to serve as Chair?  And that doesn't seem like it's something that was written in the bylaws, but....
Somebody like Cecil or Mary or John who actually work for the Department, are they allowed?  

>> CECIL BRADLEY:  This is Cecil.  It may not be a good idea, working for the Department.  And voting ‑‑ may be as a voting member, you might have to be excused from that.  

[Talking over one another]. 

>> CECIL BRADLEY:  But thank you!  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Yeah, Mary says that she would like to nominate Debbe Hagner.  

>> I have a hand that's raised.  

[Pause]. 

>> This is Cindy.  Can I make a suggestion?  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Hold on, Debbe is sharing.  Hold on just one second, Cindy. 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> CINDY SIMON:  Okay.  I'm not on chat.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  That's okay, that's okay.  Just... Debbe, do you want to chair?  

[Silence]. 

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  I have not renewed by assignment for the Council, so... 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  I think that brings up a good question.  Several of us are coming up to the end of our terms and I don't know if reappointments are going to be happening in a timely manner or not.
I think we've discussed this before, that people who have not yet been officially reappointed can continue on the Council.  And I think that would make them eligible for positions.
Yes, Cecil, then Glenna.  

>> CECIL BRADLEY:  This is Cecil.  Thank you.  I think it may not be appropriate.  We could have to table this election until the fall, until everything gets back and running.  And that may be one of the options for future changes to the bylaws in the fall.
We may apply and have the elections in the fall.  And after the bylaw changing and then vote then.
Every year is problematic, in my opinion.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Right.  We had talked about that before about maybe considering every two‑year terms.  

[Pause]. 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Chris Littlewood has his hand up.  

[Talking over one another]. 

>> CINDY SIMON:  And don't forget me!  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  I'm sorry. 

>> CINDY SIMON:  I can't do this, I'm in the car, don't forget I'm in line, please.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay, Glenna, then Cindy, then Chris.  Go ahead, Glenna.  

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  My term expires in 2020 as well.  I contacted the president of FAD to ask them what to do about a reappointment, because there are ‑‑ maybe we need some other new people.  So I'm not sure what they want to do.
And more importantly, will the new appointments be made from the Governor's Appointing Office?  I mean, is that just dead in the water here?  We're kind of stuck with that.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  I think there may be some delays, given the COVID pandemic.
Okay, Cindy, please.  

>> CINDY SIMON:  All right.  Two suggestions.  Number one, even if your term has expired, it doesn't look like anyone's getting reappointed.  I would go on as if you're still part of the Council.
Number two, sometimes it's very hard where people don't want to talk publicly.  If we don't want to put this off, and in the past it was really done in August and we changed the bylaws to make it in May so that they would be prepared for August.
That being said, we don't know when we're going to go back to in‑person meetings of any size group.
So, I might suggest that we do this by e‑mail through Tiffany.
If anyone wants to go for an office or nominate someone, send it to Tiffany.  If it's a nomination, Tiffany can contact them and find out if they'll do it.
And then she could send the slate out to everyone and you could vote, send it back to Tiffany, and she'll come up with what we have.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  All right.  Thank you, Cindy.
Chris?

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  Okay.  Kind of piggybacking on what Cindy was saying, because there are so many people that are really expired in their term and waiting for renewal, I will say it's not exclusive to this council; I do know of other state councils where the Governor hasn't appointed anybody yet.
And because the State is in a state of emergency with the pandemic, I really can't see that necessarily happening any time really soon.
So, I would agree with Cindy in saying that we should just move forward with the people that are attending.  And if you're attending and you're willing to continue to serve until you're told otherwise, I think we should do that.
Also, the idea of changing the bylaws so we elect new Chair and Vice Chair in the May meeting, so that they can be prepared to take over at the beginning of the fiscal year, which would be the August meeting.
And we don't know how much longer we're going to be required to do the teleconference or the video conferencing, so I like the suggestion that Cindy made, maybe we could do it this afternoon, say any votes that are submitted by e‑mail to Tiffany between 2:00‑5:30, no proxy will be counted for a new elected Chair and Vice Chair.
I have been Chair in the past myself.  With some other obligations that I currently have, I am not able to serve as Chair or Vice Chair at this time.
For those of you that are able to see the chat, see that I second Mary's suggestion and nominate Debbe as Chair, and maybe letting her be somewhat retired and backing Debbe up, having Glenna as Vice Chair.  

>> [Laughs]. 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  They have proven in the past working well together and this is kind of a flip‑flop now, where giving Debbe a term to be a Chair of the Council.  

>> CINDY SIMON:  This is Cindy.  If I could just make a comment to Chris?
I think it would be better to leave it till tomorrow and let Tiffany e‑mail us.
And the reason is, if you're like me, I'm in the car, I'm not gonna have access to anything that I can send in.
I don't know if anyone else has that or has an issue with the computer.
So, this way everybody can have an opportunity and it can even go out to those who are absent from the meeting but will have an opportunity to vote that way.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  Cindy, we're not here tomorrow, the meeting has been changed to a one‑day meeting.
Tiffany ‑‑ 

>> CINDY SIMON:  I'm aware of that.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Oh, okay, okay. 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> CINDY SIMON:  It doesn't mean that we can't send it to Tiffany and Tiffany can't send us the results of the election.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay. 

>> CINDY SIMON:  We don't have to be there.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Oh, okay, all right, all right, I misunderstood.
Tiffany?  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Okay ‑‑ 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Hmm?  

[Talking over one another]. 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  This is Chris again, that's fine with me, I like that idea and maybe give it till, you know, whatever time tomorrow, and ‑‑ 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay. 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  ‑‑ and the announcement can come out in an e‑mail from Tiffany.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  This is Tiffany.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Chris, actually Tiffany had the floor.  Go ahead, Tiffany.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Good afternoon, this is Tiffany speaking.  Now I want to point out that the people that decide, there's a Section 2 in our bylaws regarding appointments of service and you guys will see that in page three, by the way, and if you went to page four, keep in mind that prior to serving on the Council, you must attend an orientation, the reason I say this, I know y'all have probably done it, I want you all not to do just the role of the council and all that, but you have to understand the records, the public records laws, the code of ethics, the Administrative Procedure Act, and all of the things that I gave in that one presentation regarding what you're allowed and not allowed to do ‑‑ in other words, where you have to know whether you can speak to this person in this section, whether all of the laws that the ‑‑ the Sunshine Laws that have that open government, the one thing that I did.
So make sure that that is something that the person is going to be willing to ‑‑ probably a refresher, because they make us at the state refresh it, and there's something like that, like that, and I say that also, when you guys ‑‑ we can do that idea where everybody just votes or nominates a person and then I contact that person and see if they are interested in being in that.
If they're not, we'll go to the next one that got the most votes, and then I'll share that with you guys.
But it's imperative that we follow that Florida Statute on... um... on transparent and open government, so that, in other words, y'all can't talk to each other about it, nobody can send an e‑mail as you choose, and what you're thinking of 
And in that particular issue in the voting, don't communicate at all so we don't get in any kind of problem later, because it just happened to be that this particular situation that we're about to do is one of the examples in their "look out, don't do" kind of situations in their procedures that I read and provided to y'all [chuckles].
So if we do this, we have to be REALLY careful, okay?  And if y'all can do that ‑‑ 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  Thank you so much.  Tiffany, I can't even tell you how much I appreciated that you just stated that.
I think that it's a tough spot to be in, but we have to remind everyone about the Sunshine Laws.
I think it would be a good idea if we had a Sunshine Law refresher every year, honestly.  And it doesn't have to be a two‑hour thing.  I don't know what you guys do at a state level.  Do you have to do, like, a mind flash?  

[Talking over one another]. 

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  It's a training‑type thing that we have online through training.  So we have to ‑‑ 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  I was wondering ‑‑ yeah, we might not have to do it at a meeting, maybe we should ‑‑ everybody on the Council would have to do the training once a year. 
But getting back to the election, there was two different things that I wanted to call on you ‑‑ 

>> CINDY SIMON:  Cindy has her hand up.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  Let me finish my thought.  So there was a couple things that were raised.  One thing is because of the pandemic, what does it mean for people who are wanting to stay on the Council but their terms are expiring?
And it sounds like if your term is expiring, you still have to go through the application process, but you are ‑‑ you continue in your role unless a new appointee has been granted to that role.
Okay.  That's number one.
Number two is what do we do about the election?
Our current bylaws state that it is to be conducted in ‑‑ at the last meeting of the fiscal year, so they're ready for the August meeting.
And one suggestion was put this off until August and do the election.  The other suggestion is do the election now, but do it in a different way.
I'm going to give my opinion, which is I think that we should stick with the bylaws as they're written, which is that we do it at this current election ‑‑ I mean this current meeting.
And how we do it, you know, I'm open to the different ideas that have been posed.
And then Glenna, you wanted to share?  

[Pause].  

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  Yes, this is Glenna speaking.  I am willing to become Vice Chair, if Debbe is willing to become the Chair, and we could be a team together again.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  All right.  Thank you, Glenna.
I think ‑‑ I want to make sure I get people's hands who were raised.  I thought Cindy had her hand raised first and I only see Chris and Gina ‑‑ 

>> CINDY SIMON:  I do have a hand up. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay, go ahead. 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> CINDY SIMON:  Yeah, I do have a hand up.  I'm just not where I can type, I'm driving ‑‑ 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay, I understand.  

>> CINDY SIMON:  So, when I was saying this to Tiffany, so if anyone else wants to run and if anybody wants to nominate someone, Tiffany can check if they're willing to do it.  So it's okay to have more than one person per position, and we can send out the ballots for people for each position and then you both send it back to Tiffany and then she tallies the results, you know, sometime tomorrow, as long as you return it to her, say, by 10:00 tomorrow morning or something like that.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay, sounds good, sounds good.  Thank you, Cindy.
Chris, your hand is up?

[Pause].  

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  This is Chris.  Unless I missed it, I didn't see if Debbe was willing to accept the nomination?  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Debbe?

[No response] 

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  Yes.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay, that's an affirmative. 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  Okay.  Thank you for following up on that.  Really, we don't have anybody else that is wanting to accept the position of Chair or Vice Chair, we can just do a vote here and now.  I think that's what we did last time when Karen and Gina ran unopposed.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Right, but I think that we haven't really heard from other people yet, so I want to make sure that it's a fair process and to see who else might be interested in running.
Gina, hand raised?  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Yes, ma'am, yes.  Yes, my suggestion was going to be a really easy and transparent way to do it, is, like, using a Google Form or a Microsoft Form, but I don't think we have time.  If I hear what you're saying now that you want this closed by tomorrow, it might be difficult to e‑mail that to everybody and get it back and get everybody to e‑mail it right away.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay, good point.
So can we ‑‑ do we have a quorum is what Mary's asking.  And actually I did think that question.  Do we have a quorum?  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  I think we do... I mean, it seems like we do. 

[Ping sound]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Can we get a head count?  

[Pause]. 
[Talking over one another]. 

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  How many people are on ‑‑ 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Karen, Gina, Glenna, Debbe, Chris, Darlene, Mary, Cecil, um... Cindy. 

>> INTERPRETER:  John's here, says Debbe.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  And John.  Who are we missing?  Debra Knox was not able to attend today.  Anybody else?  

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  Debra.  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  I do have a question.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Yeah, I said that, Debra Knox is not here.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  She is not year yet, she hasn't joined. 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  This is Gina.  Karen, I have a question.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Yes, ma'am?  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  When you're counting members, does it matter if your term ends this year or has already ended, are you still considered a voting member?

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  That's a good question.  

>> CINDY SIMON:  This is Cindy.  In the past, and my term has been over since I think '18, as long as you're still attending and it's considered as if you are a member until someone replaces you.
In the past, we've had people voting.  If you can have them be Chair or Vice Chair, you can certainly have them vote.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  Fair enough.  Yes, Tiffany?  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Hello, this is Tiffany speaking.  If you have already turned in and submitted your paperwork to the Governor's thing and you are already on the Council as it is, then there should be no reason why you can't vote, because you ‑‑ because it just hasn't been changed, it hasn't been updated, you haven't been ‑‑ you have already sent it in, and you can't do more than that.
Also, let me add, I just sent y'all the PowerPoint presentation on the open government and Sunshine Law, so you all have it in your inboxes now.  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Oh, I see.  Okay.
So the answer is that if you've completed your paperwork, you are still a member and a voting member, unless you've been replaced.  So that answers that question.
I think as of right now, everybody is in good standing to vote.
Yes, Tiffany?  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  In all honesty, we have been working in the situations where people's term has been up for quite sometime and we have made major voting, major changes, and we have either been working on the bylaws during the time while those people's terms were up.
So I'm not saying officially I know the exact answer, because you know how government, sometimes it's a little not necessarily black and white, but I'm just saying that it's very possible since you guys have been acting members, even if your thing has been expired since before I got here, that it's ‑‑ that it would have to then apply to everything you have done thus far.  

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  Darlene.  

>> OPERATOR:  Has left the conference.  

[Pause].  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Would you guys want to see clarifications before you do that or how ‑‑ you know, I'm not really sure.  But I don't have the ‑‑ 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Is Ann here?  Is Ann here?  The woman who is covering for Shay?  

>> ANNA:  Yes, this is Anna.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Oh, hi, Anna.  I was wondering if you had any answer to that question?  

>> ANNA:  I don't ‑‑ I think Tiffany is getting really good guidance.  I have another council that I work with and we struggled to get appointments as well and people just continue to work in their capacity until we're told otherwise. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Is there an ability to vote?  

>> ANNA:  Yes, we had something come up one time where somebody who was appointed by the Governor ‑‑ 

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  Darlene. 
>> OPERATOR:  Has joined the conference. 

>> ANNA:  I'm sorry?  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Go on, Ann ‑‑ go on, Anna, please.  

>> ANNA:  We let people vote, yes.  

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  Okay.  This is Darlene.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Yes, ma'am?  Darlene, go ahead.  

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  I did not reapply, so I cannot vote.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  So your plan is to, um... to no longer stay on the Council; that your term is ending and you are terminating with the Council, is that correct?  

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  Right.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  Um... well, I will certainly miss you.  And I know I speak for everybody on the Council.  Thank you for your service.  

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  Okay.  I ‑‑ I'll miss it too, but I don't have a choice right now because of the ‑‑ the State told me that I have no choice but to back off.  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Um... that you cannot reapply?  

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  No, I can reapply.  But because of my vocation goals, I have been basically told volunteer efforts are not permissible or accepted in order to get assistance.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay, all right.  We certainly don't want you to do anything that would interfere with you being able to take care of your personal needs and, you know, financial needs.  

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  I'm trying to ‑‑ I'm trying to go back to work and they're saying that they will only do it for employment, if I become employed.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  All right.  Good enough.  Thank you for sharing that.
So, you're saying that as ‑‑ your intention is not to continue on the Council and so you would not be able to be a voting member 

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  No. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay. 

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  But I did, there are three deaf‑blind individuals interested and one of them has already submitted her application.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  All right, fantastic.  Thank you very much.
Okay.  So, the ‑‑ correct me if I'm wrong, the only other council member that we are missing from today's meeting is Debra Knox, is that correct?  Am I missing somebody?  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Correct. 

[Pause]. 

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Is John Jackson back?  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  John's been here during the day.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Okay. 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  My understanding is he wouldn't be able to run as Chair and Vice Chair, right, as somebody employed by the Department.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Yeah, I was asking for the purposes of the vote.  Is he here right now so he can vote still?  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay, all right.  So I know that there's been a motion on the table, or nomination, for Debbe Hagner as Chair, Glenna Ashton to serve as Vice Chair.
I don't want that to intimidate or bias anyone's desire to run in that role.  This is an open and fair process.
Do we have any other nominations for Chair?  

>> CECIL BRADLEY:  This is Cecil, I second.

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  I don't know what was seconded?  

>> Close it, quickly, close it!  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  No, wait, wait, we want it to be a fair process.  We don't want anyone to feel like they can't nominate someone because of it.  We want it to be fair, okay?
Is there anyone else who is interested in running ‑‑ 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> CECIL BRADLEY:  This is Cecil.  America is not always fair. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  But our Council is.
Is there anyone else who is interested in running as Chair or Vice Chair?  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Chris Littlewood is on chat and said Darlene can still vote if present until she is replaced.
And Cindy said some people don't like to speak publicly and to send e‑mails to Tiffany.  The first one was from me, the second was from Chris.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  I say we send e‑mails right now to Tiffany.  I want ‑‑ I don't want anyone to be intimidated and not want to nominate themselves or someone else if they feel like it's already a done deal.  Okay?
So let's do that.  And if by 3:00 o'clock Tiffany can tell us the ballots and then we can vote by 4:00 o'clock and it will be done by today.
What are people's thoughts about that?  

[Pause]. 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Agreed.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  That's Gina saying agreed.  Anybody else?  Everybody okay with that plan?

[No response].

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  An okay from Cecil.  An okay from Glenna.  

>> Okay.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  It's okay with me, so okay.  All right.  So here's the plan ‑‑ 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Fine with Chris too and okay from Mary.  I see that.
Okay.  So here we go, here's the plan:  If you are interested in running for Chair or Vice Chair, or you want to be considered for both, like, you know, if you didn't get the Chair, then you want to be the Vice Chair, that kind of thing, then please submit your name to Tiffany.
If you'd like to nominate someone, submit your name to ‑‑ submit that name to Tiffany.  She is then going to reach out to the folks individually and see if they are interested in running, and by 3:00 o'clock she's going to let us know who is on the ballot for the Chair and Vice Chair spot.
Does that sound like a good plan?
Thumbs up?  Okay?  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Thumbs up by Debbe.  Okay.  And thumbs up by Glenna.  Cecil says whatever's fine with him [chuckles].  Okay.  All right.  Let's do that.
Now, that leaves us with about a half hour, is that correct, ahead of schedule?
Let me take a quick peek here.  Um... no, no, no, ten minutes, gives us ten minutes until committee updates.
Does anyone need any further discussion or would people like to have a bathroom break?  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  What did you say?  I missed it, Debbe.  Did you say break?  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Time out, time out, Cecil says ‑‑ 

>> CECIL BRADLEY:  Break. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  That's a break?  Is that what that means?  I thought that was time out.  Like a game.
Okay.  Let's everybody go to the bathroom.  Not together ‑‑ 

>> CECIL BRADLEY:  I vote for a restroom break. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  Restroom break until 2:15 and then we're going to start on committee updates.
Happy trails.

[Break].

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  It's now 2:15 and we're back.  And we're ready for the next part of our agenda which is committee updates.  So, is everybody back?  Darlene, are you here?

[No response] 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  I see Debbe is back.  Gina, are you back?

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Yes, ma'am.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay, hi.  Cindy, are you back?  

>> CINDY SIMON:  Yes, I am. 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  Chris Littlewood. 
>> OPERATOR:  Has joined the conference.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay, okay.  And Cecil is here for the budget.  Okay.  So why don't we go around and we'll talk about the different committees.  Are we ready to hear from the Web Committee?  

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  This is Debbe.  Right now, we have 844 followers on Facebook.  We have ‑‑ I've been posting a lot of things about the face masks and different things, so we had 118 posts this week alone, so we're getting about 40% response rate, which is probably pretty good.
One thing I noticed that we need to ‑‑ I need to work with Tiffany is that the Florida Coordinating Council wants the phone number that's missing, the e‑mail and address and the hours.  So we need to add that in the home page for FCCDHH.  

[Talking over one another]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay, Tiffany, did you get that information?  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Okay.  Hold on just a minute, I think my thing just shut down.  Okay.  I got part of it.  That the phone number and the...?  Go ahead.  And the address needs to be updated?  

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  The phone number ‑‑ 

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  Darlene. 
>> OPERATOR:  Has joined the conference. 

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  ‑‑ address and hours for the Florida Coordinating Council for the Facebook page.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  And what are the hours for?  Like, the phone?  For somebody to call in?  

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  Yeah, yeah, the hours, you know, we're open for business or we're temporarily closed because of the coronavirus.  I mean, what's the ‑‑ what's the hours?
I did get a warning or an action for updates for the home page for the hours and all the useful information.
So at one time I know we had a phone number there, but it was removed, so I don't know if Chris Littlewood did that or Darlene or someone did it.
But I know that the one phone number we had was old and not correct, so we need to update all that.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay, all right.  Thank you.  

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  This is Darlene.  I didn't do it, so it must have been somebody before us.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  You didn't do what, Darlene?  

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  Remove the number.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Oh, remove the number.  Okay.  All right.  Yeah, so we'll have Tiffany provide that information.  And then Debbe, are you able to put it on the website?  

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  Yes.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay, all right, fantastic.
So, you know, I was listening to the numbers, 641 (sic) followers, that seems kind of low when it seems like Florida has one of the highest numbers of ‑‑ I'm sorry, go ahead.  

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  844 followers.  

[Talking over one another]. 

>> OPERATOR:  Has joined the conference. 

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  This is Darlene.  We actually have an audience of 828. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Uh‑huh.  

[Talking over one another]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  ‑‑ is there any way to get the word out and maybe increase those numbers?  Maybe we can all take that back to our organizations or agencies that we represent and maybe we can ‑‑ encourage them to ‑‑ 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  You can go on to the page and invite people to like the page.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  Oh, good idea, good idea.  

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  Mmm‑hmm.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  All right.  Very good.  Anything else you'd like to ‑‑ 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Talk about on the Web Committee?  

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  I want to say there was 128 engagements for the most engaging post and it was what it's like being a deaf ‑‑ being deaf.  And I thought that was really good.
So, we need to post more similar in that area.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  All right.  Thank you.
Debbe, anything else that you wanted to add?  

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  I think that we used to work with all of the organizations and asked them to put the link to the FCCDHH's website and Facebook on HLAA, Florida State, each chapters, as well as ‑‑ 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Good idea. 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  ‑‑ all of the organizations that have a link and get a stronger ‑‑ 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  ‑‑ last time ‑‑ 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

[Note from CART Captioner]:  Background noise is drowning out the speakers.  

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  ‑‑ if it was allowed or not.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  The follow‑up on what was it?  

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  Called My Business, if we can post FCCDHH under My Business.  It's under Google.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Can I ‑‑ I don't know if I'm supposed to respond without raising my hand... but anyway... 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Go ahead.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  This is Tiffany.  About a couple ‑‑ I believe it was November's meeting that we discussed ‑‑ that that was on the action items and the Google My Business thing and I researched Google My Business, and actually to research it, I had to actually put one in there, sort of as a fake one, for a second to see how it works and what's required, and [indiscernible] yes, we could, but they got a recommendation from our administration at DOH, we are not a business.  Therefore, we're not supposed to put in ourselves as Google Business or, you know, Google My Business or whatever.
What it does is it has a good point, I understand that when someone is searching for assistance with something that has to do with deaf and hard of hearing, because you put in code words to your business, and your business will be one of the first to pop up for that time and that's where the benefit is.
The downside is that, one, we're not technically a business at FCCDHH; and number two, the add‑ons that give us the ‑‑ 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  ‑‑ ability that we're speaking ‑‑ 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  ‑‑ is actually a cost and we have to pay for, depending on how many people have reached out to us based on the fact that we're signed up with Google My Business.
But the bottom line is in the Department of ‑‑ since we're not a business, we cannot add that and that was the conversation with Shay 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  Thank you very much.  Chris?

[Pause]. 
[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  This is Chris.  I just wanted to mention that when it was asked about the phone number and the information for the Council being removed from the Facebook page, I did that at Tiffany's request, because apparently they're supposed to use some other system, I forget what it's called at the moment, for logging in whenever a request comes in.
I'm sure Tiffany can explain that more.
But I didn't really agree with that, because I think if somebody finds us on the web, for them to have to go out and go to another DOH system to log a question to us as a Council, that becomes a problem.
So, I would rather have a streamline process where we had a direct phone number and e‑mail to Tiffany and the office for FCCDHH.
We've always had that.  I don't know why it went away, but... 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  Thank you, Chris.  Gina, you have your hand up?  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Yes, I do.  I just want to say that I agree with Chris in terms of the frustrations when a person goes to one website for information and then is redirected to another website.  That's a very contract position that we need to consider not doing.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  All right.  Thank you.
Some good suggestions here.  Anybody else?  Oh, yes, Tiffany?  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Hi, this is Tiffany.  Yes, Chris did request that [audio cutting in and out] understand the reason for it, because all of us hate to be passed along as the proverbial football or hot potato, that Chris mentioned earlier.
I believe that because of the responsibility of the Department of Health to keep track and monitor is actually contacting us, in the long run, send that out to all the necessary things that have to know that ‑‑ what Floridians ‑‑ the way it's tracked is through the system through DOH where, unfortunately, it might not be the quickest way, you know, for people who don't go from one website to the other [audio cutting in and out] there is a record and it actually goes past me, it doesn't even get ‑‑ I'm last, it goes to the VZ (sp) health line or whatever and that's tracked and counted for statistical information and as people who are in the business of hard of hearing and then it gets to me, I have a three‑day turn around to send a response to those people.
So it's tracked [audio cutting in and out] by us, so it isn't just, you know, they have it, it's tracked ‑‑ you make sure you return this to these people right away.
I get this thing, I have to do it within three days, generally it's the same day and a couple hours, it goes back out to [audio cutting in and out] at DOH and they actually read it, review it, note anything they need to note, and make sure that all the connections that I send to people are accurate, all of the links, to make sure that I'm providing accurate information.  Because, you know, I must say, I don't know everything, because I'm kind of new to this, you know.
And after that, it goes back and is sent out.
We don't just give information arbitrarily, we want to give accurate, give trackable, give useful information that will make sure that we're providing the appropriate things to our people in our community as well, so that it's not ‑‑ so there's a whole lot behind it, that's just not simply responding.
And point number two, and that's even shorter, is that DOH has the FCCDHH website for the Council that we are doing and the request to have a Facebook page was not a request of DOH, that was something you guys wanted, but it could not then take the place of the protocols that were already in place at DOH, accentuate it and what you do on Facebook, we're not liable, once it's on Facebook, anything on Facebook that people ask, oh my goodness, you guys who are the webmasters who are on Facebook, please answer or give them our information and tell them to write in to us.
But if it is something that is emergent or urgent or time sensitive, get on there, look it up, read it, you guys know the answers 3,000% more than I do, so get in there, answer it, you know.  Y'all are ‑‑ 'cause it's not connected to DOH.  And it's specifically a line drawn in the sand between the two, so that you guys do have that freedom to respond to people and respond to them timely, you know?
Unfortunately it won't ‑‑ 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  All right.  Thank you, Tiffany.  Thank you, Tiffany.  I think you bring up a good point that Facebook and other social media mediums are not under DOH, so that limits what you're able to do in response.
And so we as a Council take ownership of the social media.
Okay.  So, all righty.  And anything else about the Web Committee before we move on?

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Nope?  Okay.  All righty.  Education ‑‑ 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  ‑‑ medical ‑‑ I'm sorry?  Is there somebody who's just saying something?  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Yeah, you were asking about other comments about the Web Committee.  Chris Littlewood has a comment on the chat.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay, go ahead.  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  He says what a very convoluted process, it needs to be simple for the person who's inquiring.  

[Pause].  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Yeah, I would agree, there's a convoluted nature of it.  But I think the Department of Health is pretty clear in saying that they are not connected on social media.  Is that right, Tiffany?  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Yes, ma'am, we are not connected to the social media.  But it doesn't have to be a convoluted process, if the Web Committee answers those questions immediately for those people who call (sic). 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  Fair enough.  

[Talking over one another]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Go ahead, Darlene, then Chris.  

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  I just wanted to say one thing, though, is in the past, I have had problems with navigating and I just want to let, I think it's David or whoever has been doing the website, I like the idea that they put click on the global, I did that and thank you, good job. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  Thank you.  Chris?

[Pause]. 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  This is Chris.  I just wanted to say, I understand the part about social media and the DOH, the Department of Health, is not directly involved in Facebook or what have you.
The point being that we used to have direct contact information on the website.  And so on the Facebook page, to mirror if people had a direct question, they go to the same place that they would go to if they connect on the website.  Same streamline process.
But now you're saying it's up to the people that are on the Website Committee that are administrators for the Facebook page.  But we don't always look that every day or every week, for that matter, and sometimes it's difficult to see stuff that comes into the inbox.
It's better to have for people that if they want to make a direct, timely response inquiry to the Council, that they should have a phone number and an e‑mail.
But that's something that has to be taken up with Shay, I guess, or the Department of Health.
But I'm just saying, you want to talk about your bureaucratic bottlenecks, I personally feel that it doesn't make it easy.
And when I'm looking around our website now and trying to find out a direct way to contact the Council, other than snail mail, it's not real easy.  

[Pause].  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Thank you, Chris.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  This is Tiffany.  I understand the point.
Is there... uh... the FCCDHH website should be placed on the, you know, the contact information of the FCCDHH website should be on the Facebook page because that resource, just like you guys would have any other resource on that page.
If you ‑‑ then that way, they can go to the FCCDHH website for DOH and then send in ‑‑ call the number there.  And then we even have something where people can write it, and I think ‑‑ and so they can ‑‑ they can do that and then we talk to them.
So it's not necessarily that it has to go through snail mail.  I'm just saying your concerns about it being... uh... that they would rather not have to go through so many hoops, when you go to any website, sometimes you just look and see if there's a website and resources and you get on those websites and resources and then they got it, they're right there on FCCDHH/DOH and then we're with them here.
It's just that there's no phone number there because we're supposed to be not affiliated.  We can be a resource that's listed on there, but we cannot be, like, affiliated where we're saying that we're ‑‑ I think it's some kind of conflict of interest or something.  But we're not....
But there is ways to make it less troublesome if you have, you know, visit our DOH ‑‑ visit our DOH website.  You don't even need to say "our" visit the DOH website for more information, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, or even the NAD website or the HLAA website.
I know that's probably not the best answer that you want to hear, but I'm trying to get around the fact that there is protocols in place for the state agencies that really don't have anything to do with just us as our little department.
And it's higher than that.  So if we can't ‑‑ if I can't do anything about that right this minute, at least let's work out and find a way so the people can get to us.  I just don't want to give the wrong information ‑‑ 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  So, are we allowed to put the DOH address and telephone number and everything on the Facebook page?  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  I don't believe so, but you can put our website page as a resource.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  I think that's fine.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  And then ‑‑ 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  I think that's ‑‑ yeah, I think that's fine.  I mean, I don't know that we're gonna change the Department of Health's social media... um... policy, you know.  I don't think that's gonna happen.
And if we're not allowed to have that information on the Facebook or social media, then we're not allowed, and that's just the way it is.  And it's good to have the website there.  Convoluted as it may be, so....
Any other comments before we move onto EMOT?

[No response].

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  I'll turn it over to Gina and Cindy.  

[Pause].  
[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> CINDY SIMON:  Well, we haven't had a meeting.  And I was not requested to write anything ‑‑ 

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  Darlene.  
>> OPERATOR:  Has left the conference. 

>> CINDY SIMON:  ‑‑ and so I would pass it back to Gina.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  Gina, any thoughts where the current programs are on EMOT?

[No response].

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Okay.  Can you hear me now?  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Yeah, now we can hear you. 

>> CINDY SIMON:  Oh, okay.  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Yeah, I was having trouble getting in there.
The only thing that ‑‑ during our last meeting that we had, we had two things that were really good that has been rolling around for a while and that was the brochure that Debra and Mary had discussed and presented, as well as a letter of general information that Cindy had presented.
And I guess in my ‑‑ those are still in the hopper and I would ask if we could, at sometime, close the gap in terms of how to get these things distributed.
That's the only historical kind of ‑‑ 

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  Darlene. 
>> OPERATOR:  Has joined the conference ‑‑ 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Of getting together to talk about all of the things that have been brought up at this meeting.  I think it's really important that we get on it while it's fresh.
So Tiffany is sending that out.  And that is it for us.  

>> CINDY SIMON:  So ‑‑ 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Go ahead. 

>> CINDY SIMON:  What we actually talked about with the brochure, because I was assured the committee when we put that out, was really to look, and Mary can correct me, she was talking about it, to look at it, refresh it, and update it.
But with everything going on, I would like to add a little something about communication in the age of COVID‑19.
Because this is really affecting people.
So... but that's just adding a little something to it.
So, those were the last two things we talked about.  Actually it was Debra and I had both written two different letters and we thought we could create letters that we could pass out to other departments.  But then we never ‑‑ and then we talked about refreshing the last brochure, because everyone decided they liked it and it just needed updating.
But we didn't have another meeting since then, so I can't talk to us doing anything else until we have the meeting.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  And Cindy, when you say that there should be something on COVID‑19, what are you recommending?  

>> CINDY SIMON:  Um... I would like to see us come up just with a couple of suggestions.
In the age of masks, for those who rely on some lip reading, it's very, very difficult.
I actually got the face shield so that I could take off the mask and they could see my facial expressions and my lips.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Mmm‑hmm.  

>> CINDY SIMON:  Um... so, I don't know if it wouldn't be good, like, to have, you know, in the case of social distancing or difficulty seeing others, some tips and suggestions, just four or five little lines.  Just to help them navigate a little.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  

[Pause]. 

>> CINDY SIMON:  But of course, when we get to the committee meeting, it can be discussed to see if we want it or not.
I'm just thinking, this is a timely way for people who are panicking.
I have a patient coming in next week who's an awesome lip reader, um... he's basically Deaf, with a capital D, but he also navigates through the hearing world, and, you know, if I wear a mask, I couldn't do what I need to do with him.
So, I'm just saying, you know, don't be afraid ‑‑ you know, don't be afraid to ask people to write it down.  Things ‑‑ you know, little things like that.  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  All right.  All righty. 

>> CINDY SIMON:  That was just a thought. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Is that something you would like the EMOT Committee to meet about and work on?  

>> CINDY SIMON:  Well, if we're working on the brochure, that's something we can decide to be added or not added to the brochure, that's all.  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  All righty.  That sounds good. 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Anybody else?  Oh, yes, go ahead.  

[Pause]. 

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  This is Glenna.  I think it's a good idea also, because we don't have to recreate the wheel, I mean, there's a lot of information that's already out there, you know.  Chris talked about NAD having a lot of information, he could just go on that website and pull whatever was pertinent and put it in our letter.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  That sounds like a good plan.
Mary Hodges has shared a link.  This I think is the same ‑‑ is this the same story that Darlene talked about?  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  It's from Tiffany's e‑mail.  Okay.  So it's from ‑‑ I don't know how to copy it and put it into ‑‑ for everyone to see, though.  Can we share this link, Tiffany, that Mary has put up there?  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Yes.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay, if you can see it.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Hold on, I have to find out where it is.  Is it something that she just recently put up?  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Yeah, she put it on the chat.  It's an ABC news story.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  It's one that ‑‑ it's not the one that ‑‑ I didn't get it yet is all, so I'm waiting to see... it's not on the chat.
I only know it ‑‑ I only know how to access the chat that's here on the Whereby because I'm using ‑‑ 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Oh, no, this is the live stream.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Yeah, I'm not on that, because I'm using a CapTel phone in its place.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Oh, okay, okay, let me e‑mail it to you then.  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Anything else from the EMOT Committee?
No, it didn't take, hold on 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  This is Gina.  Karen, that link was in Tiffany's original e‑mail, so that's the same thing. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Oh, it is?  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Okay, okay.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  I thought it looked familiar.  

[Pause].  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  All right.  Moving onto the next committee.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Is that the Legislative Committee?  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Yes.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  All right.  

[Pause]. 

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  That would be Glenna.  

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  Well, with the coronavirus pandemic, there's not enough going on that front ‑‑ this is Glenna.
And the legislators really haven't dealt with the hearing aid law, that failed, so we're gonna have to do that again, talking about contacting the different organizations, the state organizations and the counties and cities.
We also need everyone to contact your representatives.  You can get the e‑mails to the different representatives, you know, we want to know if we're all right or how everything is going.  So we need to contact representatives and senators as well.  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  Thank you very much, Glenna.  Anybody else?
We had a great visit in Tallahassee, which I think we already talked about at the last meeting, but, you know, just thinking about it, it was a really good experience.
Okay.  All right.  And our last committee is the Budget Committee with Cecil as the Chair.

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Did ‑‑ 

>> CECIL BRADLEY:  Hey, good afternoon, everyone.  So what I did was not involved in the envision of the budget.  Tiffany said she has the budget coordinating and so I am going to leave that to Tiffany and the DOH person.  So Tiffany, take it away.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Thank you.  This is Tiffany.  Latheria, are you on the line?  

>> I am. 

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Okay.  In your binders, you will see in Section 8 your budget, they call it checkbook.  What you will also see is I may have sent you a second e‑mail just to make sure you got it that it has two pages; there's a page one and page two, so just be mindful of that.
And I think I might have even sent it after, because I sent it extra.
So go ahead, Latheria.  

>> LATHERIA:  Thank you, Tiffany.  Good afternoon, everybody.  I'm going to go over the state budget with you.  Feel free to stop me as we're going through and ask me any questions and hopefully I would be able to give you a good understanding of what's happening in your budget right now.
And this is a sheet that Tiffany receives month‑to‑month, it's updated with the monthly expenses.
And if you will look in the ‑‑ I'm looking at the ‑‑ I'm looking at column C, but you will see an allocated amount field and all the way down, you will have the total allocation for each category.
For example, under allocated for Tiffany's position, that's her OPS position, she was allocated $40,192.
And for all of your contracted services, you were allocated $56,750.
And if you want to know what services that occurred up under that, you can look and see the services would be Vanguard audiovisual, CART, the interpreting services, you have the state of Florida registrar for your announcements, and any of your special projects, like the project deaf.  And that's under that category.
And then you have to spend $68,400 and that includes Tiffany and phone and travel and if you were at a hotel and that, all of that would add under that category.
And if you add those three allocations up for the state fiscal year, you were given $165,342 to spend this fiscal year, which would end June 30th of this year.
And the next column, right beside the allocated, is your encumbered balance.  Everything that's not yet encumbered, the only things that get encumbered is your services, like Vanguard, CART, interpreting services, and your registrar amounts.  Those are the only four encumbrances you have.
In other words, an encumbrance means you set that money aside, not necessarily an expense, but that you have obligated it for something else.
So at the first of the year, we create a purchase order, in other words a contract, with your service vendors, and in this column, you will see the balance of those encumbrances.
So you can see some of it, as you will see, on this spreadsheet, you can see how much you spent and what month it was spent in.
And right now they have balances left.
I do think Vanguard audiovisual, that will be adjusted down to zero.  The [indiscernible] the Vanguard Services would not be needed for this meeting so ‑‑ 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> LATHERIA:  ‑‑ is that correct?  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  [Indiscernible]. 

>> Tiffany?  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Yes, I'm sorry, this is Tiffany, that is correct.  

>> LATHERIA:  Okay.  With that, on the second tab, that second sheet Tiffany was talking about, it will show as a zero balance, because that $5,750 will be released and that means it will be available to get again to spend.  Because this just holds this part of the money obligation for something else, you're not able to spend it, unless you release the encumbrance, and in this case it will be released.
And your total balance prior to that release, if you follow that all the way to the bottom, is your total encumbrance balance of $15,536.04 so you have to take the initial budget in the year and subtract that encumbrance balance because it was obligated, you can't spend it, that gives you a balance of $149,805.96 which we will start taking expenditures from starting back ‑‑ the expenditures that occurred back in July of 2019, because that's when the period started.
And if you look down that column, the only thing that ‑‑ you have $1,000 for Project Deaf and also from travel, and that gave you the $1,291.69.
So if you take that 149 that we always have to take out of an encumbrance off the top, if you take that 149,805.96 and subtract your total expenditures for the month of July and that gives you that bottom balance in that column of 148,514.27.
And that's carried over into the next column of the other month, that would be your second row from the bottom, you see that 148514317 again and then you take out all of these expenditures for August and that column up there, 1941458 and that would give you your bottom line balance to carry over into the next month.
So if you take these all the way across the spreadsheet, if you want to see in detail what was spent, you can just look at the columns and if you want to see what month, just look at the column [indiscernible] and see what was spent.
And what I tried to do on the right‑hand side all the way to the far right edge of the spreadsheet, it's giving you a total expenditure, the highlighted item for each column.
For example, for date, for the OPS position, 33,856.54 that has been expended, and then in the far right, under expenditures, and then the number underneath that, the 35,175.32, that gives you your total contracted services expenses to date.
And then that next column highlighted in the column, the 16,060.20, that's your total expenditures in the expense category.
So if you add up those total expenditures to date, you spent $85,092.06 which is if you take back what you started with, leaves you a balance of $64,713.90.
I spoke with Tiffany on I believe it was the first of this week ‑‑ 

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Yes. 

>> LATHERIA: ‑‑ and she told me that you guys couldn't spend all of that between now and June 30, so the money does go away June 30th.
So what I did is I put some of that in reserve, that's where the second spreadsheet comes in, I actually put $61,889 in reserve, because we have to do that, we have to release the budget if you know you're not going to spend it, is what reserve means; it just goes back into the administrative trust fund pot.  And then there may be another program under the budget, that they could actually use it under that reserve account, and we will not empty that pot that now everybody can use from.
And prior to that, only you guys could use it.  But since you don't have a plan for it, you have to actually release it.
So, which brings us to the second spreadsheet‑‑ I don't want to move onto the second spreadsheet.  
Do you have any questions on this one?  Does anybody have any questions for me?
About any of this?  

>> This is Glenna. 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> LATHERIA:  I'm sorry?  

[Talking over one another]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Glenna, then Mary, then Gina.  Go ahead, Glenna.  

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  Okay.  This is Glenna.  And do we have money left to spend before June 30th?  

>> LATHERIA:  Yes. 

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  So are we allowed to quickly come up with some way to spend that money, like for brochures or PSA?  If we can afford to do top dollar to get the word out with some of that?  

>> LATHERIA:  Yes, you could spend it on things like that.
One thing you have to consider is ‑‑ 

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  I mean, we have two months left. 

>> LATHERIA:  Yes.  You have a short turn around to do it in.
Oddly, like, brochures or educational material, you probably can get that done quickly.
So what happens is we have deadlines, even though the fiscal year ends June 30, they give us a deadline for anything new, new purchase orders ‑‑

[Dog barking in background] 

>> LATHERIA:  ‑‑ the deadline I believe is June 5?  it's a very short time, the PSAs or public service announcements normally takes longer, it takes a couple of months to get those together.
But yeah, you're definitely allowed, to answer your question, to come up with some activities.
But just keep in mind ‑‑ 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> LATHERIA: ‑‑ short timeframe. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  What about ordering the Safe 'N' Clear masks in anticipation of the next meeting?  

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  This is Glenna.  Another idea... 

[Pause]. 

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  Another idea would be for Facebook, right now we're only using the free services, but if we wanted more recognition on Facebook, we could pay for it, if we could afford to pay for that for one year.  Just a thought, you know.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  This is Karen.  I think that might be risky ‑‑ 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  ‑‑ be free to non‑profit organization on Facebook, I think it would be more visible, it would get more recognition on Facebook.
I'm not sure exactly what it is, but there are some things if you want to be promoted, you have to pay a fee and that might be a quick way to go ahead and make use of that, just get it for a year and see how it goes.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  This is Karen.  I don't know if that's going to be allowed, because it's the Department of Health.  They're ‑‑ I don't know that the monies can go to social media.
But we have other people that have their hands up.  Mary Hodges asked can dollars be moved between categories?  

>> LATHERIA:  No, it has to stay in the phased categories.  That's why they do have to divide it up.  I'll tell you what, if we look at the second page, after we put that amount in reserve ‑‑ 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Mmm‑hmm. 

>> LATHERIA: ‑‑ I reduce each category down by the reserve amount, so unless the original [indiscernible] services, [audio cutting in and out] I left the original and then [indiscernible] $10,149 in the services category and there was a reduction, if you look at the expense category of $51,241, so you have to spend, if we reserve it, it has to come out of that balance of the [indiscernible] category. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  

>> LATHERIA:  And this is education ‑‑ 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  All right. 

>> LATHERIA: ‑‑ and it would have to come out of the expense category, as long as it's [indiscernible] because if you have to pay somebody to create it, that would then have to come out of the service category. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  All right.  Thank you.  Gina has her hand raised, and then Cindy and then I thought I saw Debbe.  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Okay.  Am I muted or unmuted?  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  You're unmuted.  Go ahead.  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Thank you.  All right.  I have two questions.  One, is it permissible to ‑‑ I'm on the same page as Glenna.  In this respect, could we not do something, like paying for a streaming service or an online meeting services, you know, if you don't want to get [indiscernible] to have features that would allow us [indiscernible] at any time and that's my first question.
My second question is, is there anything that would prohibit us from contracting and paying for a hotel meeting that we would contract before June but maybe not do until July or August?  Could we do that?  

>> LATHERIA:  Okay.  I'm sorry, I'm going to have to ask you to repeat some of your question, because I'm on my cell and I'm sorry, you were kind of breaking up just a little bit.  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Okay.  

>> LATHERIA:  I believe you ‑‑ okay.  Could you repeat?  Start your question again and so I make sure ‑‑ 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Sure.  My question is could we pay for a streaming service ‑‑ there's two things, one is the online presence, like Zoom is the most popular one and they have a free service that you can use any time, 24 hours a day, unlimited people and time that we could get, a streaming service so that captioning is available for our public comments or anything that we might want to do?  That's, like, $99 a year.
There's so much out there that's available if [indiscernible] that's my first question 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Go ahead.  

>> LATHERIA:  I'm sorry.  I was going to say, there definitely is ‑‑ I don't know if GoToMeeting, a lot of our programs use GoToMeeting and make a meeting time or GoToWebinars where they can visual and report the meetings and everything.
I don't know, would that suit your needs?  Or are you talking about a service like that?  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Yes, ma'am, that's exactly what I'm talking about, because my thoughts are we could then have visual webinars and we could post and make available to our communities ‑‑ 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> LATHERIA:  Okay, yes, definitely a lot of our programs use, like I say the main one I know they use are the GoToWebinars and yes, there is a cost, but you would be able to view those meetings at any time and go on there at any time and again, you would have the visual and you could view it and post your attachments and everybody could get the same resources.
So, yes, you definitely can do that 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  That's perfect.
And the second question is ‑‑ 

>> Barb Page. 
>> OPERATOR:  Has left the conference. 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Okay, and we want to schedule a special meeting, not necessarily the quarterly council meeting, but we've been, you know [indiscernible] [audio cutting in and out] to have a face‑to‑face meeting in, say, July, we could procure it now in June, because the restrictions I'm sure will be lifted by then.  Even if not, we could meet with less than 50 people in a room.
So would that be something we could do?  

>> LATHERIA:  If you don't meet until after June 1st ‑‑ I'm sorry, July 1st, you would need to procure it after July 1st because it would need to be used in the year the services occurred. 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Okay. 

>> LATHERIA:  If you did it July 1st ‑‑ you can't use this year's budget for a service that's going to happen next fiscal year. 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Okay.  So we could do it for a June 30th meeting, correct?  

>> LATHERIA:  Yes, if you have a June 30th meeting, yes. 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Okay.  Thank you.  

[Talking over one another]. 
[Pause]. 

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  This is Glenna, I have my hand raised.  

[Silence]. 

>> INTERPRETER:  Karen, you're muted.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  I'm muted, sorry.  I was going to say we have Cindy, and then I thought Debbe, and then Glenna.  No, Debbe dropped.  So it would be Cindy, then Glenna.
Hello?  

>> CINDY SIMON:  Yeah, I'm here.  I don't need ‑‑ I was thinking [indiscernible] to do a couple of quick meetings and get brochures out for everybody.
And if anyone knows where to get the clear masks right now, please let me know, because I'm on a wait list for when they can start ‑‑ from when the production is out 

[Background noise on telephone]. 
[Pause].  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  All right, thank you, Cindy.  Glenna?  

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  Hi, this is Glenna.  I was thinking we have so much money left for this fiscal year, is that gonna affect us negatively in the future when we ask for additional money for next year?  

[Talking over one another]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  I would think so [chuckles].  

[Talking over one another]. 

>> LATHERIA:  This is Latheria.  They are taking into consideration, you know, what's going on with COVID right now and it has been a delay for everybody to get their funds spent, so....
Yes, we do encourage that everything is spent, because they do normally take that into consideration if you had a lot of budget left in this fiscal year.
But this time, I do know they are looking at everybody's surplus and taking that into ‑‑ taking COVID into consideration.
And I guess I do want ‑‑ 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> LATHERIA: ‑‑ I do want to say, though, while we're talking about the balance, again, Tiffany and I talked about each other via phone and I did put, again, a pretty good amount into reserve.
So, just to look at what you have left to date, that's gonna be on the second sheet that you have and that's after putting everything in reserve.
You can see if that was there, after putting everything in reserve of $9,074.90.  There's nothing happening in May or June, so you have $9,074 to work with.  That's what we kept and kind of ‑‑ 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  This is Karen, I have a question.  Is it possible to use some of that money for the clear masks, so that we'll have them available for members and council members for the next meeting and also for members of the public for our next meeting?  

>> LATHERIA:  That... um, I'm wondering, because these are masks, this is for COVID, right?  This is a mask?  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Yes, ma'am.  

>> LATHERIA:  The costs, I don't know how they will charge that, they're kind of keeping everything pertaining to COVID under a separate budget.  I would have to inquire about it and let you know.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  But they're not purchasing masks that are clear and that ‑‑ and we would need that for our meeting.  

>> LATHERIA:  That, I'm not sure, but I could definitely find out for you and get Tiffany an answer to return to you.  I should be able to find out by tomorrow.  

[Talking over one another]. 

>> LATHERIA:  ‑‑ because of that being a COVID thing, they're keeping that expenditures separate, they're reporting on it separate.
But I will find out again and I will let Tiffany know.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  Glenna, I thought I saw your hand up again.  Glenna?  

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  This is Glenna.  I have two things.  The first thing, I just forgot it... oh my goodness....
Okay.  First related to masks, will we have a meeting in August?  Or are we still going to do it virtually?  We're not sure, we don't know that answer....
Talking about how to spend the leftover money, remember we were just talking about sending a letter about access 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  ‑‑ and interpreter access and communication access in case of emergencies, we were just talking about writing something, writing a template, and that's something we could quickly send out and would require some cost, to have some cost associated with it, and we could work on that now.  And we would spend the money on postage and et cetera.  

>> Cecil's hand is raised.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay, go ahead.  

>> CECIL BRADLEY:  This is Cecil.  Thank you.  I want to go a little bit off topic for a moment.  The ideas are wonderful, but let's talk about the budget.  We need to think about since DOH has taken over our budget, that the budget is handled a little bit differently.
So we know longer have a line item in the budget.
The state is giving the Department of Health responsibility for us, which means that the DOH commits the funds regardless of whatever we need, whether it's a large amount or a small amount.
Obviously if we meet in person, it's a higher expense.  So DOH is taking on that responsibility to meet our needs.
So, one year we might spend more than $160,000 they allotted to us and they would still support us and get our needs met.  That is my understanding.  

[Pause].  

>> Is that accurate?  

>> LATHERIA:  I'm sorry, okay.  Are you asking if you need more than what's allocated, would they still support the Council?  Is that the question?  I'm sorry, I just want to make sure I understand clearly what's being asked.  

>> CECIL BRADLEY:  Who is asking me that question?  

>> LATHERIA:  This is Latheria, I'm sorry, this is Latheria.  

>> CECIL BRADLEY:  Okay.  I remember for several years ago when the Department of Health took over the budget.  They told us that they were committed to financing whatever the Council needed, for travel and expenses, support staff, any other needs we had, to make sure we were functionable.  Maybe not everything we wanted, but to make sure we could function as we needed to.
And they said, even though we had a limited budget, they didn't tell us they would give us whatever we wanted, but they did say they would make sure that we had enough money to cover our expenses.
And now I'm realizing that we have a lot more money than we had previously.  One time we had $60,000, one time we had $100,000.  Now we have 160.  So it seems like the department will find us the money that we need to function.  And annually it has varied.
For example, if interpreters costs go up or CART costs increase, we ‑‑ that will mean that our meetings will cost more and DOH will find that money to make sure that we can function minimally.
And also for expenses, like if we have special projects, yes, we have to ask DOH for approval, but again, the bottom line is my understanding is that DOH has committed to make sure that the Council will remain functional regardless of what expenses we incur.
Is that accurate?  

>> LATHERIA:  I can say that each year we have to [indiscernible]. 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

[Note from CART Captioner]:  CART Captioner is having a hard time hearing with all this background noise.  

>> LATHERIA:  ‑‑ be it whether it's the Council or the other programs, they do try to accommodate the requests that ‑‑ the amount requested in an annual operating budget time, they do try to accommodate that.
But it's always going to be a request, because it's not an unlimited ‑‑ the budget is not unlimited 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> LATHERIA:  ‑‑ and there are other programs that are financed out of the Administrative Trust Fund. 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> So to say there's a [indiscernible]. 

>> There's a lot of feedback.  

>> LATHERIA:  I'm sorry.  Which ‑‑ did you hear any of what I said?

[No response] 

>> LATHERIA:  Hello?  

>> We heard some.  There's just a lot of feedback. 

>> LATHERIA:  Okay.  I was just explaining that each year, which is actually coming up soon, they're gonna open up for a request for the annual operating budget for the next fiscal year, and they are going to try to accommodate everybody based on the budget that they presented.
But I will say that the budget is not unlimited, so other programs are funding out of that administrative funds ‑‑ 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> DARLENE LAIBL‑CROWE:  Darlene. 
>> OPERATOR:  Has left the conference. 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

>> LATHERIA:  The budget office does ‑‑ they do try to give everyone a budget that they ask for, but there are times where they have to send the funds back.
But you will get some budget, but I can't say it's always what you ask for.
Based on past expenditures or above that, if the person that's over the program sees they're going to make increased purchases or if the price goes up like I mentioned.
Does that kind of answer your question?

[No response] 

>> CECIL BRADLEY:  I've question.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Before anybody ‑‑ hold on, hold on, hold on, Cecil, hold for one second, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, hold.  There's a lot of background noise.  Please, everyone, make sure that if you're not speaking, you're muted on the computer and you're muted on your telephone.
I just had to look down and make sure I wasn't muted so I could finish my sentence.
Okay.  So the CART Provider is having a very difficult time hearing.  Okay?  I'm gonna mute myself.  And Cecil, feel free to share.  

>> CECIL BRADLEY:  Okay.  I'm done.  I suspended myself in mid air.
Okay.  So... basically what you're saying is very helpful.  But to be blunt, if I may, the last several years, DOH has never ‑‑ 

>> OPERATOR:  Has joined the conference. 

>> CECIL BRADLEY:  ‑‑ they have never asked us what we've needed and we've never proposed a budget.  We've never asked for any money, we've never said how much we need.  We've simple been given a budget.
So just keep that in perspective as we're moving forward here, that this is not a democratic process.
DOH has always given us what they give us and we follow it, we've never asked for anything and we've never been asked to provide what we need and we've never been asked how much we think we're going to spend.  There's been no negotiation.  Every year, we've just been given a budget in July and been told that's what we have to use for the year.
So, I just wanted to make ‑‑ put that out there.  Thank you.  

>> [Indiscernible]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Go ahead. 

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  DOH is aware that we want a second position and money for that, I'm sure they're aware that we've discussed that in meetings, you know, so putting that aside, as far as the new fiscal year, there's some concern about any board or councils possibly getting cut, because the state budget has decreased exponentially, and so with all these businesses closing for several months, and who can predict at these times the next fiscal year?  

[Silence]. 

>> OPERATOR:  Has left the conference. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  I'm not able to hear anything now.
Okay, it's back now.  

>> CINDY SIMON:  I think the sound just came back. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Yeah, the sound just came back.  I'm sorry, Glenna, it was cutting you off right in the middle of what you said, please.  

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  Okay.  Do you need me to repeat?  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Yes.  

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  The first part or Cecil was talking about the DOH giving up the funding.
But DOH, the folks have gone to meetings, like Shay, are aware that probably, you know, we're wanting a second position, we want money to do different activities.  Shay and DOH, the people there are aware of our Council's wishes.
So, putting that aside, the second thing is this concern of what will happen as far as the state budget because of revenue coming in 

>> OPERATOR:  Has joined the conference. 
 
>> GLENNA ASHTON:  ‑‑ businesses have closed on those things and at the same time, they may use this as an opportunity to cut different boards and councils because there are so many of them, they may, you know, may want to get rid of some. 

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  Debbe.  
>> OPERATOR:  Has left the conference. 

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  ‑‑ it's in state law, but it will be very interesting to see what happens with the state budget because it has been harmed such, having two months of businesses being closed.
So, you know, we just can't predict what's going to happen the next fiscal year.  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  That's true, that's true.
So, at this point, I mean, we have missed our break and we're headed into the next segment.
And this issue about the budget has been really very spirited, I mean, a discussion.  Do we want to continue with it?  Because it does seem to have a lot of prominence for folks.  

[Pause]. 

>> OPERATOR:  Has left the conference. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  So what can we do with the amount of money that's left?
My recommendation would be to make a purchase that's not an unnecessary purchase just to show the Department of That we need the money, but make a purchase that makes sense, either educational materials, public PSA, that I think is going to take too much time to do, or getting those masks, I think sends a message that we need the PPE and we need it where it's equal access to communication, you know.
That's my opinion.
All right.  Hand raised, Gina.

[Silence].

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Gina, you may be on mute, because nobody can hear you.  

[Pause]. 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Is that better?  Hello?  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Yes, now we can hear you.  Yes, go ahead.  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Okay [chuckles].  All right.  Latheria, when you were with us before, you were very gracious in explaining why we had to go so cheap in our travels, meaning that we had to have a $20 rental car rather than use our own car, and we only get 47¢ a mile rather than the federal 51¢ a mile.  Do you have the authority to let us use our own car and use our own mileage rate?  That would help our budget a lot. 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  [Indiscernible] suggested getting SSPs on our books, as well as the GoToMeetings and the streaming services, so that makes ‑‑ thank you.  

>> LATHERIA:  I was gonna say to your question about the travel, I believe that was Kim Ingram that shared the travel information, and so Kim would be the person to speak to you about that.
So I don't know ‑‑ 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Okay, no problem.  Thank you.  

>> Okay.  Do you have your contact information?  

>> LATHERIA:  I know Tiffany does, that's not a problem.  Thank you.  

>> Okay, mmm‑hmm.  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  I don't know that we've resolved anything about the money and what we're planning on doing.  We've had a good discussion.
Do we want to table this for maybe five to ten minutes so everybody can go to the bathroom, get a drink, and then we'll do our agency roundup?  Does that sound good?

[No response] 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  All right.  We'll do that.  We'll be on break for ten minutes.  We'll return at 3:40.  We're going to go through our agency updates pretty quickly.  

>> LATHERIA:  Okay.  Will you guys need me anymore?  This is Latheria, I'm sorry, do you guys have anymore questions about the balance itself or will you be discussing it among yourselves how do you want to spend it?  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  We're going to discuss that amongst ourselves at this point.  I don't know that there's much more ‑‑ you've answered so many questions.  Thank you very much.  

>> LATHERIA:  Okay.  You're welcome.  And if there's anymore questions, Tiffany can relay them to me.  Thank you.  Have a good afternoon.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  You too.  Bye‑bye.  

[Break].

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  Karen?  I was asking them if it's all right that James Scott be on part of the Whereby, as well as CART, so that he can see us, and then we can move the pictures over so he can see the interpreter.  

[Pause].  

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  So we're waiting for permission from Lisa.  

[Pause]. 

>> INTERPRETER:  This is the interpreter Rebecca speaking.  AQI said that's fine, you can send them the link.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Okay, good.  

[Pause].  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Has anybody been hearing me for the last two minutes?  

>> CINDY SIMON:  I haven't heard anything.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  So I had a whole little intro about we're going to go through each of our agencies and Debbe has been the lead for I think for two different agency the ‑‑ or two different HLAA chapters, or is it three now?  It's either two or three.  Two?  

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  Well, I have two chapters, plus the State Association. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  And the State Association, and had organized a meeting the other day, which I was able to attend part of it, and wanted to know if you wanted to give an update, Debbe, on how HLAA is doing.  

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  Well, we are going to do it again next month.  There is a possibility we might do another one next week on the 19th, so we're gonna decide by tomorrow if we're doing another one next week, the 19th, or next month.  So I'll keep you posted.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  And the annual meeting has been cancelled this year, hasn't it?  

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  Correct, yes. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  That was my understanding.  Okay.  All righty.  Thank you very much, Debbe.
FAD representative ‑‑ oh, I'm sorry, go ahead, Debbe.  

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  One thing they're planning to do is have some virtual meetings/webinars. 

>> OPERATOR:  Has joined the conference. 

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  ‑‑ during the convention time. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Oh, right, right, right, right, right.  Can people find that information if they go to that website, HLAA?

[No response] 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  All right.  Good enough.  All right.  FAD representative, Glenna?  

[Silence]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Glenna, are you ready to share about FAD?  

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  There's really not much to report.  I've been trying to contact the president of FAD. 

>> OPERATOR:  Has left the conference. 

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  ‑‑ about what to do, but I have chatted with some of my Deaf friends, and the most important thing is of all seems to be this stay at home and stay healthy.
I haven't heard from just maybe one or two Deaf folks that have gotten the virus among my local organizations here and the Deaf group.  It seems like everyone's been fine.
They're getting the information.  Some organizations have been sending out information to make sure that people are getting the correct information, because sometimes on Facebook, you know, there's misinformation floating around out there.
I've seen some Deaf organizations just trying to make sure that the deaf people are getting the correct information.
And so, so far it seems everyone is doing great.  Fingers crossed and knock on some wood.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay, thank you very much, Glenna.
Next is ALDA representative, Chris?

[Pause].  

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  This is Chris.  For ALDA, we had our monthly meeting to online only, a Zoom meeting, and at this point there are a lot of people in the group that aren't as technologically savvy, I guess, so we've just been having, like, social hour where everybody just does little chatting on Zoom, talking about how they're dealing with shelter in place, things like that.
So I think it's been pretty supportive for everybody as far as anxiety goes and things like that during the pandemic.
We're hopeful that, you know, as the summer progresses or if we continue to do more social distancing and continue with our online meetings, that we will have online meeting presentations.  We will probably do that maybe in the summer months.
We've really been pretty good about nothing stops us from having a monthly meeting, and this pandemic is proof, because we still haven't missed a monthly meeting.  Where we cancelled the face‑to‑face meeting, but we had a Zoom meeting.
And next Tuesday we'll do that as well.
I'll be sending an e‑mail out to everybody with a link and it will also be posted on Facebook.
We don't limit it to just ALDA members.  Any guests can attend.  It is an ALDA meeting, so it's not just for everybody, but if anybody wants to come and see what ALDA is about and meet and chat with us, everybody is welcome.
So I did want to say that.
On the agenda it kind of said problems that you're facing as an organization.  For the pandemic, I think one of the biggest is probably misinformation, just teaching people to follow‑up on social media and otherwise, and consider the source.
There is one group on Facebook that I left and no longer participate in because I thought that they were posting a lot of misinformation.  I really don't even want to go so far as to name that group, other than to say just consider the source.  And the source is not social media or not who posts it, but look at where they're sharing it from, the link, things like that.
Also, the other problem I would say for people that are late‑deafened is if anybody needs accommodations or communication access, like Chris was saying before in our emergency planning discussion, it's not always a cookie cutter approach or one size fits all.
You can't obviously put in a sign language interpreter for accommodations for somebody that lost their hearing a month ago and doesn't know sign language, and just making people understand that there are different ways to accommodate and making sure that people understand the options for CART and remote captioning and other ways to provide visual communication.
As far as our national convention, our national convention is in October.  There hasn't been an official announcement as far as anything is going to change for that.  I think we're kind of in a wait and see mode to see how much longer we'll be social distancing and see where we're at as far as flattening the curve or second wave of infections, things like that.  

[Pause].  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Thank you, Chris, I appreciate the update.
Now, update from individual who is deaf‑blind.  Darlene, are you on the call?

[No response].

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Darlene, are you available?  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Darlene had ‑‑ Darlene e‑mailed and said that her phone died and so she has to be done, she couldn't participate any further today, but she ‑‑ her phone died and she was trying to use other things, but she can't right now.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay, thank you very much, Tiffany.
All right.  Audiology representative?  

>> CINDY SIMON:  Obviously with audiology, this is very, very difficult, there is a big issue with providing distance telehealth, since Medicare finally, this past week, wrote audiology in, but then you're not allowed to charge for any services you normally wouldn't in your office, so no one can charge.
If you have ‑‑ I think what we'll see in the future is everyone is going to be using hearing aids and connecting the individuals to the web so they can reprogram hearing aids through the phone 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Mmm‑hmm. 

>> CINDY SIMON:  But I have to tell you, I tried that on one patient and what they needed was limited and we couldn't do it, he lives, like, 50 miles away.  So it doesn't always work.
We're just trying to figure out how to take care ‑‑ obviously you can't test, people are coming out with all of these tests where you send them a kit and it's calibrated and it has gone ‑‑ it depends.  Some are jumping on the bandwagon, some are not.  But that's what we're trying to deal with, because I think a lot of people are going to be very antsy about coming in.
On the other hand, we've been open about considering communication is essential and so much of the population has visual issues, as well as hearing assistance, I had a lady who lives close to where I live come to my house yesterday and I was able to fix her hearing aid and she said God bless you, now I'll hear the little ones on Sunday.
And most people, like myself, we haven't been charging anybody for these services, so no one has any income through this, but we're still trying to keep communication open.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Thank you very much, Cindy.
Department of Children and Families?

[No response] 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  We had John here, but I guess maybe not right now?

[No response].

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  We're going to move on.  Department of Education?  

>> CECIL BRADLEY:  Okay.  Thank you.  Good afternoon, again.  This is Cecil.  I'll try to keep it brief.
A few things about some information for you.  The Department of Education is very concerned with the school system in the state of Florida.  As you know, the kids have been staying at home.
But DOE is very much looking at the situation and the deaf children, you know, they've all gone home, and that is a challenge.
Also because of that challenge RMTC Deaf and Hard‑of‑Hearing Resources Program, which is funded by DOE, the Bureau of Special Education Student Services, that funding provides resources to parents and students to help with the COVID and dealing with the students being schooled at home, quote‑unquote.
That's their offering to help with that.
In the fall, we don't know.
DOE has ordered some of us to continue working from home via telework through May 14th.  After that date, we aren't sure what's going to happen yet.
Working with other state agencies as well, are working at home.  Some go to the office.
As far as myself, I am working from home.  I am doing telework because of health reasons and medical issues.
The point is, it's awesome.  But it's hard being ‑‑ working from home four, five, six weeks.  It's very difficult.
But it has worked.  It's not easy.  Because we're so used to face‑to‑face meetings and solving challenges, and now everything has to be done through video or virtually.
VR has close to 16 staff interpreters, both state and contract interpreters.  Because of COVID‑19, they are all working remotely from home.
And we pushed for them to become virtual interpreters, meaning at some point, you know, not going in person unless they can do virtual or the willing ‑‑ or the interpreter is willing to go.
But otherwise, using virtual means, VRI.  Interpreting, you know, if they have a special arrangement to provide an interpreter, a distance interpreter, so they would link via video.  And then the customer could link via video.
And so it has worked out.  We've been doing a lot of that lately because of not meeting face‑to‑face.
There are very few programs out there willing to open up.  Cindy said as far as audiologists go, that's a big concern.  For us as well, because audiological services and hearing aids and it's difficult to do face‑to‑face.  Some of them will.
But the challenge is starting with telemedicine, telehealth.  It's not comfortable with ‑‑ I'm not comfortable with that.
Audiological services, because it only applies to sitting for hearing aids seems not the full audiological services that may be needed.  So that's been an interesting challenge we face.
Hmm... many programs have suffered.  Many providers of our services have suffered.  They can't provide a service and earn money, so many people are getting laid off, and are eeking by, so we're trying to figure out how to help them and keep them going, like job services, training.  Teams ‑‑ maybe have classes, have training to prepare them for work 
It's a federal requirement, so we're trying to do a lot of that, via the video interpreting, for the clients or the students.
It is a huge challenge, because doing things remotely is not easy.  It has to be an agreement between the provider and the student 
However, we're here and we're continuing to work, and so looking ahead, I'm looking at potentially more limited face‑to‑face interaction for quite a while.
Thank you, and that's my report.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Thank you very much.  
Okay.  So Department of Elder Affairs?  Mary wrote:  Department of Elder Affairs ‑‑ 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Mary has a response in chat. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  I know, I'm reading that right now.
Chris, hold on, we're running late, I want to make sure everyone has a chance to present.
Department of Elder Affairs has been providing meals and other services to homebound elders during pandemic.  We'll get to your question.
FRID next?  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Nothing new to report for the Council.  A quick kudos to Cindy, thank you for the device for the hearing aids, it has worked perfectly for this meeting.  Thank you.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay, thank you.  Chris, you had a question for Cecil?

[Pause]. 

>> CECIL BRADLEY:  Go ahead, Chris, this is Cecil.  

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  Hi, everybody.  I keep going back and forth between the video and the captions.
Cecil, I just had a quick question for DOE or VR.  I was wondering if VR still provides interpreters for the Governor's Office when he's in Tallahassee?  

>> CECIL BRADLEY:  Thank you for asking, Chris.  Yes, well ‑‑ let me back up for a second.
In Tallahassee, we have staff interpreters available to assist the Governor's Office, but the Governor himself has been going out in the field and the Governor then hires interpreters in other locations.
It started a month or two ago, the Governor, before, was hiring interpreters out there and then stopped and was using our staff interpreter in Tallahassee for a while.
But now the Governor, since he's traveling more often, is hiring local interpreters in those areas 
He's very supportive of using and hiring interpreters out there.
One thing I forgot to mention, vocational rehabilitation is not closed, it is still open for business, so any deaf or hard of hearing, deaf‑blind, if they need services, can still apply, they can apply online or an appointment, a virtual appointment.
So, Chris, does that answer your question about the interpreters for the Governor?

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  This is Chris, yes, it does, thank you very much.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  Thank you all.  Glenna has her hand up.  Go ahead, Glenna.  

[Pause]. 

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  This is a question for Cecil.  You said VR is still open?  I know many, many people have applied for unemployment benefits and I'm just wondering if the Deaf are doing that unemployment or are they applying for SSDI, they're giving up their jobs or lost their jobs?

>> Okay.  Um... I saw some NAD ‑‑ I saw some NAD on a committee and we have encouraged people to apply for both 

[Silence]. 

>> Can you hear me?  

>> Oh, hang on.  Can we not hear?  

>> Now you're back.  

>> Are you all deaf?  Cecil says, are you all deaf?  [Laughs].
Do we need to repeat?  

[Note from CART Captioner]:  Could the interpreters please identify who is speaking for the CART?  Thank you.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  I heard the response, I heard it.  

>> CECIL BRADLEY:  Yes, I would say there's nothing wrong with them applying for unemployment and Social Security benefits.  They would have a backup.
But again, Social Security may be a long wait but it might be a good idea because you don't know at this point whether they'll get their jobs back.
I heard 3.2 million have applied for unemployment.  3.2 million Americans have applied for unemployment benefits!

>> INTERPRETER:  And this is Cecil. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  Thank you very much, Cecil.
It is a very minutes past 4:00 and we have a speaker at 4:00 o'clock.
But before we go to the speaker, I wanted to see if Tiffany, if you received nominations?  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Yes, I'm ‑‑ this is Tiffany, I'm glad you brought that up, because that's what I was raising my hand for.
We need a final ‑‑ we got past the nominations and then I sent out a new form that gave the vote for the most nominations ‑‑ what's left after the ties and so ‑‑ 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  All right, let me ‑‑ 

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  I think I got everybody else's final ballots.  I need yours.  

[Pause]. 

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  In the meantime, the rest of y'all need to be looking at this ‑‑ 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  It's from the Debbie School.  It's in Section 9 under resources.  

[Pause]. 

>> Hello?  
>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Um... yes, I'm sorry, I was distracted.  Gina, can you take this for a second so I can do my vote?  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Are you ready to go forward with our speakers?  They seem to be prepared. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Yes, go ahead.  Tiffany just told me the only vote she's waiting on is mine, so let me go ahead and take care of that while you introduce the speakers.  Thank you.  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Oh, we now have our third speaker from the University of Miami Debbie Institute and Tiffany gave you the resources to follow along.  Would you please welcome Kathleen Vergara and Lynn, I'm going to mess up the last name, Miskiel.  Go ahead.  

>> LYNN MISKIEL:  Hi, this is Lynn Miskiel.  First of all, I want to make sure that you can hear me before I keep talking.  

>> CINDY SIMON:  You're very clear, Lynn.  Hi.  

>> LYNN MISKIEL:  Hi, Cindy!  Thank you.  Thank you so much for inviting us to share the things that we're doing here at the Debbie School.  We're really excited to talk about what we do with you.
Just to give a quick outline of how we'll proceed, we'll give a little bit of the history of the Debbie School and some of the research and programs that have taken place here, and then get more in‑depth into our auditory oral education program for children who are deaf and hard of hearing.
I know you've had some thoughts about distance learning and we'll talk about that, because we're doing it.
Again, I'll introduce myself and Kathy will take over and let you know all of the amazing things that have gone over here at the Debbie School.
Again, I'm Lynn Miskiel, I'm a speech‑language pathology and audiologist and I'm a listening in spoken language specialist.  I've been here at the Debbie School over 30 years ‑‑ that seems kind of crazy ‑‑ also I'm related to the A.G. Bell Florida as well 

>> OPERATOR:  Has joined the conference. 

>> LYNN MISKIEL:  ‑‑ I'm the treasurer of A.G. Bell.
So I think that's ‑‑ oh, and I direct the auditory oral program here at the Debbie School and the therapy team.
So, Kathy, share a little bit about yourself and tell them about the school.  

>> KATHLEEN VERGARA:  Hi, I'm Kathy Vergara and I hope you can hear me as well.  Can you hear me okay?  

>> CINDY SIMON:  Very clearly. 

>> Yes, we can, thank you very much. 

>> KATHLEEN VERGARA:  Wonderful.  As I said, I'm the director at the Debbie School, my background is in Deaf education and I've been involved in this for many, many, many years, I started in the '80s as a volunteer and my kids were young and at home and they just kept asking me to do more and more things, and so for the last ten years, actually a little more than ten years, I've been the director of the Debbie Institute.
So if you look at the second page in the first slide on the second page, there is a picture of the Mailman Center of child development and we are a division of the Mailman Center, we are located in the University of Miami campus and the Mailman Center is part of the Department of Pediatrics so we're sort of right in the center of Miami.
The Mailman Center's mission is improving lives through innovation, connection, and impact.
And the Debbie Institute is a division of the Mailman Center, so we certainly honor and work toward their mission of innovation, connection, and impact.
If you'll look at the second slide, it tells a little bit more about the Mailman Center.  It was opened in 1971 as a university center of excellence in developmental disabilities.
These programs are known as UCEDDs across the country.
Initially there were 11 centers and now there are over 67.
The reason they started really was because in the 19 ‑‑ as I said, we opened in 1971 and at that time, there was ‑‑ part of that time, Eunice Shriver and the Kennedy Center opened our doors, especially for children.
And prior to that time, I think as you all know, most of the children were either educated in either private schools or they stayed at home, most of them stayed at home.
And they didn't ‑‑ really, they weren't entitled to public education.  So this was the beginning of that initiative.
And Eunice Shriver felt there need to be services for people with disabilities and she and Robert Cook had this idea of these centers.
So the funding from the Mailman Center came from the United States Public Health Service, the send Foundation, and the Joseph Abraham Mailman Foundation.
The reason the Mailman family was interested was because Abraham Mailman's granddaughter was Debbie, Debra Jean Segal had cerebral palsy and when she donated the money for the Mailman Center, that there be a demonstration school established as a division of the Mailman Center, and so really, the money was given in honor of their granddaughter Debbie, and so we have the Debbie Institute.
So if you'll go to the next slide, on page three, the next slide, there is a picture of some of our darling children, and a school bus on our playground, and we focus on research, training, and service, and as a ‑‑ interfacing with the mission of the Mailman Center.
As I said before, we're a demonstration school.  And there are a few demonstration schools around the country.
It's really ‑‑ they started these schools initially and became known as demonstration schools.
There are many reasons why it's very important that we have these types of schools.  One thing is we are closely related to universities, so we have many research sources available to us.
Demonstration schools focus on evidence‑based instruction and develop actually evidence‑based instruction.
We have the opportunity to work with professionals in the university on innovative and educational strategies.
We focus on teaching and learning opportunities and practicum opportunities for students.
So at the Debbie Institute on an annual basis, we have an average of between 50‑75 university students from throughout the world who come through our program.
They either come to observe or they do internships here or different kinds of practicum observation opportunities.
We work closely with the Department of Otolaryngology, and there are music students here, we have ‑‑ we work with the School of Education, the Department of Psychology, physical therapists come here to do practicums.
So we're constantly busy.
And it's a very wonderful opportunity for us.
The medical students at the university have developed what they call the Debbie Project and they come, their students come and volunteer regularly throughout the year.
So, all of these things are very ‑‑ provide very enriching opportunities for our students.
We also have scientific research.  I'm going to talk a little bit about that.
And then we work with many organizations in our community.  And the research programs and the things that have gone done at the Debbie School, the education program, has become approving ground for public policy in the past.
So if you'll go to page four, under our research projects, slide one, one of the initial researchers at the Debbie School was Diane Bricker, she and her husband William initially were at Vanderbilt University and they directed The Toddler Research and Innovation Project and that was in the late 1970's and early 1980's, and we have to think back that at this time, at that time, there was really no research or evidence to demonstrate the efficacy of providing educational services for young children, period, pre‑schoolers, early childhood education program 
But much less for children with disabilities.
And so they were very interested in that aspect of the field and demonstrating the efficacy and importance of early intervention.
So, they came ‑‑ when they came to the Debbie School, they were ahead of the early intervention project and they looked at the advances of children with special needs ages 3‑5 with intensive early intervention.
And actually, I started as a volunteer in that program and learned a lot from them.
This became a pilot program, and it transitioned to Miami‑Dade County public schools, which is now known as the pre‑kindergarten program for children with disabilities.
So, when you think of the small pilot program that was at the Debbie School, now in Miami‑Dade County they have 110 schools that have pre‑kindergarten programs for children with disabilities.
There are 215 classrooms and over 3,000 students are served.
So, this is how these little seeds begin and develop important educational programs.  And I think there were nine programs throughout the country that participated in this study, that Diane Bricker was ahead of and she developed the developmental program system, we still use that curriculum here at the Debbie School and she was one of the authors on the ages in stages questionnaire.
So then she moved onto Washington and one of the next studies that took place in the '80 as the IHDP, Infant Health and Development Project and that was developed at the university by Charles Bauer, Keith Scott, and Hogan and they were working on infants and the research was done on eight sites throughout the country and part of this project was housed at the Debbie School in the program that was conducted in Miami‑Dade County.
The positive outcomes from this project, and what's important, federal funding for early intervention services throughout the country, so this team of people that worked at all of these centers went to Washington and talked about the importance of early intervention for children.
They were looking at high‑risk born infants.  They talked about children born at risk and children born with disabilities.
And so eventually Charlie Bauer and Keith Scott and this group of people, and people from Broward and throughout the state then went to Washington ‑‑ to Florida ‑‑ to Tallahassee and advocated for a starting part C program in Florida, and that began in the early 1990's, from birth to three.
Prior to that time, prior to all of this research, birth to three in part C had been part of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act but funding was never really put in for those programs, and so it was this research that started all of that.
And then if we go to page five, another program that was here was the Legacy For Children and Rebecca Fewell worked on the Infant Health and Development Project in Washington, she was part of that program, and then they brought her here.
So the Legacy For Children was kind of an offshoot for that.
And it was a ten‑year longitudinal study designed to investigate the effectiveness of parenting intervention from mothers of low socioeconomic background, and this study was focused on moms and funded by the Centers for Disease Control and done in collaboration with the University of Southern California and the constitute was the entity that conducted all the research.
One of the programs was a program for children, the control group was here at the university, the group was at the university, and there was a control group out in the community.
This program is now being implemented and throughout the United States and Canada.
And then one of the early programs that was developed doing research with children who are hearing impaired, and I came down and volunteered for that program as well before I became an employee of the University of Miami, and that was the Tactile Speech Project and that was led by Kim Oiler and Rebecca Eilers who are no longer at the university and this is using tactile aids.  And you have to remember, this is during the 1980's and this is during the time when they were doing all of the research with cochlear implants throughout the country, and actually the world.
So, there was this parallel research going on with tactile aids and with cochlear implants.
So, if you look at the slide on page six, there's a model of a tactile aid.  If you kind of thing of a Baha, which is a vibrating hearing aid [chuckles], it's a similar principle, except the sounds were delivered to the skin of the wearer.  So the sound was transferred from a microphone to an array of transducers that are worn against the skin.
The research revealed that the kids showed about 10‑15% increase in their ability to understand sound.
The sound was developed in an array of the frequencies, so basically the high information ‑‑ high frequency information was what they received and they could understand through the patterns of sound felt on their skin.
And when they were, like, in small groups and worked in therapy ‑‑ in therapy in small classroom groups, it was very helpful, but they were not able to generalize the information.  They work the tactile aid out into the, you know, public situations where there was a lot of ambient noise and also there was a problem with habituation, with the skin, if there's a constant vibration on the skin or if you're wearing, like, a ring, eventually you don't ‑‑ the ring adapts and you don't notice it, it habituates, so it wasn't as ideal as cochlear implants.
Naturally we all know [chuckles] and most of the children in our program now wear cochlear implants.
So all of that research did ‑‑ because of that research, we did establish our program for children with hearing loss.  It began as an after‑school program and then eventually evolved into what it is today, and Lynn will be explaining a lot more about that to you.
Along with our auditory oral education program, we have our birth to two early education program, and that program is for children with varying exceptionality.
And then we have our early childhood education program, which is for children without disabilities.
So those children are ‑‑ people often ask me well, why would a family that just has children without disabilities want to come to the Debbie School because we're an early intervention center for children where disabilities?
And the reason is our location, we're right in the middle of a medical school [chuckles] and there are many people who work here, and also the civic center is near us as well and there are many people who work in this area that need child care for their children.
And we have a very good reputation throughout the community because we really ‑‑ our educational program, we're really an educational center, we're just not a child care center.
And so, you know, we have no problems, we have a very long waiting list [chuckles] for that program.
And those children are role models in our classrooms.
Initially when we started our program, there was a lot of resistance, that was in the early 1990's and mid‑1990's, there was resistance and people were afraid.
But now we found it's a win‑win for everybody.  Children with disabilities and children with hearing loss benefit greatly by having peer role models and the children who are typically developing really learn so much by ‑‑ they really learn to understand differences and accept children who are different when they are out in the community, they're very comfortable with children with disabilities.
So now nobody asks a question about it, we just have a huge waiting list for the program [chuckles].
If you'll go to page seven, a lot of times people ask for well, where do your referrals come from?  We work very closely with Early Steps program in Miami‑Dade County, we have Early Steps North and that's located ‑‑ that's part of the University of Miami and also part of the Mailman Center.
And then we have ‑‑ it's Early Steps actually North Dade, that's the formal name, and we have one located in the southern part operated by Benchmark and in the southern part of Miami‑Dade County and it also includes the services ‑‑ the services also include Monroe County.
Then we work very, very closely with Miami‑Dade County public schools, and Lynn will be explaining more about that later.
We've had contracts for both of our birth to two program and our auditory oral program with Miami‑Dade County public schools since the mid 1980's and 1990's, so we've been working with them for many, many years.
We also receive referrals from audiologists in the community.  We work very closely with the Department of Otolaryngology at the University of Miami, and then families in the community who have their children come here make referrals, and tell you if they have another family ‑‑ or a friend whose child has a form of a hearing loss or a disability, they'll make a referral to the Debbie School.
Our funding streams, as I said, we have had contracts with Miami‑Dade County Public Schools for many years.  We are so fortunate in our community that our School Board has always supported and realized and recognize the importance of early intervention and early education.
So, we are blessed.
We have for our birth to two program, the school system funds several other agencies, ARC, Easter Seals, where our team of agencies, community agencies in our community work closely together to provide services for children with hearing loss and children with disabilities.
We also work with the Florida Department of Health, the Early Steps Program, and we have ‑‑ we contract with Sertoma Speech and Hearing Foundation, they have a contract for children with hearing loss and we contract with them.
And then we have a contract ‑‑ or a grant from the Florida Department of Education, we're one of the two auditory oral discretionary projects in the state of Florida.
The Children's Trust, which is a local funding agency, publicly funded program in Miami‑Dade County, and they support our summer program.
And then, of course, we ‑‑ the children without disabilities pay tuition and then we have to do a lot of fundraising, like many of these programs do.
And now Lynn Miskiel is going to tell you a lot more about the auditory oral education program 

>> LYNN MISKIEL:  So if you go to page eight, you will see a couple of our children who are deaf and hard of hearing.  For those of you that are familiar, they're making a "U" for the University of Miami.
If you'll look at the second slide on page eight, you'll see more information on the program and the project.  
As Kathy said, we have a grant, it's the same category of discretionary project, like RMTC D/HH, we're much, much smaller [chuckles] but we are able to serve our children and the South Florida region in that program 

>> KATHLEEN VERGARA:  We also work closely with RMTC. 

>> LYNN MISKIEL:  Yes, if you heard Kathy, we work closely with them and they're our partners.
So the programs here at the Debbie School, we have programs for children deaf and hard of hearing 0‑7 years of age and we have a program 0‑3, we have two infant toddler developmental specialists, if you're familiar, there's a program called Sky High which trains educators to really work with families whose children are deaf/hard of hearing, so both of our ITDSes are Sky High trained and we can do support for some of those families.
Family support, so we've been ‑‑ we have family activity group, we try to get families together.  We'll talk about that with the age of COVID and how we're handling some of that.
And of course because we have a number of kids who are here at the center, those families have each other as well.
Speech and language therapy, the children here at the center‑based program get intensive speech and language therapy services through certified licensed speech‑language pathologists who are also listening in spoken language specialists.
Listening and spoken language specialist if you're not familiar, it is a national/international certification that is earned through being mentored and practiced and actually taking an exam that's managed through the listening and spoken language specialist academy, which is part of the National A.G. Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing umbrella but it is a different agency.  So we have listening and spoken language specialists here.
Audiologist, I am an audiologist, but as Cindy Simon will tell you, I play one on TV, I'm not really a clinical audiologist in terms of my practice.  But I am the audiology liaison.
I know exactly what I need done, but I leave it to our younger and more experienced audiologists, like Cindy, to actually implement.
But we work very closely with the audiologist, Dr. Bob Siffer (sp), some of you may know at the Mailman Center and the whole audiology team University of Miami Department of Otolaryngology and we support the needs of our children here.
Teletherapy, we've done teletherapy in the past.  Again, we've jumpstarted that program, it's on Red Bull now, so to speak [laughs] as with all of us, so we can talk about how that is going in a bit 
But we did offer teletherapy services before COVID as well.
Our South Florida outreach, again, we really ‑‑ they're especially ‑‑ I think we all understand that for education of children with hearing loss, we really need more professional ‑‑ more capacity, we need more professionals who know what to do for families and children, so we're striving always to support our school districts and also other professionals in training educators, speech‑language pathologists and early educators to support the needs of the families and the children.
We do that primarily in South Florida.
As I have been learning from all the news, which I didn't know, 30% of the population in Florida is in Miami‑Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach, and we do focus primarily on South Florida but work through St. Lucie County and all over, and we work with development and we are building capacity in our areas.
And again, you can see on that slide, the certified professionals we talked about already, we have the speech pathologist, listening and spoken language specialist, teachers of the Deaf, and audiologists.
On page nine on the first slide, we have a little bit more detail about how our center‑based auditory oral education program is structured.  So it is a full day educational program.  Again, because we have these long‑standing contracts and relationships with Miami‑Dade County Public Schools, we are able to offer that full day educational program for no tuition for children who are attending.
We have up to 35‑40 students that are enrolled each year.
We have four inclusion classrooms.  Our youngest classroom in the auditory oral program, we generally start them when they're walking, between 1‑2 years of age, and we have basically or 1‑2‑year‑old classrooms and 2‑3‑year‑old classrooms and those two classrooms have role models for children who are typically hearing and we might have up to seven children who are deaf/hard of hearing and then 2‑3 role models who are typically hearing.
And we'll have a teacher, typically it's a higher developmental specialist and a teaching assistant in that classroom ‑‑ or, excuse me, in those two classrooms.
Then we have two classrooms which fully inclusive.  We have our pre‑school, which is our 3‑year‑olds, and our pre‑K, which is our 4‑year‑olds, those two classrooms are really one‑to‑one inclusion or mainstreaming, so we'll have anywhere from 9‑12 children who are typically hearing and up to nine children who are deaf and hard of hearing 
We'll have additional staff in those classrooms, they're led by teachers of the Deaf and they experienced teaching assistants.
And that is really our opportunity for our kids who are deaf/hard of hearing to really be working on those skills of working in what is typical classrooms that are larger.
We'll talk more about our inclusion and how we make sure everybody's needs are met in a minute.
If you'll notice, the second slide on that same page, but let me give you the overall structure again.
So again, we have the four inclusion classrooms.  And then our fifth classroom is self‑contained.  The fifth classrooms are primary classrooms.  Our head teacher, Vicki [NAME] teaches that classroom.  It's usually kindergarten, first, and second graders.
We have a teaching assistant and as I said, our head teacher.
Our deal in the auditory oral program is to really have the kid start with us young and really work on their listening and spoken language skills, their access to audition, and families choose us for that.
We know that obviously there's other choices in modalities, but families who decide to place their children here at the Debbie School program are interested in the children having listening and spoken language for their education.
They may have different languages at home.  We have children to use sign language at home, definitely children who use Spanish at home.
But the families do choose this program for auditory oral and English.
So our goal is to have the kids maybe ready by hopefully kindergarten to go out into their home schools.  But again, we get the children at all different ages, different experiences with their amplifications and different needs in and of themselves.
So, we do have the opportunity for them to stay with us for kindergarten, first, and even through second, to give them very small group specialized instruction.
So we have our self‑contained classroom that we're able to place them in for that extra specialized instruction that's curriculum‑based, public school curriculum‑based.
Again, we do have therapy services, intensive speech and language training, the audiology services, and home‑based services we talked about.
So let's talk a little bit about the inclusion program.  We call it thoughtful inclusion.  For those in the education world, you might be ‑‑ might think about least restrictive environment and we're always looking for our children to have the most typical experiences.
But we also want to serve their needs and give them specialized instruction.
So we do our inclusion thoughtfully.  We individualize it based on observation and standardized testing in terms of the children's skillsets in both language and their development.
We often will have the children maybe in small groups, so the teacher of the Deaf can be working with them on really specific vocabulary or specific tasks.
We will bring the kids in where maybe part of the day they're with a larger group, with children that are typically hearing.
And then we do have kids that come in, a number of kids with the early amplification and intensive intervention, their language levels are really age appropriate and they can spend a good portion of their day in a full inclusion model with kids that are typically hearing.
Again, we are always thinking about what are the needs of the child and how are they learning?
So we always want to think about inclusion as a thoughtful continuum versus just we have to have kids out with kids that are typically developing.
On page ‑‑ did I miss anything, Kathy?  [Laughs].
Since we're right here, we always check in.
On page ten, let's talk a little bit about the B‑2 early education program because we do have children who are deaf/hard of hearing who are placed in that program.
There are a couple of opportunities that that program enables us to address.  One is if the child is really little.  If a child who is under the age of 12 months who isn't walking yet, the family would like them to be in a center‑based program, they can come into our early education program because we have the appropriate facilities for very, very young children, and for infants and toddlers but they're still in an environment where they have the expertise for deaf/hard of hearing.
Also if a family does choose a sign language approach and more visual modality, the public school programs that use sign language don't start till the children are three, so we are able to have the children in the two program.  It's not a sign language program, by any means, but we have a lot more opportunity for a multi‑sensory approach and we have a number of our staff who have at least basic signs and we can start that communication language model going.  So that's an opportunity.
Also, we have a number of children who have hearing loss but also have comorbidities or other diagnoses in addition to the hearing loss.
Honestly, most common lately are kids who are deaf/hard of hearing and also on the autism spectrum, so we're able to address the full needs in the B‑2 program, again having expertise in other areas, but still the expertise in deaf/hard of hearing.
We have children who are dual sensory as well who might go through that program if they have a vision impairment and who are also deaf/hard of hearing.
Locally in Miami‑Dade County, we have a strong Lighthouse For the Blind and we're able to collaborate with them and we have a couple of our students be able to go once they turn three go into the Lighthouse For the Blind and they'll support the deaf and hard of hearing needs and visual needs.
We feel very fortunate we have a continuum of services that we can offer to families and they're working with their very young children and working with the initial diagnoses of hearing loss and sometimes other challenges.
The second slide on this page just really highlights that all of our programs are underpinned with heavily based practices.  Kathy talked about historical research, we have current research that we will talk about, but we are always looking at funneling research‑based activities with our clinical experience, assessment, and with the needs of the family to really create a practice that works for the children.
On the next page, on page eleven, we just have our pieces of the puzzle, assessment, goals, specialized instruction, and progress monitoring.  We put those four corners together to really create a picture of support for children who are deaf/hard of hearing.
The second slide on there really asks that question:  Why do we do these assessments?
We want to have baseline data.  We are always looking at data‑driven instruction.  So we want to know where the kids start, we want to be able to individualize their instruction, and then progress monitor, which we'll talk about in a minute.
So progress monitoring, it's really, we think of it from an educational standpoint of almost a constant informal way of making sure that what we're doing is effective for children, but we also do it in more regular formal ways.
So, regular progress monitoring allows teachers to determine the areas where specialized instruction might be needed.
So we can individualize for the children's needs.
Again, we're using curriculum that are for typically developing children, we have that expectation, and our curriculum for our school‑aged children is the same standardized curriculum used in the public schools, but we always want to be looking at how the children are learning within those typically‑based curriculums and how can we focus on their specialized needs and individualize the instruction.
And again, it demonstrates things that ‑‑ there are some things that don't, we can be honest with ourselves and we get excited about a form of strategy and it just doesn't work with a child.  So it really informs our teachers.
So we do this progress monitoring through standardized testing at the beginning and at the end of the school year but which don't want to stick with standardized testing because we want to do things more frequently.
Here at the Debbie School we write down checklists and progress every quarter.  But the teachers are constantly doing this throughout the school days, really.  We don't want to waste time.  We never want to wait until the end of a grading period or, worst, end of a school year, to see the child is not making progress.
On page 13, I'm sure you're familiar with family support plans for children up to the age of three and individualized educational plans for children that are 3‑21.
We use, again, the tools that we have for assessment to develop goals that we can write, literally, on these plans, so it's very clear what we're targeting.
And again, specialized instruction, our goal is to ensure access to the general curriculum.  We're going to adapt content to suit the needs of the children.
We're, again, looking at presenting standard curriculum.  If we have to really modify the curriculum, then we're talking, you know, again, our children are so young, so it's not like we're getting high school diplomas here, but we're laying foundations and our goal is always to keep them on standard curriculum with accommodations, versus modifying the curriculum where it's no longer the standard curriculum.
Again, that can ultimately impact diploma issues when the kids are older.
So that is our quick run through through the programs.
We want to make sure we have some time for questions, but I think we'd like to just share with you a little bit of the research that's going on now, because there's some kind of interesting, um, facts and research that is really supporting some of the inclusion techniques that we use 
So Kathy is just going to spend a few minutes on that and then we want to give you time for some questions.  

>> KATHLEEN VERGARA:  If you look at page 14, we're working with the Department of Psychology with Daniel Messinger and Lynn Perry and [NAME] and we're looking at social networks and dynamics for children typically developing and children with disabilities, and in this case in our case it's children with hearing loss.
The children wear vests and track their motions and record their vocalizations for this study.
We're particularly interested in this, because they're looking in our classrooms in our auditory oral program for interactions for children with hearing and children ‑‑ students without hearing, using their cochlear implants or hearing aids.
So there is always a lot of controversy about, you know, how well inclusion works for young children with hearing loss.  So we're, you know, very interested in seeing ‑‑ in these scientific outcomes.
I'm assuming that ‑‑ I don't know if you all are familiar with the LENA recorders, which is the second slide on page 14, but they're small ‑‑ the children wear a vest, as you can see there, and the LENA recorders are placed in the vest, and what they do is record the interactions of the children/the child who's wearing the device and speaking and the child, the peer that the child is talking to or the adult that the child is talking to, and it looks at the vocalizations and turn taking 
So they're just measuring numbers of vocalizations.
The Ubisense is another device placed in the vest and that tracks the children's movement around the room and space and including their space and orientation and if you look at page 15, the first slide, you can see the sensor that's placed in the vest and then each classroom is equipped with tracking devices in the corners of the classroom, the four corners of the classroom.
So when ‑‑ the children are observed once a week, wear their devices once a week, and in the recording, it records their movement around the classroom, with each other and their interactions with the teachers, along with recording their vocalization.
On the next slide, you can see this is just a snapshot of the type of videos they look at.  If we had had a video that we could show you, you could see all these little triangles moving around, talking to each other, moving here and there and everywhere [laughs], it always makes the audience laugh [laughs] to see the kids and how active they are!
But ‑‑ so, you have the ‑‑ the green is the child with a hearing aid and then typical hearing child and then a teacher and so on.
If you look at the next slide, page 16, this is the slide of the social networking that they can track as a result of this study.
So, the circles represent the ‑‑ the white circles represent the typical hearing children and the yellow circles represent the children with hearing loss, students with hearing loss, and as you can see, there were only two typical developing role models for this group.  But they're all interacting together.
We have one typically developing child who is the leader [laughs] and we know she is going to be a leader, we all laugh that maybe she's going to be president one day.  And then the other child is also vocalizing.  And we have two children with hearing loss who do a lot of the vocalizing, and one is very, very quiet.
And this gives us insight how the children are interacting with each other and we can also plan interventions to help those children who are a little shyer or more reluctant to interact.
But the summary, a summary of the outcomes is that the number of vocalizations that a child hears from their peers predicts how many vocalizations they will have next week, regardless of their hearing status.
It's demonstrating the importance of children communicating with each other, whether they are, you know, whether it's with their friend who has a hearing loss or their friend who does not.
Then in the second, peer input is a better predictor of children's vocalizations than their own previous vocalizations, regardless of their hearing status.
So, in other words, children really gain a lot from communicating with each other 
And the third one is back and forth conversation, it's better for children's language development, which ultimately is what we're looking at.
And high qualities of adults talking.
So, I don't know if you go out in many child care centers, and you'll notice it's very directive, the teachers and the classroom assistants are doing most of the talking, and children are reminded to shh, quiet, soft voices, that kind of thing, you know, don't talk so much and don't make a lot of noise.
Whereas [laughs] we're constantly encouraging the children to talk and communicate with each other, because, really, that is how young children, whether they have hearing loss or they are typically developing, really develop a rich language.  That communication between young children is very important with the teacher being the facilitator.
So, should we go to questions?  

>> LYNN MISKIEL:  Yeah, and the one thing before we go on is the distance learning piece. 

>> KATHLEEN VERGARA:  Oh, we forgot about that. 

>> LYNN MISKIEL:  Yeah, I know, we got very into what we were doing and what we wish we were still doing in this way.
So just to give you a picture, all of our programs, the children are at home, all of our teachers reach out to the families on a daily basis through a variety of means.  They have at least a couple Zoom sessions a week.  The younger classes are doing circle time, both ‑‑ they do circle times as a group a couple days a week and then they have individual sessions.
The older kids, we have kindergarten and second grade this year.  The classroom teacher and the teaching assistant each take an hour and do direct teaching curriculums, the majority, almost everyday of the week, and then they also all have assignments that are separate, and the speech‑language pathologist have two sessions a week.  All of this, of course, is in the capacity of the parents.  We customize because we have to be successful of the parents' stress at this point.
But we've had really 100% attendance through the auditory oral program 
We're doing the same thing with our 0‑3 kids and have a very, very high attendance, and that one might not quite be 100%, but it's close.
The parents have really been appreciative that we've been able to accommodate them that way.
We are working with the audiologists, since the children in the program here are not using sign language and are using auditory oral methods, we have been working with the audiologist to make sure that the children have as good an access to the audition on the computer as possible.
And we've actually been fielding repairs and things like that for the children's devices as well; we've had three or four cases where we've been having to work with the families either to get them batteries or just to do a repair for a device.  

>> KATHLEEN VERGARA:  And the school system provided computers for our kids.  

>> LYNN MISKIEL:  Yes, thank goodness for that!  [Chuckles].
Again, a wonderful collaboration with the public school system, we were able to register the kids with the same system that Dave was able to distribute to their kids.
All right.  That was kind of a breeze through, but ‑‑ 

>> KATHLEEN VERGARA:  And our teachers have found that they really want to continue with the hybrid model when we start back and the kids start coming to school, invite the parents to come to circle time too soon and come in the classroom because it's been such a wonderful experience for the parents.
So often they're so busy and they're working, and we're ‑‑ and Miami‑Dade County is a big county with lots of traffic and they haven't been able to get here and that aspect is very positive 

>> LYNN MISKIEL:  Definitely a silver lining of a situation that has given us more of that window into what's going on at home.  

>> KATHLEEN VERGARA:  Yeah.  

>> LYNN MISKIEL:  So, questions?

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Thank you very much. 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Gina, go ahead.  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  This is Gina.  I just wanted to clarify.  Did you say you invite the parents to join circle time through Zoom?  

>> LYNN MISKIEL:  Right now the teacher is home and leads a circle time with all of her families at the same time, so the parents are participating obviously from their homes.
But what we'd like to do, because there's been such good feedback, we're going to ‑‑ once we get children back in the classroom, the teachers want to then have a Zoom going while she has their kids in the classroom and the parents are able to participate from their location.
So we'll flip it 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Okay. 

>> LYNN MISKIEL:  That's a goal when we get back.  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Well, you've given me food for thought about integrating my parents into my middle and high school class!  They need to see how their kids are doing!  

>> [Laughs]. 

>> KATHLEEN VERGARA:  Absolutely, absolutely.  It turns out to be kind of an exciting event for everybody [laughs].

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Thank you very much.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Any other questions for our presenters?

[Pause].

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  I did have a question.  You said that some of the kids are on the spectrum.  Do you cut it off at, like, one, two, three, of autism, or how much on the spectrum are some of these kids?  

>> LYNN MISKIEL:  We really ‑‑ you know, they're very young, so many of them are just getting diagnosed.
And what we really ‑‑ for the program that's the auditory oral focus, we really look at what ‑‑ how we can benefit the child and serve their needs 
So if within the classroom and the curriculum that we're working with and the expertise of the teachers, we're able to accommodate the children's needs.  We really just look at that aspect.
If we feel like they would really need to benefit from experts in autism, and the age is the secondary support, we look at that.
We don't really look at levels, but we look at that progress monitoring if we're serving their needs.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  And so do you have any behavioral analysts on staff?  

>> LYNN MISKIEL:  We don't, but we work closely with many in the community.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay, all right, good enough.
Okay.  I did see Glenna's hand up.  Go ahead, Glenna.  

[Talking over one another]. 

>> LYNN MISKIEL:  I'm sorry, say that again.  

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  I have two questions.  That was a lot of information very quick, so hopefully I'm not overlooking anything.
The first question is, it seems the parents are requiring ‑‑ requires heavy involvement in the education with the children, they can't put the kids with you.  The parents have to be involved all the way through, is that correct?  

>> LYNN MISKIEL:  That's always our goal.  I think that's the goal of every teacher in the world, is to have the families to be actively involved in their children's education.
We have ‑‑ 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> LYNN MISKIEL:  ‑‑ in the typical Miami‑Dade County public school population, every family is in a different situation in terms of their family and the parents' availability just in terms of ‑‑ many of our families are just putting food on the table.  Some may or may not speak English.
So we meet every family where they are and try to help them help their children.
Again, with the COVID disruptions, it's given us a greater opportunity for that parent involvement and, really, again, as the whole country's learning, you know, parents are having to crisis teach right now, so we're trying to support every family at their level to be able to do that.  

>> KATHLEEN VERGARA:  I will say that most of the families have really stepped up to the plate and they're finding it as a whole opportunity for them to learn more about how their child was doing in school.
And some of the parents have been, you know, "Oh, I didn't realize there were holes in the language in this way," so it's been a learning experience for all of us.  But a good one.  

>> LYNN MISKIEL:  Again, an advantage we have because we have this relationship with Miami‑Dade County Public Schools, the parents aren't dependent on tuition for them to come here.
And we do ‑‑ part of our contract does include bus transportation, so families who don't have cars and, again, as Kathy said, we have a big county with a lot of traffic, it's a real challenge sometimes for families just getting around.
And fortunately, again, we don't have to limit our enrollment based on a family's ability to physically get here because of the bus transportation.  

[Pause].  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay, great.  Thank you.  

[Talking over one another]. 

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  This is Glenna again, not making a requirement for parents to be involved all along, are you noticing a difference between parents who are involved and children whose parents aren't really involved so much?  Do you see a difference between the two groups?  

>> KATHLEEN VERGARA:  Absolutely [laughs].  Absolutely.  Parents who are really involved and, you know, are willing to work with the children at home and understand their language development and where they are and where we're going, it makes a tremendous difference.  

>> LYNN MISKIEL:  And again, I think we see that in all populations. 

>> KATHLEEN VERGARA:  Yes. 

>> LYNN MISKIEL:  But with our population, definitely.  

[Pause]. 
[Talking over one another]. 

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  This is Glenna, and then my second question, and maybe I missed or overlooked it because of the amount of information, you waited before a waiting list for access to the deaf and hard‑of‑hearing program.
Do you screen children and accept special students and not accept other students?  Is there some type of screening and the success of the auditory oral program as well?  

>> KATHLEEN VERGARA:  Actually the waiting list is for children who are typically developing, we have a really long waiting list for that program.
The other program, the referrals come through Early Steps and Dade County Public Schools, and so Lynn, do you want to... 

>> LYNN MISKIEL:  Really, we have waiting lists for all the programs. 

>> KATHLEEN VERGARA:  Yes. 

>> LYNN MISKIEL:  The B‑2 and deaf and hard of hearing.  Again we get our referrals through Early Steps and occasionally for an older child through the public school system.
We have the same eligibility requirements for any public school and deaf/hard of hearing program, which is the children have to meet the eligibility guidelines.
We typically don't have children in the auditory oral program who have a unilateral hearing loss.  Because of the intensity of instruction, they probably don't need that level of service, so we try to keep those spots for those kids, because we do only have a certain number of spots in our contract.
But we are ‑‑ we do have kids in the B‑2 that have unilateral hearing loss.
And then, again, really we're always looking, if we're serving the child's needs, that's always our goal.
So, the basic is they want to meet eligibility for deaf/hard of hearing as per the guidelines, but we want to know that we're serving the child's needs and make a difference for them.  

>> KATHLEEN VERGARA:  Very frequently we'll have a meeting with a public school system or their team and if a child has another ‑‑ for example, ASD is a secondary disability, the team will decide frequently and say we think it's better if the child stay with you, because we really can't serve the ‑‑ meet the individual needs the way you are with a small teacher/child ratio and things like that.
So everything is very individualized and we certainly listen to the opinions of the other experts in the community.  

[Pause]. 

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  I do have one more question.  I know you're working with very young children and sometimes changes happen later on but obviously the parents are sending the children to you because they want to see them succeed in an auditory environment and I'm just wondering, do you have any students who don't succeed in an auditory oral environment or who aren't really motivated themselves to be there?  

>> LYNN MISKIEL:  Again, the kids are very young, so we really start from the audiological perspective and access to sound, so we're always working with the families, with the audiologists to see if the kids are getting access to sounds, even.
And then working closely with them to go through the steps of development.
And I would say yeah, we have the whole range.  We have those conversations with families when we really start introducing ‑‑ talking to them about introducing individual language.
We have a nice partnership.  If you're familiar with through FSDB, they have a Parent Infant Advisor Program, so we've been able to, when we ‑‑ when we're seeing a child that's challenged with their auditory access and change and incorporating that auditory access into oral language, we'll work with them to start working with the family at home, maybe with some sign language, and see if that would provide support.
Or sometimes the families have started that already, sometimes when they start with us, they're doing that.
So, again, as Kathy said, we individualize, but we definitely see kids that, you know, we don't have to work with the parents.
We really try to make sure our parents have education about all the modalities and, you know, we've had families who, like I said, use sign language at home who are deaf, but they do want their children to have an auditory oral education.
So, again, we look at it as bilingual from that perspective.
So I think I answered your question, if I'm understanding that we have kids that might not get their needs met through an auditory oral approach, that, you know, we do work with the families for other options.  

[Pause]. 

>> Thank you very much.  It's always my belief that no matter what the parent wants, the child eventually shows a preference.  But thank you, I appreciate you answering my questions.  

>> LYNN MISKIEL:  Thank you.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  On behalf of the Council, we'd like to thank you for coming today to present.  It was very educational.  I work quite a bit with FSDB.  Thank you very much.
Do you have any questions for the Council?  

>> LYNN MISKIEL:  No, thank you.  

>> KATHLEEN VERGARA:  No, we'd like to thank you very, very much for inviting us.  We are very honored to ask to present.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Thank you. 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> CINDY SIMON:  Yeah, one comment.  I've worked with Lynn for many years and we've shared a few people just because I've referred them over and the program has been amazing, the kids make amazing progress, and the families are really happy with the education that their kids get.  So thank you guys for being there for those who want to go that route.  

>> LYNN MISKIEL:  Thank you, Cindy, we appreciate your collaboration every step of the way.  

[Talking over one another]. 

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  This is Glenna.  Do you allow people to come and visit?  

>> KATHLEEN VERGARA:  Absolutely. 

>> LYNN MISKIEL:  Absolutely.  There's not much to see right now.  Actually it's hilarious, because we have a lot of responsibilities, as Kathy says, for training, so we have observers on Zoom sessions now, we're trying to figure out if we have somebody who has to figure out how to do a practicum, but when things get normal, we would love to tour you around.  The kids love it, they're never shy on interrupting their school work to say hi to someone.  

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  Great.  Thank you very much.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Thank you all.  I want to be cognizant that the interpreters have been working non‑stop for the past couple years.  I would like to give them a ten‑minute break.  I know we're in the public comment section, but they've not had a break.
So let's take a break until 5:20.  Is that fair?

[No response] 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  All right.  Good enough.  

[Break].

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  So who is on the conference line right now?  

>> INTERPRETER:  This is the interpreter, Rebekah.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Okay.  Apparently my phone shut it down because it was quietly.  I'm using a CapTel.  So everybody will have to reattach, it sounds like.  

>> INTERPRETER:  Okay.  Would you like me to put that in the CART chat room?  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Yes, yes, yes.  

[Pause]. 

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  I was about to send an e‑mail.  

>> INTERPRETER:  Okay.  Gina has joined also.  

[Pause]. 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  This is Gina.  Can you all hear me?  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Yes. 

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Okay, great.  While we're waiting for everybody to join in, this is the time for our public comments.  So I would ask, is there anybody on the phone or online who is from our public that would like to make a comment at this time?  

>> OPERATOR:  Has joined the conference.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Karen Goldberg. 
>> OPERATOR:  Has joined the conference. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Well, hello, and welcome back, I hope everybody had a good break.  We got disconnected there for a second.
So, we're now in the public comment section of our agenda.
Is there anybody on the phone or on the chat line or Whereby that would like to share?  

>> OPERATOR:  Has joined the conference.  

[Pause].

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  Would anybody like to share?  

[Talking over one another]. 

>> Time to party.  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  I'm sorry, I missed that.  Cecil says it's time to go party?  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  It looks like Cecil is already at the party [laughs].
Yes, Debbe and then Glenna.  

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  I have another Zoom meeting at 7:00 o'clock [indiscernible] with a group of hard‑of‑hearing people so it's BYOB or C or whatever, BYOB or whatever. 

>> OPERATOR:  Has joined the conference. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Oh, okay.  All righty.  Glenna?  

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  I just texted my friend and told them it's public time ‑‑ public comment time now so hopefully they will be joining shortly.  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay, thank you.  

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  This is Glenna again.  James Scott was supposed to join the Whereby as well.  

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  This is Debbe, yeah, I don't see him at all.
I'll send him another message.  

[Pause]. 

>> Cecil said it's all over this Whereby, we should play Hollywood Squares with everyone.  

[Pause]. 

>> CECIL BRADLEY:  We should play Hollywood Squares, you all.  

[Pause]. 

>> June McMahon. 
>> OPERATOR:  Has joined the conference.

[Dog barking in background] 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  That was my dog.

[Dog barking in background].

>> That woke my dog up. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  We're having our house painted, so we have workers, and every time the workers do anything, it's, like, brand new moment for the dogs to bark.  Very excited that they're there, that they have company.  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  This is Gina, June McMahon has joined us, I don't know if she has public comment or not?  

>> Say that last part again.

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  I said there was June McMahon, she joined, and I don't know if she has a public comment or not?  

>> I do, yes.  

[Pause].  

>> CECIL BRADLEY:  This is Cecil.  Go ahead with your comment.  

>> JUNE:  Okay.  Hi, everyone, yes, this is June McMahon.  I'm from Boynton Beach in Florida, and my concern is the lack of interpreters when it comes to all of the different speeches or discussion from the mayors all around time on TV.
Some of those broadcasts have interpreters and some don't.
The Governor does have interpreters, and that's a good thing, but the different mayors in the different towns and cities don't.
And so I would like to see more advocacy and encouraging the mayors in different towns to bring sign language interpreters when they go out of town.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Thank you, June.  What has been the interventions up to this point?

[Dog barking in background] 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  And I'm sorry about my dog in the background, he's a little bothered by it ‑‑ have you reached out to the mayor of your town or anybody?

>> JUNE:  No, not yet, I plan on doing that.  I do know someone else that has from the Deaf Services Center, they did indeed reach out, but it doesn't seem like anything has changed.  So I think I personally will go ahead and reach out to the mayor's office in Palm Beach County.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Yeah, there's actually a lawsuit, um, against the New York State Governor for not having interpreters at their daily briefing.
And I notice on the national briefings, there hasn't been interpreters either.  

[Pause].  

>> JUNE:  Right, yeah.  And I guess ‑‑ I know that Chris Littlewood, I think?  Chris had asked me to join in with Disability Rights and so I had signed up with that and I personally will be in contact with my county, the county of Palm Beach County mayor's office. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Thank you for raising this concern.  It's been a concern all along.  And with the number of briefings that have been happening, there's no reason that they can't make every effort to have interpreters so that every member of the community has access to the information.  

[Pause]. 

>> JUNE:  Right.  And I was just watching the TV, and I guess there was one interpreter that was really good, they do provide a sign language interpreter for this particular briefing, but that's fine.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Thank you for bringing up your concern.
Does anyone have any comments about this?

[Pause].  

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  This is Glenna.  

[Pause].

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  Okay, so June, thank you for calling in.  We have been discussing this most of the day today and trying to figure out how to push to get more interpreter services and realizing that it can't just be one or two or three people.  We need to involve more people in the community doing the advocacy.  It takes many calls. 

>> [Coughing]. 

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  They need to hear from as many people as possible, it's not as impactful, and we need to get ahold of the Deaf community and have them start calling and complain what's going on.
Imagine if the sound were gone from the broadcast, for sure people would light up the phones, right?
So we need to do the same thing and get people to call in.  We just need to figure out the best way to do that and encourage the community members to do that.

[Telephone ringing] 

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  Sharing information and having contact information ready and have e‑mail ready.

[Background noise on telephone].
[Telephone ringing in background] 

>> JUNE:  And I will be contacting them. 

[Background noise on telephone]. 

[Note from CART Captioner]:  I'm sorry, the CART Captioner cannot hear with the background noise.  

>> JUNE:  ‑‑ maybe he can do a vlog or something like that.  Thank you so much. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Thank you for joining today and bringing up that issue.
Anybody else have any issues they want to bring up?  Anybody joining in the public forum?  

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  This is Chris.  I have a comment.  Just reiterating what I said earlier in the day. 

>> JUNE:  June McMahon. 
>> OPERATOR:  Has left the meeting. 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  ‑‑ contact Disability Rights Florida, they are willing to be part of the conversation ‑‑ 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> CHRIS LITTLEWOOD:  ‑‑ and other counties and municipalities about the lack of access and interpreters.  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Thank you for that, Chris.
Anyone else have comments?

>> Yes, hello, I'm here, my name is James, last name is Scott, I'm the vice president of Florida Association of the Deaf and I would like to say something.  The communication access has been a problem for the COVID‑19 with people wearing masks.  Some Deaf use interpreter cues from the mouth and they have been complaining about not having access to that.
There is also, um... unemployment for jobs.  

[Pause]. 

>> JAMES:  And the interpreters... um... that are on the live TV interpreting for the government in Florida, the captions, some Deaf people have low English fluency and so they need to have access to the signing and not captions.  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Thank you, James, for bringing up that issue.
One of the things that I've noticed ‑‑ this is Karen speaking ‑‑ is that when they have the interpreter, sometimes on a national news broadcast, they cut off half the interpreter because they're panning in to the speaker, which makes the interpreter just ‑‑ it's ridiculous.  Why even have it, have an interpreter there when they cut them off?
Sometimes they put them in ‑‑ 

>> Right. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  ‑‑ a small area down in the bottom of the screen and they scroll over it with, um, you know, the news of the day [laughs], like... it kind of boggles the mind of whose, you know, whose thought process this is and why they're not making it more prominent so that people can see it.
Sometimes I think a local channel here in Tampa and the mayor has been having pretty regular briefings in these small rooms with no interpreter, which I don't understand that at all, so it has been very inconsistent 

>> JAMES:  Yes, that's why we need something more consistent, like the D/HH, we need to file a grievance with the FCC, the Federal Communications Commission, with the TV, you know, the register, we need to file that as a class action for the required or the mandatory FEMA, the impact, like for hurricanes or COVID‑19, those things should be immediately implemented, they should have the roll call in the state of Florida, a group roll call on the different regions, and then if it happens to hit, like, a hurricane, or whatever, like COVID‑19, they already have it set up in place, the Government can call the legislator (sic) and order for that access.

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  I agree with you.  We as a Council, are we allowed to file complaints or grievances, are we an advisory panel, and this has gone back and forth that we've talked about.
Obviously we're not in a position to file lawsuits, but we could certainly file a complaint.
What are people's thoughts and ideas about that?

[Talking over one another]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Cecil has his hand raised.  

>> JAMES:  We should have ‑‑ I'm sorry, who did you say?  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Cecil, go ahead.  

[Pause]. 

>> CECIL BRADLEY:  Okay.  Sometimes our hands are tied, so to speak, as a Council, but I know it's more effective for the deaf and hard of hearing and late‑deafened group to collaborate.  They have more flexibility, they're independent, so they can file complaints without Government oversight and Government looking into that.
I would suggest to FAD to collaborate with HLAA, ALDA, the different groups, and get together and the three organizations file a complaint.
The more voices, the more numbers, is the more power.  Just throwing that out there, James.  

[Pause]. 

>> JAMES:  Yes, right.  And also, I encourage each organization that has the members on FCCDHH that represent the Advisory Committee, like the AAA, the ILC, and other organizations, to get involved with the hearing loss or, like, deaf, hard of hearing, sign, the cue, deaf‑blind who use tactile, all these organizations should be involved so that there's more exposure.  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Go ahead, Cecil.  

>> CECIL BRADLEY:  That is a good point, James.  Realize that many council members represent different organizations and so many of our council members go back to their organizations and share what's happened during the council discussions with FAD, ALDA, what have you, the deaf‑blind community.  So we do have many members on the council.
But because of some reason, it restricts our Council in the state and the laws don't allow us to do certain activities.  And members on the Council can go back to organizations and share the news; therefore, each organization can take actions on their own.
It's really more effective and so yes, organizations can be more effective.
For example, talking about the Independent Living Centers or the ILCs, I would have to say it depends on who the director is and who supports the various groups.
If you remember a long time ago, Chris Wagner advocated with different organizations getting together and reestablishing a council with the different organizations.  So that may be something to consider and collaborating, maybe having one letter and figure out who the different organizations ‑‑ leaders are and representatives from the organizations and sending that to the Government.  That may be one way that would be more powerful to have a letter and it's signed from all the different representatives from many organizations.  I think that would be very impactful.  

>> JAMES:  Yes.  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  This is Gina.  

>> JAMES:  Yes, that's what we're working on, the FAD, the Board, to get more efficient and more organizations to join with their perspective for communication access.  And how to make life better for humanity.  That's what we're trying to set up, to try to get more organization, like the Hearing Loss Association so we can work together to build a bridge and all focus on hearing loss issues that are not fully accessible with COVID‑19 or hurricane impact.  So we can be prepared as to how to set up the resources when that happens.  

[Pause].  

>> CECIL BRADLEY:  This is Cecil.  I applaud you, James.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Thank you, James and Cecil.
Gina, you have your hand raised?  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Yes, I do.  Okay, two things.  One, Mary made a comment on the chat that these are the kinds of points that the Council can make in our uniform communication in various entities and communities.  That is from Mary Hodges.
And also, James, I want to tell you, you are very articulate and we have an opening for a FAD representative on the Council, if you would consider that?  I think like Cecil said, the more voices we have, the more power there is.
So we are discussing about getting a uniform letter out to the mayors and the congressmen and the governors and the different entities regarding these issues.
But it would be great to have your voice on the Council, if you would consider it.  

>> JAMES:  This is James.  Yes, we are working on the FAD Board, we are in the process.  We have a vacancy ‑‑ actually we have two vacancies and we are considering picking, so I would be more than happen ‑‑ more than happy to represent for FCCDHH and I could share my experiences of advocation (sic) and empowerment for all of the counties in Florida.  I would be more than happy to do that.
But I have to be on the board first, on a board meeting, if they agree, and then I can send that.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Thank you for sharing.  Glenna, you have your hand up?  

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  James, did you already send in your application?  Remember I spoke with you, like, I want to say about a year ago.  Did you already send your application into the Governor's Office?  

>> JAMES:  Yes, I did.  And then nothing has happened.  Somehow they got the e‑mail without the official e‑mail address, the IP or something, and so I refused ‑‑ I did not answer without the official e‑mail from the state of Florida.  If it had that, then I would be more than happy to be involved, but, you know, I have not heard anything official as of yet.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  James, this is Karen.  Did you send it in after the new Governor was sworn in or before?  

>> JAMES:  Oh, it was before.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  You have to send it in ‑‑ 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> JAMES:  Does that mean I have to reapply?  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Yes.  

>> JAMES:  Okay.  We will do that.  We will have ‑‑ 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> JAMES:  ‑‑ a discussion with the president first and the board and then fill that out.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  

>> JAMES:  Because we work as a team. 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> JAMES:  So I don't want to make that decision on my own.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  That's fantastic.  Okay.  Thank you.
It's 5:45 and I thought we would like to announce the election results.  Tiffany, did you want to do that?  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  No, I am going to give you the honors.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  You'll give me the honors.  Okay.  So, for the year 2020‑2021, the new Chair is Debbe Hagner.  And the new Vice Chair is Glenna Ashton.  And I want to congratulate them both.  Looking forward to a wonderful year.  She wasn't even sitting there when I said it!  I don't know if you heard me, but Debbe, you're the new Chair.  Congratulations!  Okay?
The other thing I wanted just to ‑‑ 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay, I want to thank everyone for your support and guidance for the past two years as I served as Chair.  It was a new position for me and everybody was just wonderful in helping me, you know, do what I had to do [laughs].  So thank you!  And congratulations to Debbe and Glenna!
I'm very excited for them.
Gina has her hand raised.  Go ahead, Gina.  

>> GINA HALLIBURTON:  Absolutely!  I just want to mirror that.  It has been a lark!  I have enjoyed every moment of it.  I know that Debbe and Glenna are gonna take us to the next level and I'm excited to see it happen.  Congratulations!  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Congratulations!
Yes, Glenna?  

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  This is Glenna.  And I just want to say that Karen and Gina, you've done a great job leading us for the last two years.  We've gotten a lot accomplished and you did a great job!  Thank you.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Thank you.  It's been wonderful to see this team work together. 

>> JAMES:  This is James. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  And as we step down back into the Council ‑‑ 

>> OPERATOR:  Has left the conference. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  We will still be right behind you and supporting you in whatever you want to achieve for this next year,.

[Pause]. 

>> JAMES:  This is James here.  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Yes, James?  

>> JAMES:  The vice president of FAD.  I want to congratulate Debbe as well and Glenna as the Chair and Vice Chair and I look forward to supporting you 100% working together so that we can have change statewide in the state of Florida.  Thank you.  

[Pause]. 

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  This is Glenna.  Thank you, James!

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  We have 12 more minutes left.  Any public comments?
Have you noticed how many "Cindys" we've had on the chat line?  We're up to Cindy 11.  I think she had to change her Cindy 1, 2, 3, every time she came in on the chat line.  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Yes, Debbe?  

[Silence]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  We can't hear you, Debbe.  

>> DEBBE HAGNER:  And the next meeting will be...?  When?  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Tiffany, go ahead, Tiffany.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Hi, this is Tiffany.  It's supposed to be, as we all know, in August, and it's supposed to be at, we've chosen the Jacksonville area, and it was supposed to be at a hotel that we already were discussing.
However, because of COVID, it is highly probable, and I'm just speculating here, but it's highly probable that it will end up being another virtual meeting.
And things might open up around August, but since we won't know till kind of late July and things have to be planned so far in advance as far as securing the hotel and the contract for the hotel and that type of thing and the meeting space, that it's just highly probable that it will be a virtual one.
While I've got this second, I want to thank all you guys for being so patient with this unusual way of doing this meeting and putting up with the thousand e‑mails of different documents and that sort of thing.  Of course, with my phone turning off and all the other crazy things that went about, I appreciate that you guys are patient and just working with me and, again, this is our maiden voyage and that just means that ‑‑ you have to remember, I've also been gone for a month, I haven't been here, I have been at guide dog school, and I had to totally learn some things when I got back.
So, that being said, we'll get this much better.  Between now and now [laughs] 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  There's a comment from Mary.  Mary said Tiffany, you did a great job putting this meeting together.  We thank you so much. 

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Thank you!  

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Glenna?  Glenna?  

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  This is Glenna, yes, you did a great job.  And it was a very successful meeting. 

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Thank you. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Very successful.  

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  And I actually I agree, I prefer to have a virtual meeting in August and maybe wait till November.  I'd rather be safe than sorry. 

[Talking over one another]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  I'll tell you that right now they are predicting a second wave of the infection as the fall comes on, and as they loosen up some of the restrictions about what you can and cannot do, there are some people being cavalier and not following safe practices, and I think that is going to increase the numbers again as we head towards the end of summer, beginning of fall.
So if we end up in a virtual meeting, that's okay, as long as we're all safe.  That's the key here.
Now, we didn't get to finish our discussion about what do we do with some of this, you know, surplus of the funds.
I really think that we have to look into the masks, because if it does turn out that we're going to meet in August face‑to‑face, I have to tell you, I'm going to be wearing a mask, because I'm not risking it.  And that's coming from a physician.  I'm not gonna risk it.
I think it's a high risk out there right now.
And I'm gonna contact this company tomorrow, just because I need some masks for ‑‑ if I start to open up my private practice again.  And those would be the type of masks I will be using.
So I'm going to contact them and I'll find out if there's, you know, what we can order, if we can.
They have a backlog right now so nothing can be ordered.
Go ahead, Tiffany.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  This is Tiffany.  When Latheria had to call in and ask me about what part we could possibly spend between now and the 30th, in order to be a good steward of the finances so it would not all have to go into reserve, I asked her to hold out a certain amount of money so that we could buy ‑‑ actually I'm buying office supplies, all of the binders, all of the dividers, all of the cards, all of the cards that are related to this Council, I'm buying them now, even though they're not going to be used until after the next cycle, because when it comes to supplies, we're allowed to do that, as long as they're not supplies that somebody else has to create, because that comes under the services category rather than the expenses category. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Right, gotcha.  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  So Anna gets to speak or Latheria gets to speak with the budget people that are higher up to say how we can count the face masks, we can ‑‑ if it turns out we can use ‑‑ put the face masks in the expense category rather than the COVID‑19 category that's being monitored a different way, then I think the purchase of masks could be considered a supply in order to, you know, to complete the meeting or conduct the meeting and, you know, period, and so it would be really great that if you did check that, I could find out and add that to the purchase of these office supplies‑supplies. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Okay.  Mary has a question ‑‑ 

>> JAMES:  This is James here.  Oh. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Mary ‑‑ let me go ahead.  Mary has a comment, can the Council purchase a supply of masks and be a source for various entities in the deaf and hard‑of‑hearing community?
That's a good question.  If the masks go under COVID‑19, then you are subject to what the State Government would purchase for councils for masks, which I don't know if they're even doing.  But you can bet it won't be the see thru clear masks.
And because we are a Council that represents a special interest of deaf, hard of hearing, and deaf‑blind, we really need to advocate that we need to have appropriate masks and we have to have the funding to purchase it.
I checked with that company clear and sane ‑‑ no, not sane ‑‑ Clear 'N' Safe, thank you, Clear 'N' Safe, and a box of ‑‑ I think they come 40 in a box, I might have it backwards, and then there's, like, 25 boxes, and that's, like, a big box, you know, a big supply box, that's $540, and that's a lot of masks and that would be reasonable.
Glenna had her hand up.  

[Pause]. 

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  Okay.  So two things.  Tiffany mentioned purchasing supplies for the Council, including buying pens or pencils, Post‑Its, that type of different things for the future, so that we'll have things to use.
Because I know before we were getting kind of low, right?  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  Yes. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Right. 

>> GLENNA ASHTON:  Okay.  And then the other thing was remember to do the homework.  Make a list of all the contact information for the TV broadcasters and the various organizations and agencies.  Let's get a list and have it ready before we write the letter.  

[Pause]. 

>> JAMES:  This is James here.  So I would suggest a good example, like a hearing loss (sic) who uses cues with the signs, that you have a clear mask, that would be the example of following the ADA accommodation for communications disability.  That would be 100% transparency.  That's just an example of that communication access that we could use there.  And that's a good exposure out in the community as well, in the hospitals, the fire department, that people are communicating with people with hearing losses.  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  I'm in agreement.  Thank you very much.
We are at 5:58, we only have time for one more comment.  Tiffany?  

>> TIFFANY BAYLOR:  I was going to say, the EMOT Committee is looking for ‑‑ or planning to put out or have a meeting and they were querying when's the most available time for people, and they're talking about the 26th of week, that week, 26th, 27th, 28th.
If the EMOT Committee could look into or write or get the names of different entities that they would want to send possibly the letter to that you were saying, Glenna, I'm trying to understand, is that an action item?  Because I don't think I know too many [audio cutting in and out] a committee kind of thing and we can get that done really fast if the EMOT Committee decides when they meet, the week of the 26th.
Am I wrong?  I'm not sure.  

[Pause]. 

>> KAREN GOLDBERG:  Um... I'm not sure either.  Gina, we do want to schedule that.  We're about out of time.  I really want to be respectful on the time.
Gina said can we purchase our giveaways now for our outreach events?  Um... that's something that we can discuss.
Gina said consider purchasing GoToMeeting, $192 a year, and streamer, $99 a year.  It would be a blessing for our next virtual meeting.
Okay.  All right.  And then we're at 6:00 p.m. straight up.  I want to thank everyone for coming today.  Congratulations to Debbe and to Glenna.
We're going to see you guys in August, either in little boxes or, you know, bigger boxes in person, who knows, okay?
Everyone, take care.  Thank you very much, Tiffany, for everything you've done.
Bye‑bye.  Thank you to the interpreters and to our CART Provider.  Bye‑bye.

[Concludes at 6:00 p.m.]

** This is a rough‑draft text file that was produced by a live CART Captioner (Communication Access Realtime Translation) to ensure effective communication for persons who are deaf or hard of hearing.  This file is not a certified, verbatim record, and it should not be quoted as such. **